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Mark

About this book
Chapter 3

1 Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him. 3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him. 7 Then Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him. And from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan River, and around Tyre and Sidon a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done. 9 Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd would not press toward him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. 13 Now Jesus went up the mountain and called for those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed 12 so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 To Simon he gave the name Peter;⁠ 17 to James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, he gave the name Boanerges (that is, “sons of thunder”); 18 and Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 20 Now Jesus went home, and a crowd gathered so that they were not able to eat. 21 When his family heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons!” 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”). 31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”⁠ 34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!⁠ 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 49:24 and Mark 3:27

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Mark, Jesus uses the language of Isaiah 49 by speaking of a strong man whose goods are taken by someone stronger. Isaiah asks if captives can be freed from a warrior, then answers yes. Mark turns this into a proverb about binding the strong man first.

Passages

Isaiah 49:24

Hebrew Bible
23 Kings will be your children’s guardians; their princesses will nurse your children. With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you, and they will lick the dirt on your feet. Then you will recognize that I am the Lord; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame. 24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror? 25 Indeed,” says the Lord, “ captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Mark 3:27

New Testament
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.
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

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.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 49:24 and Mark 3:27

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