Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. New Living Translation So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things. English Standard Version So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Berean Standard Bible So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. Berean Literal Bible And answering Jesus, they said "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. King James Bible And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. New King James Version So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. New American Standard Bible And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things. NASB 1995 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. NASB 1977 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Legacy Standard Bible And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Amplified Bible So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what [kind of] authority I do these things.” Christian Standard Bible So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Holman Christian Standard Bible So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. American Standard Version And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Contemporary English Version So they told Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do." English Revised Version And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. GOD'S WORD® Translation So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus told them, "Then I won't tell you why I have the right to do these things. Good News Translation So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things. International Standard Version So they told Jesus, "We don't know." He in turn told them, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I am doing these things." Majority Standard Bible So they answered, ?We do not know.? And Jesus replied, ?Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. NET Bible So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. New Heart English Bible They answered Jesus, and said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Webster's Bible Translation And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Weymouth New Testament So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell you," He replied, "by what authority I do these things." World English Bible They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionAnd answering Jesus they said, “We have not known.” He said to them—He also, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Berean Literal Bible And answering Jesus, they said "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Young's Literal Translation And answering Jesus they said, 'We have not known.' He said to them -- he also -- 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Smith's Literal Translation And having answered Jesus, they said, We know not. And he said to them, Neither do I say to you, by what authority I do these. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleAnd answering Jesus, they said: We know not. He also said to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Catholic Public Domain Version And so, they answered Jesus by saying, “We do not know.” So he also said to them: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. New American Bible So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things. New Revised Standard Version So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleSo they answered and said to him, We do not know. Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Aramaic Bible in Plain English They answered and they were saying to him, “We do not know.” Yeshua said to them, “Neither am I telling you by which authority I do these things.” NT Translations Anderson New TestamentAnd they answered and said to Jesus: We know not. And he said to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Godbey New Testament And responding they said to Jesus, We do not know. He also said to them, Haweis New Testament So they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. Then said he also to them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Mace New Testament so they made answer, we cannot tell, and Jesus said, neither shall I tell you, by what authority I do these things. Weymouth New Testament So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell you," He replied, "by what authority I do these things." Worrell New Testament And, answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, Worsley New Testament And therefore in answer to Jesus, they said, We do not know: and He said unto them, Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Jesus' Authority Challenged…26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 28But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’… Cross References Mark 11:33 So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Luke 20:8 And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Matthew 22:46 No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further. Matthew 12:24-28 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.” / Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. / If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ... John 8:25-27 “Who are You?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. / “I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world.” / They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. John 9:29-34 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.” / “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. / We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. ... Matthew 16:1-4 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. / But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’ / and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times. ... Matthew 15:1-9 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, / “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” / Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ... Matthew 23:13-15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. / Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. / Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Acts 4:16-18 “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. / But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” / Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Acts 5:27-29 They brought them in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, where the high priest interrogated them. / “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.” / But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. Acts 7:51-53 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. / Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers— / you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.” Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. Jeremiah 7:25-27 From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. / Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers. / When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer. Jeremiah 26:4-6 And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you, / and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen, / then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’” Treasury of Scripture And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said to them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. We cannot tell. Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Matthew 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Jump to Previous Authority Idea JesusJump to Next Authority Idea JesusMatthew 21 1. Jesus rides into Jerusalem upon a donkey12. drives the buyers and sellers out of the temple; 17. curses the fig tree; 23. puts to silence the priests and elders, 28. and rebukes them by the parable of the two sons, 33. and the husbandmen who slew such as were sent to them. So they answered, “We do not know.” The religious leaders, including the chief priests and elders, were questioned by Jesus about the origin of John the Baptist's authority. Their response, "We do not know," reveals their unwillingness to commit to an answer that could undermine their position. This reflects their fear of the people, who regarded John as a prophet, and their inability to recognize divine authority. Their indecision highlights a recurring theme in the Gospels: the spiritual blindness of the religious elite. This phrase also underscores the tension between Jesus and the religious authorities, who often challenged His teachings and actions. And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. Persons / Places / Events 1. JesusThe central figure in this passage, Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders about His authority. 2. Chief Priests and Elders These are the religious leaders of the Jewish community who challenge Jesus' authority. 3. Temple in Jerusalem The setting of this encounter, a significant place of worship and teaching for the Jewish people. 4. John the Baptist Although not directly mentioned in this verse, he is referenced in the preceding verses as part of Jesus' question to the leaders. 5. Authority The central theme of the passage, focusing on the source and recognition of Jesus' authority. Teaching Points Understanding AuthorityRecognize that true authority comes from God, and discernment is needed to identify it in our lives. Courage in Truth Like Jesus, we should stand firm in the truth, even when questioned or challenged by those in positions of power. Humility and Openness The religious leaders' inability to answer Jesus' question highlights the importance of humility and openness to God's revelation. Accountability to God We are accountable to God for recognizing and submitting to His authority, as demonstrated by Jesus. Wisdom in Response Jesus' response teaches us to be wise and discerning in how we answer those who question our faith.(27) We cannot tell.--The confession of impotence to which the priests and scribes were thus brought was, as has been said, a virtual abdication. Before such a tribunal the Prophet whom they called in question might well refuse to plead. There was, indeed, no need to answer. For those who were not wilfully blind and deaf, the words that He had spoken, the works which He had done, the sinless life which He had led, were proofs of an authority from God.Verse 27. - We cannot tell; οὐκ οἴδαμεν: we know not; Vulgate, nescimus. The Authorized Version seems, at first sight, to be intended to give a false emphasis to "tell" in Christ's answer; but our translators often render the verb οἴδα in this way (see John 3:8; John 8:14; John 16:18; 2 Corinthians 12:2). The questioners could find no way out of the dilemma in which Christ's unerring wisdom had placed them. Their evasive answer was a confession of defeat, and that in the presence of the gaping crowd who stood around listening to the conversation. They had every opportunity of judging the character of John's mission and that of Christ; it was their duty to form an opinion and to pronounce a verdict on such claims; and yet they, the leaders and teachers of Israel, for fear of compromising themselves, evade the obligation, refuse to solve or even to entertain the question, and, like a modern agnostic, content themselves with a profession of ignorance. Many people, to avoid looking a disagreeable truth in the face, respond to all appeals with the stereotyped phrase, "We cannot tell." F.M. appositely quotes the comment of Donatus on Terent., 'Eunuch.,' 5:4, 31, "Perturbatur Parmeno; nec negare potuit, nec consentire volebat; sed quasi defensionis loco dixit, Nescio." And he said unto them; ἔφη αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτός: he also said unto them. The Lord answers the thought which had dictated their words to him. Neither tell I you, etc. With such double-minded men, who could give no clear decision concerning the mission of such a one as John the Baptist, it would be mere waste of words to argue further. They would not accept his testimony, and recognizing their malice and perversity, he declined to instruct them further. "Christ shows," says Jerome, "that they knew and were unwilling to answer; and that he knew, but held his peace, because they refused to utter what they well knew." Parallel Commentaries ... Greek Soκαὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. they said ἀποκριθέντες (apokrithentes) Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 611: From apo and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak. to Jesus, Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou) Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites. “We do not know.” οἴδαμεν (oidamen) Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Strong's 1492: To know, remember, appreciate. “Neither Οὐδὲ (Oude) Adverb Strong's 3761: Neither, nor, not even, and not. From ou and de; not however, i.e. Neither, nor, not even. {will} I ἐγὼ (egō) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I. tell λέγω (legō) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command. you ὑμῖν (hymin) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. by ἐν (en) Preposition Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc. what ποίᾳ (poia) Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Strong's 4169: Of what sort. From the base of pou and hoios; individualizing interrogative what sort of, or which one. authority ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia) Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Strong's 1849: From exesti; privilege, i.e. force, capacity, competency, freedom, or mastery, delegated influence. I am doing ποιῶ (poiō) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do. these things,” ταῦτα (tauta) Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it. He αὐτός (autos) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons. replied. Ἔφη (Ephē) Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's 5346: To say, declare. Properly, the same as the base of phos and phaino; to show or make known one's thoughts, i.e. Speak or say. Links Matthew 21:27 NIVMatthew 21:27 NLT Matthew 21:27 ESV Matthew 21:27 NASB Matthew 21:27 KJV Matthew 21:27 BibleApps.com Matthew 21:27 Biblia Paralela Matthew 21:27 Chinese Bible Matthew 21:27 French Bible Matthew 21:27 Catholic Bible NT Gospels: Matthew 21:27 They answered Jesus and said We don't (Matt. Mat Mt) |
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