LUKE 11:17 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) but he knew their thoughts and told them, “Any kingdom that’s divided against itself is doomed, and any household that’s divided will self-destruct.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and house against house falls.

UST But he knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “If the people in one nation fight against each other, they will destroy their nation. If the people in one household oppose each other, they will destroy their family.

BSB Knowing their thoughts, [Jesus] said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and a house divided against a house will fall.

BLB And He knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom having been divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house against a house falls.

AICNT But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house falls upon a house.[fn]

11:17, and a house falls upon a house: Understood as “a house divided against itself falls.”

OEB Jesus himself, however, was aware of what they were thinking, and said to them, ‘Any kingdom wholly divided against itself becomes a desolation; and a divided house falls.

WEBBE But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET But Jesus, realizing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a divided household falls.

LSV And He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated; and house against house falls;

FBV Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed. A family[fn] divided against itself will fall.

11:17 Literally, “house.”

TCNT Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against itself falls.

T4T But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “If the people in one nation fight against each other, their nation will be destroyed {they will destroy their nation}. If the people in [MTY] one house are divided, they will cease to remain as one family.

LEB But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and _⌊a divided household_⌋[fn] falls.

11:17 Literally “house against house”

BBE But he, having knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom in which there is division is made waste; and a house in which there is division comes to destruction.

Moff He knew what they were thinking about, so he said to them,
⇔ "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin,
⇔ house after house falls down;

Wymth And, knowing their thoughts, He said to them, "Every kingdom in which civil war rages goes to ruin: family attacks family and is overthrown.

ASV 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.

DRA But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall.

YLT And he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, 'Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated; and house against house doth fall;

Drby But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and a house set against a house falls;

RV 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.

SLT And he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is rendered desolate; and a house against a house falls.

Wbstr But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

KJB-1769 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.

KJB-1611 But he knowing their thoughts, said vnto them, Euery kingdome diuided against it selfe, is brought to desolation: and a house diuided against a house, falleth.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps But he knowyng their thoughtes, sayde vnto them: Euery kyngdome deuided agaynst it selfe, is desolate: and a housed deuided agaynst a house, falleth.
(But he knowing their thoughts, said unto them: Every kingdom divided against itself, is desolate: and a housed divided against a house, falleth.)

Gnva But he knew their thoughts, and said vnto them, Euery kingdom deuided against it self, shall be desolate, and an house deuided against an house, falleth.
(But he knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be desolate, and an house divided against an house, falleth. )

Cvdl But he knewe their thoughtes, and sayde vnto them: Euery kyngdome deuyded within it self, shal be desolate, and one house shal fall vpo another.
(But he knew their thoughts, and said unto them: Every kingdom divided within itself, shall be desolate, and one house shall fall upon another.)

TNT But he knewe their thoughtes and sayde vnto them: Every kingdome devided with in it silfe shalbe desolate: and one housse shall fall vpon another.
(But he knew their thoughts and said unto them: Every kingdom divided with in itself shall be desolate: and one house shall fall upon another. )

Wycl And as he saiy the thouytis of hem, he seide to hem, Euery rewme departid ayens it silf, schal be desolat, and an hous schal falle on an hous.
(And as he say the thoughts of hem, he said to hem, Every realm departed against itself, shall be desolate, and an house shall fall on an house.)

Luth Er aber vernahm ihre Gedanken und sprach zu ihnen: Ein jeglich Reich, so es mit ihm selbst uneins wird, das wird wüste, und ein Haus fällt über das andere.
(He but heard their/her mind/thoughts and spoke to/for to_them: A any Reich, so it with him himself/itself disagree becomes, the becomes desert, and a house falls above the other/different.)

ClVg Ipse autem ut vidit cogitationes eorum, dixit eis: Omne regnum in seipsum divisum desolabitur, et domus supra domum cadet.
(Exactly_that however as he_saw thoughts their, he/she_said to_them: Everything kingdom in/into/on himself divisum will_be_desolate, and home above house/home cadet. )

UGNT αὐτὸς δὲ εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὰ διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφ’ ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται, καὶ οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον πίπτει.
(autos de eidōs autōn ta dianoaʸmata eipen autois, pasa basileia ef’ heautaʸn diameristheisa eraʸmoutai, kai oikos epi oikon piptei.)

SBL-GNT αὐτὸς δὲ εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὰ διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφʼ ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται, καὶ οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον πίπτει.
(autos de eidōs autōn ta dianoaʸmata eipen autois; Pasa basileia efʼ heautaʸn diameristheisa eraʸmoutai, kai oikos epi oikon piptei.)

RP-GNT Αὐτὸς δὲ εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὰ διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφ' ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται· καὶ οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον, πίπτει.
(Autos de eidōs autōn ta dianoaʸmata eipen autois, Pasa basileia ef' heautaʸn diameristheisa eraʸmoutai; kai oikos epi oikon, piptei.)

TC-GNT Αὐτὸς δὲ εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὰ διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται· καὶ οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον, πίπτει.
(Autos de eidōs autōn ta dianoaʸmata eipen autois, Pasa basileia ef heautaʸn diameristheisa eraʸmoutai; kai oikos epi oikon, piptei. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:14–23: Jesus proved that he did not use Satan’s power

This section is not explicitly connected with the preceding section in time, place, or theme.

