The phrase “a house divided against itself cannot stand” was famously used by Abraham Lincoln, but it originally comes from Jesus in the New Testament.

Who said it first?

  • The wording comes from Jesus Christ, recorded in the Gospels.
  • In Matthew 12:25 and Mark 3:25, Jesus says that every kingdom or house divided against itself will not stand, warning that internal conflict leads to collapse.

Why Abraham Lincoln is linked to it

  • Abraham Lincoln made the phrase famous in U.S. politics in his 1858 “House Divided” speech, arguing that the United States could not endure permanently half slave and half free.
  • Lincoln opened that speech with: “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” directly echoing the biblical line but applying it to the American government and slavery.

What the phrase means today

  • The phrase is widely used to mean that any group—whether a family, team, organization, or country—cannot survive deep internal division for long.
  • It often appears in discussions about political polarization and partisanship, especially in modern debates about whether intense division threatens democratic stability.

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