The Meaning of Matthew 12:24 Explained

Matthew 12:24

KJV: But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

YLT: but the Pharisees having heard, said, 'This one doth not cast out demons, except by Beelzeboul, ruler of the demons.'

Darby: But the Pharisees, having heard it, said, This man does not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub, prince of demons.

ASV: But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  when the Pharisees  heard  [it], they said,  This  [fellow] doth  not  cast out  devils,  but  by  Beelzebub  the prince  of the devils. 

What does Matthew 12:24 Mean?

Study Notes

devils
demons.
Devils
Devils, lit demons. To the reality and personality of demons the N.T. scriptures bear abundant testimony. As to their origin nothing is clearly revealed, but they are not to be confounded with the angels mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4 ; Judges 1:6 .
Summary: Demons are spirits Matthew 12:43 ; Matthew 12:45 are Satan's emissaries; Matthew 12:26 ; Matthew 12:27 ; Matthew 25:41 and so numerous as to make Satan's power practically ubiquitous. Mark 5:9 . They are capable of entering and controlling both men and beasts Mark 5:8 ; Mark 5:11-13 and earnestly seek embodiment, without which, apparently, they are powerless for evil.; Matthew 12:43 ; Matthew 12:44 ; Mark 5:10-12 . Demon influence and demon possession are discriminated in the N. T. Instances of the latter are; Matthew 4:24 ; Matthew 8:16 ; Matthew 8:28 ; Matthew 8:33 ; 1 Timothy 4:1-3 ; Matthew 12:22 ; Mark 1:32 ; Mark 5:15 ; Matthew 17:15-18 ; Mark 5:18 ; Luke 8:35 ; Acts 8:7 ; Acts 16:16 . They are unclean, sullen, violent, and malicious; Matthew 8:28 ; Matthew 9:23 ; Matthew 10:1 ; Matthew 12:43 ; Mark 1:23 ; Mark 5:3-5 ; Mark 9:17 ; Mark 9:20 ; Luke 6:18 ; Luke 9:39 . They know Jesus Christ as Most High God, and recognize His supreme authority; Matthew 8:31 ; Matthew 8:32 ; Mark 1:24 ; Acts 19:15 ; James 2:19 . They know their eternal fate to be one of torment; Matthew 8:29 ; Luke 8:31 . They inflict physical maladies; Matthew 12:22 ; Mark 5:16 ; Luke 13:16 but mental disease is to be distinguished from the disorder of mind due to demonical control. Demon influence may manifest itself in religion asceticism and formalism 1 Timothy 4:1-3 degenerating into uncleanness 2 Peter 2:10-12 . The sign of demon influence in religion is departing from the faith, i.e. the body of revealed truth in the Scriptures. 1 Timothy 4:1 . The demons maintain especially a conflict with believers who would be spiritual.; Ephesians 6:12 ; Matthew 9:32 . All unbelievers are open to demon possession Ephesians 2:2 . The believer's resources, prayer and bodily control Matthew 17:21 "the whole armour of God" Ephesians 6:13-18 . Exorcism in the name of Jesus Christ Acts 16:18 was practised for demon possession. One of the awful features of the apocalyptic judgments in which this age will end is an irruption of demons out the abyss. Revelation 9:1-11 .

Context Summary

Matthew 12:24-37 - Slander From Evil Hearts
Spite and hatred absolutely blind the eyes and distort the judgment. They reached their climax in this effort of the Pharisees to discredit Christ. They could not deny His miracles, so they imputed them to a collusion between Him and Satan. On the face of it, this charge was absurd. But our Lord showed clearly that in making the allegation, His enemies were violating their spiritual sense and deliberately blinding their eyes and dulling their ears to God's Spirit. This is the sin that hath never forgiveness, because the soul that acts thus ceases to wish for or seek it.
What a glimpse is given of our Savior's sore temptations and glorious victory in Matthew 12:29! He had already bound the strong man, and for this reason was able to spoil his house and deliver his captives. Let Jesus into your heart, and no foe, though he may batter the door, shall break in to destroy!
The one test that Jesus proposes is fruit. The nature of a man or doctrine or movement can be rightly estimated only when the results have had time to develop. How splendidly Christianity has stood this test! [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 12

1  Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3  by scripture,
9  by reason,
13  and by a miracle
22  He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24  and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32  he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven
36  Account shall be made of idle words
38  He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46  and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother

