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The Psalms of Solomon uses a strong man's weapons to describe power that cannot resist God. In Mark 3, Jesus uses a strong man's defeat to explain overcoming Satan, adapting the same image of overpowering an opponent.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalms of Solomon 5:3
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
1 Lord God, I will praise Your name with joy, among those who know Your righteous judgments. 2 For You are good and merciful, the refuge of the poor; When I cry to You, do not silently disregard me. 3 For no one takes plunder from a powerful man; Who, then, can take anything You have made unless You Yourself give it? 4 For man and his portion (lie) in Your presence in the balance; He cannot increase what You have assigned to him, God. 5 When we are in distress we call upon You for help, And You do not reject our request, for You are our God.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Mark 3:27
New Testament
23 So he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come. 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house. 28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” 30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).
Date: 60–75 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the 'strong man' imagery may simply reflect a 'proverbial saying' about relative 'strengths' like that in Psalms of Solomon 5:3, a passage which may well have shared a common source with, or arisen from, Isaiah 49:24. Given that Satan's house is not divided against itself and that Jesus is clearly 'plundering' it, Jesus can hardly be empowered by Satan (3:22b) since he is manifestly the 'stronger one'. But is there more going on? ..."
Rikki E. Watts, Isaiah’s New Exodus in Mark (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 147.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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