Luke 11:17 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 11:17
But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative singular masculine
knowing
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
thoughts
διανοήματαdianoēmata
G1270
something thought through · noun — accusative plural neuter
said
εἶπενeipen
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖς·autois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Every
πᾶσαpasa
G3956
all · adjective — nominative singular feminine
kingdom
βασιλείαbasileia
G932
properly · noun — nominative singular feminine
divided
διαμερισθεῖσαdiameristheisa
G1266
to partition thoroughly (literally in distribution · verb — aorist passive participle, nominative singular feminine
against
ἐφ᾽eph᾽
G1909
properly · preposition
itself
ἑαυτὴνhe'autēn
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
is brought to desolation
ἐρημοῦται,erēmoutai
G2049
to lay waste (literally or figuratively) · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person singular
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
a house
οἶκοςoikos
G3624
a dwelling (more or less extensive · noun — nominative singular masculine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
a house
οἶκονoikon
G3624
a dwelling (more or less extensive · noun — accusative singular masculine
falleth
πίπτει.piptei
G4098
to fall (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Mark 3:23-27 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
Matthew 12:25-29 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house di…
Isaiah 19:2-3 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour;…
Isaiah 9:20-21 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat eve…
John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
2 Chronicles 10:16-19 And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and…
2 Chronicles 13:16-17 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
Matthew 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 11:14-26
The substance of these verses we had in Mat 12:22, etc. Christ is here giving a general proof of his divine mission, by a particular proof of his power over Satan, his conquest of whom was an indication of his great design in coming into the world, which was, to destroy the works of the devil. Here too he gives an earnest of the success of that undertaking. He is here casting out a devil that made the poor possessed man dumb: in Matthew we are told that he was blind and dumb. When the devil was forced out by the word of Christ, the dumb spoke immediately, echoed to Christ's word, and the lips were opened to show forth his praise. Now,
I. Some were affected with this miracle. The people wonde…
BLIND AND DUMB DEMONIAC HEALED--CHARGE OF BEING IN LEAGUE WITH HELL, AND REPLY--DEMAND OF A SIGN, AND REPLY. (Luke 11:14-36)
dumb--blind also (Mat 12:22).
Adam Clarke on Luke 11:14
Casting out a devil - See on Mat 12:22 (note).
John Gill on Luke 11:17
But he knowing their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient,
said unto them; the following parables, as they are called in Mark 3:23 or proverbial expressions, very pertinent to the purpose, and sufficient to set aside the base calumnies of the Pharisees:
every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; in process of time, division will end in destruction; and as it does in the kingdoms of the world, of which there have been fatal instances, so it would in the kingdom of Satan, was there in it a division, which the calumny of the Pharisees supposes:
and an house divided against an house, falleth. The Persic version renders it, "an house divided from the foundation, falls"; the…
(Hom. 41. in Matt.) The suspicion of the Pharisees being utterly without reason, they dared not divulge it for fear of the multitude, but pondered it in their minds. Hence it is said, But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation.
He answered not their words but their thoughts, that so at least they might be compelled to believe in His power, who saw into the secrets of the heart. The kingdom also of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is not divided, because it is sealed with an eternal stability. Let then the Arians cease to say that the Son is inferior to the Father, but the Holy Spirit inferior to the Son, since whose kingdom is one, their power is one also.
Herein also He shows His own kingdom to be undivided and everlasting. Those then who possess no hope in Christ, but think that He casts out devils through the chief of the devils, their kingdom, He says, is not everlasting. This also has reference to the Jewish people. For how can the kingdom of the Jews be everlasting, when by the people of the law Jesus is denied, who is promised by the law? Thus in part does the faith of the Jewish people impugn itself; the glory of the wicked is divided, by division is destroyed. And therefore the kingdom of the Church shall remain for ever, because its faith is undivided in one body.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Strife · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Luke 11:16-23
Luke 11:16, 29-32
Matthew 12:38-42
Luke 11:16, 29-32
38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees asked him, saying, Master, we desire to see a sign from thee. 39. But he answering said to them, A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, [160] and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40. For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41. The men of Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, lo, a greater than Jonah is here. [161] 42. The queen of the south will rise…
He knew their thoughts: See 5:22; 7:40; 9:47. • Any kingdom divided by civil war: Jesus’ first response to the accusation was that he could not be working for Satan; he was tearing down Satan’s kingdom by casting out demons.
