And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.
Parallel translations
- WEB They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer, and were silent.
- KJV And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
- NKJV But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.
- NASB And they were unable to catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.
- NLT So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.
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' opponents failed to catch Him in His words about taxes, and were left silent and amazed at His wisdom.
Overview
After the trap about paying tribute to Caesar, the spies could find nothing to use against Jesus before the crowd. His answer silenced them and provoked wonder rather than accusation. This shows the perfect wisdom of the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 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.
- Matt 22:22And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Job 5:12–13He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Luke 20:39–40Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well!”
- Matt 22:12‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.
- Matt 22:34And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together.
- Prov 26:4–5Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
- 2 Tim 3:8–9Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
- Luke 13:17When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.
- Titus 1:10For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:26 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.