What Does Luke 11:15 Mean?
But some of them said, He casts out demons through Beelzebub, the chief of the demons.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.THE KEY
The accusation concedes the expulsion and contests only who holds the power behind it.
THE MEANING
The charge takes the expulsion for granted and argues over the identity of its source. You can see how a visible release can be named as an extension of the power it removes.
THE ROOT
ἐκβάλλει
ekbállei
GROWS FROM
βάλλω
to throw or cast
“casteth out” in this verse is ekbállei. The verb joins ἐκ, “out,” to βάλλω, “throw”: it pictures something being cast outward. The accusation accepts that outward movement and disputes whose power causes it.
ALSO GROWS
bállō: to throw or cast
βάλλω
The basic verb beneath “casteth out” makes the physical force of the expulsion visible.
embállō: to throw in, put in
ἐμβάλλω
This compound turns the same act of casting inward, showing how a prefix redirects the root’s movement.
apobállō: to cast away or discard
ἀποβάλλω
This compound uses the same root for casting something away, echoing the removal at the center of the accusation.
ἄρχοντι
árchonti
GROWS FROM
ἀρχή
beginning, first place, rule
The word for “chief” belongs to the ἀρχ root family, which connects ruling with being first or at the beginning. The accusation does more than name an accomplice: it assigns the expulsion to the ruler of the very powers being expelled.
ALSO GROWS
árchōn: ruler
ἄρχων
This is the same word family as the verse’s “chief,” naming one who holds authority.
archḗ: beginning, first place, rule
ἀρχή
Its range links authority with the position from which something begins or is governed.
árchō: to rule or begin
ἄρχω
The verb makes the family’s connection between leading and originating explicit.
THE PATTERN
Accusation can invert the source of harm, naming the one who exposes or expels it as the cause.
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you the one who muddies Israel?Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who set darkness for light, and light for darkness, who set bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!And many of them said, He has a demon and is raving. Why do you hear him?THE THREAD
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the governance of God has come upon you.The same Greek verb, ἐκβάλλω, appears again for casting out. Here the dispute over its source comes into view: the act is described as God’s power at work, with God’s governance arriving where the demons are expelled.
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