But he knowing their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient, said unto them; the following parables, as they are called in Mar 3:23 or proverbial expressions, very pertinent to the purpose, and sufficient to set aside the base calumnies of the Pharisees: every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; in process of time, division will end in destruction; and as it does in the kingdoms of the world, of which there have been fatal instances, so it would in the kingdom of Satan, was there in it a division, which the calumny of the Pharisees supposes: and an house divided against an house, falleth. The Persic version renders it, "an house divided from the foundation, falls"; the sense is, a family, in which one part is opposed to the other, issues in the ruin of both; See Gill on Mat 12:25, Mar 3:24, Mar 3:25.