And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- BSB And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
- NKJV And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- NASB And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
- NLT And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
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
Since they will not answer, Jesus declines to tell them by what authority he acts. Those unwilling to receive truth are not given more.
Overview
Jesus exposes that the leaders are not honest seekers but hostile challengers, and so he withholds a direct answer. Their refusal to acknowledge John shows they would not accept the truth about Jesus either. The exchange illustrates that revelation is withheld from those who harden themselves against it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 5:12–13He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
- Matt 16:4A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
- Prov 26:4–5Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
- Matt 15:14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
- Mark 11:33And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
- Matt 21:27And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
- Luke 22:68And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.
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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 20:8 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.