Matthew 9:34

But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”

BSB

But the Pharisees said, “ It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”

KJV

But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

ASV

But the Pharisees said, By the prince of the demons casteth he out demons.

BBE

But the Pharisees said, By the ruler of evil spirits, he sends evil spirits out of men.

Original Greek

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The early church

"He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." What can be more foolish than this? For in the first place, as He also saith further on, it is impossible that a devil should cast out a devil for that being is wont to repair what belongs to himself, not to pull it down. But He did not cast out devils only, but also cleansed lepers, and raised the dead, and curbed the sea, and remitted sins, and preached the kingdom, and brought men unto the Father; things which a demon would never either choose, or at any time be able to effect. For the devils bring men to idols, and withdraw them from God, and persuade them to disbelieve the life to come. The devil doth not bestow kindness when he is insulted; forasmuch as even when not insulted, he harms those that court and honor him. But He doeth the contrary. For after these their insults and revilings, He went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease.
John Chrysostom · d. 407Homilies on Matthew
Thus the Scribes and Pharisees denied such of the Lord's miracles as they could deny; and such as they could not they explained by an evil interpretation, according to that, In the multitude of thy excellency thy enemies shall lie unto thee. (Ps. 66:3.)
Remigius of Rheims · d. 533Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
As the blind receive light, so the tongue of the dumb is loosed, that he may confess Him whom before he denied. The wonder of the multitude is the confession of the nations. The scoff of the Pharisees is the unbelief of the Jews, which is to this day.
Jerome · d. 420Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
(De Cons. Ev. ii. 29.) This account of the two blind men and the dumb dæmon is read in Matthew only. The two blind men of whom the others speak are not the same as these, though something similar was done with them. So that even if Matthew had not also recorded their cure, we might have seen that this present narrative was of a different transaction. And this we ought diligently to remember, that many actions of our Lord are very much like one another, but are proved not to be the same action, by being both related at different times by the same Evangelist. So that when we find cases in which one is recorded by one Evangelist, and another by another, and some difference which we cannot reconcile between their accounts, we should suppose that they are like, but not the same, events.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 32–34

Of the two, better a dumb devil than a blaspheming one. Christ's cures strike at the root, and remove the effect by taking away the cause; they open the lips, by breaking Satan's power in the soul. Nothing can convince those who are under the power of pride. They will believe anything, however false or absurd, rather than the Holy Scriptures; thus they show the enmity of their hearts against a holy God.

Read Matthew Henry on Matthew 9 →

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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.