Mazmur 94:11

94:11 The Lord knows that

peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. ¹ 

Matius 12:25

12:25 Now when Jesus ²  realized what they were thinking, he said to them, ³  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ⁴  and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

Lukas 6:8

6:8 But ⁵  he knew ⁶  their thoughts, ⁷  and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here.” ⁸  So ⁹  he rose and stood there.

[94:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7.

[12:25]  ² tc The majority of mss read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), which clarifies who is the subject of the sentence. Although the shorter text is attested in far fewer witnesses (̲¹ א B D 892* sy^s,c sa bo), both the pedigree of the mss and the strong internal evidence (viz., scribes were not prone to intentionally delete the name of Jesus) argue for the omission of Jesus’ name. The name has been included in the translation, however, for clarity.

[12:25]  ³ sn Jesus here demonstrated the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. He first teaches (vv. 25-28) that if he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. He then teaches (v. 29) about tying up the strong man to prove that he does not need to align himself with the devil because he is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (4:1-11) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 12:31-32).

[12:25]  ⁴ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Here the conjunction δέ (de) has been translated as contrastive.

[6:8]  ⁶ sn The statement that Jesus knew their thoughts adds a prophetic note to his response; see Luke 5:22.

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “their reasonings.” The implication is that Jesus knew his opponents’ plans and motives, so the translation “thoughts” was used here.

[6:8]  ⁸ sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.

[6:8]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s action was a result of Jesus’ order.