Mark 3:30 kjv
Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
Mark 3:30 nkjv
because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."
Mark 3:30 niv
He said this because they were saying, "He has an impure spirit."
Mark 3:30 esv
for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
Mark 3:30 nlt
He told them this because they were saying, "He's possessed by an evil spirit."
Mark 3 30 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Mt 12:31-32 | "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven... blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven..." | Parallel account of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. |
| Lk 12:10 | "And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." | Parallel account reinforcing the severity of the sin. |
| Mt 9:34 | "But the Pharisees said, 'He casts out demons by the prince of demons.'" | Similar accusation from Pharisees in Matthew. |
| Mt 10:25 | "...If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!" | Jesus predicts similar accusations for His followers. |
| Lk 11:15-19 | "But some of them said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.'" | Parallel account in Luke with direct accusation. |
| Mt 12:28 | "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." | Jesus' counter-argument: power is from God's Spirit. |
| Mk 1:23-27 | "And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit... he cast out the unclean spirit." | Examples of Jesus casting out unclean spirits demonstrating divine power. |
| Mk 5:1-13 | The Gadarene demoniac freed from legion of unclean spirits. | More examples of Jesus' authority over unclean spirits. |
| Jn 15:22-24 | "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin... they have no excuse for their sin." | Emphasizes greater guilt when truth is rejected despite evidence. |
| Jn 16:8 | "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment..." | The Holy Spirit's role in conviction, rejected by the scribes. |
| Acts 7:51 | "You stiff-necked people... You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you." | Stephen's rebuke against those who persistently resist the Spirit. |
| Heb 3:7-19 | "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion...'" | Warning against hardening hearts and persistent unbelief. |
| Heb 6:4-6 | "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened... if they then fall away, to restore them again to repentance..." | Grave warning for those who taste heavenly gifts and deliberately reject them. |
| Heb 10:26-31 | "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins..." | Consequence of deliberate and knowing rejection of truth. |
| 1 Jn 5:16 | "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask... There is sin that leads to death..." | Implies there can be a sin that goes beyond prayer/forgiveness. |
| Is 5:20 | "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness..." | Prophetic warning against twisting truth, aligning with the scribes' actions. |
| Rom 1:21-22 | "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking..." | General truth about suppressing the truth about God. |
| 2 Thes 2:10-12 | "...they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false..." | Consequences of rejecting the truth, leading to stronger delusion. |
| Eph 4:30 | "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." | Related concept of offending or pushing away the Spirit's influence. |
| 1 Thes 5:19 | "Do not quench the Spirit." | Another related concept of actively suppressing the Spirit's work. |
| Num 16:30 | "But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented... then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt." | Discerning who despises the Lord. |
| Psa 78:41 | "Again and again they put God to the test and provoked the Holy One of Israel." | History of testing God and resisting His work. |
Mark 3 verses
Mark 3 30 Meaning
Mark 3:30 directly clarifies the reason behind Jesus' solemn warning about the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. It states that the scribes from Jerusalem were attributing Jesus’ miraculous works, which were clearly empowered by the Holy Spirit, to an unclean (demonic) spirit. This specific accusation constituted the blasphemy.
Mark 3 30 Context
Mark 3:30 directly follows Jesus' stern and unique pronouncement about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:28-29). This warning is given immediately after scribes from Jerusalem accuse Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, and casting out demons by him (Mk 3:22). These scribes were religious leaders well-versed in Scripture, witnessing Jesus’ undeniably powerful exorcisms and healings, yet attributing these divine acts to Satan. Mark 3:30 clarifies that this malicious misattribution—calling the evident work of the Holy Spirit the work of an "unclean spirit"—is precisely what Jesus defined as the "eternal sin" or "unforgivable blasphemy." It shows that Jesus’ warning was not abstract but a direct, provoked response to a grave spiritual act of conscious rejection and slander against the very source of divine truth and power manifest before them.
Mark 3 30 Word analysis
- because: Greek hoti (ὅτι). This causal conjunction introduces the specific reason for Jesus’ declaration in the preceding verses (Mark 3:28-29). It signifies that the blasphemy warning was not a general statement but a direct response to a precise, profound action.
- they said: Greek elegon (ἔλεγον). This verb is in the imperfect tense. The imperfect tense here suggests that this accusation was not a one-off remark but implies a persistent, continuous, or deliberate nature to their accusation. It represents their settled judgment and continuous malicious slandering, likely reflecting a hardened heart and repeated rejection. This refers to the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem (Mk 3:22).
- He has: Greek echei (ἔχει). This is in the present tense, active voice. It signifies that the scribes were claiming Jesus currently possessed, or was constantly imbued with, a demonic presence. This was their definitive conclusion about the source of His power.
- an unclean spirit: Greek pneuma akatharton (πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον). This phrase is central to the accusation.
- pneuma (πνεῦμα) here refers to a spirit or being, specifically a demonic entity.
- akatharton (ἀκάθαρτον) means "unclean" or "impure," signifying that which is morally or ceremonially defiling, opposite to holiness.
- This phrase directly contrasts with the "Holy Spirit" (πνεῦμα ἅγιον) mentioned in the preceding verse (Mk 3:29). The scribes were maliciously reversing the true nature and source of Jesus' power, attributing the divine power of God's Holy Spirit to a malevolent, defiling, demonic spirit. This specific verbal slander of the Holy Spirit's evident work constitutes the blasphemy.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "because they said": This links the severe consequence of "eternal sin" (v. 29) directly to the specific act described in v. 30. It reveals that the condemnation stems from a definite and expressed malicious attribution, not simply an internal thought or slight error. It underlines the gravity of the uttered accusation.
- "'He has an unclean spirit.'": This clause reveals the essence of the "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit." It highlights a conscious and deliberate act of reversing divine truth—taking that which is unequivocally from the Holy Spirit (Jesus' miracles and exorcisms) and falsely attributing it to Satan or a demonic entity. This is more than merely disbelieving Jesus; it is a willful, slanderous rejection of God's manifest power and presence, which in effect calls the Spirit of God demonic.
Mark 3 30 Bonus section
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is distinguished not merely by what is said, but by the hardened, knowing disposition from which it emanates. It implies a total and irreversible rejection of the illuminating, convincing, and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit when confronted with undeniable evidence of God's truth. True believers who may fear having committed this sin, due to guilt or a momentary wrong thought, should be reassured: their very concern about committing such a sin is often evidence that they have not committed it, as it shows their heart is still sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings and capable of repentance. This sin is a determined, continuous rejection of grace, indicating a state of being "past feeling" (Eph 4:19) and therefore incapable of repentance that leads to forgiveness.
Mark 3 30 Commentary
Mark 3:30 functions as the interpretative key to Jesus' formidable warning about the unforgivable sin. It pinpoints the nature of this unique sin: not a general rejection of Christ, nor a momentary slip of the tongue, but a specific, conscious, and malicious act of spiritual perversion. The scribes, equipped with religious knowledge and having witnessed undeniable divine power through Jesus, chose to attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to demonic forces. This reflects a state of extreme spiritual rebellion, a hardened heart that wilfully shuts itself off to God's manifest truth and slanderously calls God's work satanic. It is the definitive resistance to the Spirit's clear illumination, sealing their hearts against repentance and forgiveness.