But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,
Parallel translations
- WEB But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test me?
- KJV But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?
- NKJV But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me?
- NASB But He saw through their trickery and said to them,
- NLT He saw through their trickery and said,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus perceives their craftiness and asks why they test him. He sees through their deceit.
Overview
Jesus is not deceived by the spies' flattery or their loaded question. His discernment exposes their hidden malice and turns the encounter to his purpose. The verse shows that no scheme can entrap the One who knows the hearts of men.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 22:18But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?
- 1 Cor 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- Luke 5:22Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
- Luke 11:16–17And others tested Him by demanding a sign from heaven.
- Luke 6:8But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.
- Luke 20:20So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
- Heb 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Matt 16:1Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
- John 2:24–25But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all.
- Ps 95:9where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work.
- 1 Cor 10:9We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Luke 11:53–54As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 20:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.