Isaiah 9:21

9:21 Manasseh fought against ¹  Ephraim,

and Ephraim against Manasseh;

together they fought against Judah.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Isaiah 19:2-3

19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, ³ 

brothers will fight with each other,

as will neighbors,

cities, and kingdoms. ⁴ 

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ⁵ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ⁶ 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ⁷ 

Mark 3:23-26

3:23 So ⁸  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ⁹  “How can Satan cast out Satan? 3:24 If ¹⁰  a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand. 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 3:26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come.

Luke 11:17-18

11:17 But Jesus, ¹¹  realizing their thoughts, said to them, ¹²  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ¹³  and a divided household falls. ¹⁴  11:18 So ¹⁵  if ¹⁶  Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because ¹⁷  you claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

Galatians 5:15

5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, ¹⁸  beware that you are not consumed ¹⁹  by one another.

Revelation 16:19

16:19 The ²⁰  great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations ²¹  collapsed. ²²  So ²³  Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup ²⁴  filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. ²⁵ 

Revelation 17:16-17

17:16 The ²⁶  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They ²⁷  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. ²⁸  17:17 For God has put into their minds ²⁹  to carry out his purpose ³⁰  by making ³¹  a decision ³²  to give their royal power ³³  to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. ³⁴ 

[9:21]  ¹ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ² tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”

[19:2]  ³ tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).

[19:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.

[19:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

[19:3]  ⁶ tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

[19:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.

[3:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:23]  ⁹ sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 28) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.

[3:24]  ¹⁰ sn The three conditional statements in vv. 24-26 express the logical result of the assumption that Jesus heals by Satan’s power, expressed by the religious leaders. The point is clear: If the leaders are correct, then Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.

[11:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ¹² sn Jesus here demonstrated the absurdity of the thinking of those who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. He first teaches (vv. 17-20) that if he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. He then teaches (v. 21-22) about defeating the strong man to prove that he does not need to align himself with the devil because he is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (4:1-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.

[11:17]  ¹³ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

[11:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and house falls on house.” This phrase pictures one house collapsing on another, what is called today a “house of cards.”

[11:18]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the clause that follows is a logical conclusion based on the preceding examples.

[11:18]  ¹⁶ tn This first class condition, the first of three “if” clauses in the following verses, presents the example vividly as if it were so. In fact, all three conditions in these verses are first class. The examples are made totally parallel. The expected answer is that Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.

[11:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “because.” “I ask you this” is supplied for the sake of English.

[5:15]  ¹⁸ tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).

[5:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “destroyed.”

[16:19]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:19]  ²¹ tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[16:19]  ²² tn Grk “fell.”

[16:19]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

[16:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).

[16:19]  ²⁵ tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumo") and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.

[17:16]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ²⁷ tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ²⁸ tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”

[17:17]  ²⁹ tn Grk “hearts.”

[17:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “his intent.”

[17:17]  ³¹ tn The infinitive ποιῆσαι (poihsai) was translated here as giving the logical means by which God’s purpose was carried out.

[17:17]  ³² tn On this term BDAG 203 s.v. γνώμη 4 states, “declaration, decision, resolution…of God Rv 17:17.”

[17:17]  ³³ tn For this translation see BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a, “kingship, royal power, royal rule.”

[17:17]  ³⁴ tn Or “completed.”