Greek Commentary for Matthew 12:24

The Pharisees [οι δε Παρισαιοι]
Already (Matthew 9:32-34) we have had in Matthew the charge that Jesus is in league with the prince of demons, though the incident may be later than this one. See note on Matthew 10:25 about “Beelzebub.” The Pharisees feel that the excited condition of the crowds and the manifest disposition to believe that Jesus is the Messiah (the Son of David) demand strenuous action on their part. They cannot deny the fact of the miracles for the blind and dumb men both saw and spoke (Matthew 12:22). So in desperation they suggest that Jesus works by the power of Beelzebub the prince of the demons. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 12:24

Matthew 10:25 Beelzebub [βεεζεβουλ]
The etymology of the word is also unknown, whether “lord of a dwelling” with a pun on “the master of the house” See note on Matthew 12:24. [source]
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers [οπεις γεννηματα εχιδνων]
These blistering words come as a climax and remind one of the Baptist (Matthew 3:17) and of the time when the Pharisees accused Jesus of being in league with Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). They cut to the bone like whip-cords. [source]
Matthew 9:34 By the prince of the devils [εν τωι αρχοντι των δαιμονιων]
Demons, not devils. The codex Bezae omits this verse, but it is probably genuine. The Pharisees are becoming desperate and, unable to deny the reality of the miracles, they seek to discredit them by trying to connect Jesus with the devil himself, the prince of the demons. They will renew this charge later (Matthew 12:24) when Jesus will refute it with biting sarcasm. [source]
Mark 3:21 His friends [οι παρ αυτου]
The phrase means literally “those from the side of him (Jesus).” It could mean another circle of disciples who had just arrived and who knew of the crowds and strain of the Galilean ministry who now come at this special juncture. But the idiom most likely means the kinspeople or family of Jesus as is common in the lxx. The fact that in Mark 3:31 “his mother and his brothers” are expressly mentioned would indicate that they are “the friends” alluded to in Mark 3:21. It is a mournful spectacle to think of the mother and brothers saying, He is beside himself Second aorist active indicative intransitive. The same charge was brought against Paul (Acts 26:24; 2 Corinthians 5:13). We say that one is out of his head. Certainly Mary did not believe that Jesus was in the power of Beelzebub as the rabbis said already. The scribes from Jerusalem are trying to discount the power and prestige of Jesus (Mark 3:22). See notes on Matthew 9:32-34; and note on Matthew 10:25; and note on Matthew 12:24 for Beelzebub and Beelzebul. Mary probably felt that Jesus was overwrought and wished to take him home out of the excitement and strain that he might get rest and proper food. See my The Mother of Jesus: Her Problems and Her Glory. The brothers did not as yet believe the pretensions and claims of Jesus (John 7:5). Herod Antipas will later consider Jesus as John the Baptist redivivus, the scribes treat him as under demonic possession, even the family and friends fear a disordered mind as a result of overstrain. It was a crucial moment for Jesus. His family or friends came to take him home, to lay hold of him (kratēsai), forcibly if need be. [source]
Luke 11:15 By Beelzebub [en Beezeboul)]
Blasphemous accusation here in Judea as in Galilee (Mark 3:22; Matthew 12:24, Matthew 12:27). See notes on Matthew for discussion of the form of this name and the various items in the sin against the Holy Spirit involved in the charge. It was useless to deny the fact of the miracles. So they were explained as wrought by Satan himself, a most absurd explanation. [source]
John 8:48 Thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon [Σαμαρειτης ει συ και δαιμονιον εχεις]
On the spur of the moment in their rage and fury they can think of no meaner things to say. They know, of course, that Jesus was not a Samaritan, but he had acted like a Samaritan in challenging their peculiar spiritual privileges (John 4:9, John 4:39). The charge of having a demon was an old one by the Pharisees (Matthew 12:24) and it is repeated later (John 10:20). [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 12:24 mean?

- And the Pharisees having heard said This [man] not casts out the demons if not by - Beelzebul prince of the demons
Οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἀκούσαντες εἶπον Οὗτος οὐκ ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ Βεελζεβοὺλ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων

Οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Φαρισαῖοι  the  Pharisees 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: Φαρισαῖος  
Sense: A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile.
ἀκούσαντες  having  heard 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
εἶπον  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
Οὗτος  This  [man] 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
ἐκβάλλει  casts  out 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐκβάλλω  
Sense: to cast out, drive out, to send out.
δαιμόνια  demons 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: δαιμόνιον  
Sense: the divine power, deity, divinity.
τῷ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Βεελζεβοὺλ  Beelzebul 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Βεελζεβούλ  
Sense: a name of Satan, the prince of evil spirits.
ἄρχοντι  prince 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄρχων  
Sense: a ruler, commander, chief, leader.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
δαιμονίων  demons 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: δαιμόνιον  
Sense: the divine power, deity, divinity.

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