In this section, Jesus cast out a demon that made a man mute (11:14). Some people who were there commented to each other that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan (11:15). Jesus gave them two reasons why this could not be true (11:17–19). He concluded that he cast out demons by the power of God (11:20). Then he told a parable (11:21–22) that showed that he is stronger than Satan.

Some other headings for this section are:

Jesus is stronger than Satan

Jesus and Beelzebub

Jesus sends unclean spirits away by defeating Satan

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 12:22–30 and Mark 3:20–27.

Paragraph 11:17–20

In this paragraph Jesus gave two arguments to prove that he was not using Beelzebul’s power to drive out demons. He was using God’s power. The two arguments are:

If he were using Beelzebul’s power, then Beelzebul would be fighting against his own demons and would destroy his own kingdom (11:17–18).
If he were using Beelzebul’s power, then his accusers would need to explain why they did not also accuse other Jewish exorcists of using Beelzebul’s power (11:19).

No one would accept the conclusion to these arguments, so there was only one alternative: Jesus was using God’s power (11:20).

11:17a

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them,

¶ But Jesus knew what they thought about him, so he said to them:
¶ But Jesus knew what was in their minds, so he told them:

In Greek, this verse begins with a phrase that is literally “but he.” This emphatic phrase shows a turning point in the story. It contrasts the unspoken motives of the various groups in the crowd with the fact that Jesus knew what they thought even though they did not say it. The BSB does not indicate this emphatic contrast explicitly. In some languages, there may be a natural way to do this. For example:

But he (RSV)

But as for Jesus, he

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus: Jesus knew what the different groups of people in 11:15–16 were thinking. He knew what the people who spoke about him in 11:15 were thinking. He also knew the real motives of the people who wanted a sign (11:16).

said to them: The phrase said to them expresses the result of Jesus knowing their thoughts. Some English versions indicate that this is a result by using the word “so.” For example:

so he said to them (GNT)

Express this relationship in a way that is natural in your language.

11:17b

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste,

“If there is a kingdom/country that splits/divides itself into groups that fight each other, it will be ruined/destroyed,
“No nation whose people fight against one another will last long.
“If clans within the same tribe war/fight with one another, they will destroy their own tribe.

Every kingdom divided against itself: The phrase Every kingdom divided against itself describes a civil war. It refers to any nation or country where different groups within that country fight one another. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other (GNT)

Any kingdom divided by civil war (NLT)

kingdom: A kingdom is a country that is ruled by a king. But Jesus was not talking only about countries that had kings. He was giving a general principle that can be applied to any country or tribe. Other ways to translate kingdom in this context are:

nation

tribe

will be laid waste: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as will be laid waste means “will be destroyed.” It is implied that it will also be deserted, that is, few people will remain alive in that country. It does not mean that the country will become a “desert” in the sense of a sandy or rocky area with little water or vegetation.

The verb will be laid waste is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:

will be destroyed (NCV)

will end up in ruin (CEV)

will not last very long (GNT)

11:17c

and a house divided against a house will fall.

and a family that is divided against itself will also fall/split apart.
And when the members of a family fight with one another, they also will soon separate and no longer be a family.

and a house divided against a house will fall: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as a house divided against a house will fall is literally “a house upon a house falls.” There are two ways to interpret this clause:

It is a second example. It describes a household or family whose members are fighting each other. For example:
a family divided against itself falls apart (GNT) (BSB, NIV, NLT, NASB, KJV, REB, NCV, GW, CEV, GNT, NET)
It is the result of a kingdom that is divided against itself. Civil war like this leads to one family fighting another. It may also lead to one house literally collapsing against another house. For example:
and house falls upon house (NRSV) (NRSV, NJB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions. This interpretation is parallel with the statement in 11:17b. It also agrees with the parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark.

a house: The term house refers to a family or a group of people living together as one household.

divided against a house: As in 11:17b, the phrase divided against a house here means “fight one another.” When the members of a household fight one another, that household will fall. This means that the family will split apart and will soon cease to exist as a family unit. Some other ways to translate this are:

a family that is divided against itself will not continue (NCV)

a family that fights will break up (CEV)

A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. (NLT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφ’ ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: αὐτός Δέ εἰδώς αὐτῶν τά διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Πάσα βασιλεία ἐφʼ ἑαυτήν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται καί οἶκος ἐπί οἶκον πίπτει)

If it would be helpful in your language, you could use active verbs to express the ideas behind the two passive verb forms divided and is made desolate. Alternate translation: [If the people of a kingdom fight among themselves, they will destroy their own kingdom]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

βασιλεία

kingdom

Jesus uses the term kingdom to refer to the people who live in it. Alternate translation: [the people of a kingdom]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον πίπτει

˓a˒_house (Some words not found in SR-GNT: αὐτός Δέ εἰδώς αὐτῶν τά διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Πάσα βασιλεία ἐφʼ ἑαυτήν διαμερισθεῖσα ἐρημοῦται καί οἶκος ἐπί οἶκον πίπτει)

Jesus is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages in order to be complete. The sense of divided can be supplied from the previous phrase. Alternate translation: [any house that is divided against itself will collapse]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον πίπτει

The term house refers to the people of a family who live in the same house. Alternate translation: [if family members fight against each other, they will ruin their family]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

πίπτει

˓is˒_falling

This image of a house collapsing depicts the destruction of a family when the members fight against each other. Alternate translation: [will ruin the family]

Parallel LUKE 11:17

Section 11:14–23: Jesus proved that he did not use Satan’s power

Paragraph 11:17–20

11:17a

11:17b

11:17c