Matthew 12:24

Matthew 12:24. But when the Pharisees heard it. According to Luke, some who were present; according to Mark, ‘the scribes which came down from Jerusalem,' probably sent to spy out his actions. A public declaration of war against our Lord on the part of the Pharisees, and an answer to the question of the people (Matthew 12:23). The Pharisees admit the miracles, but explain them in another way as the work of Satan. Consistency required this explanation.

This man. ‘This fellow' is too strong. ‘This,' in the question of the people, was an expression of surprise; the word is here taken up and turned against Jesus.

But by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. The word ‘devil,' is applied to but one person in the Scriptures, namely, Satan. On the word ‘Beelzebub,' see chap. Matthew 10:25. The sense ‘lord of dung,' implies coarse wit. The sense: lord of the habitation, referring to rule over the possessed, agrees well with the phrase here added: ‘the prince of demons.' ‘By,' literally ‘in,' i.e., in intimate fellowship.