and they were amazed at His teaching, because His message was delivered with authority.
Parallel translations
- WEB and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
- KJV And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
- BSB They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.
- NKJV And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.
- NLT There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.
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
The people are astonished at His teaching, for His word carries authority. Jesus speaks with a power unlike the scribes.
Overview
Jesus' hearers are amazed because His word bears inherent authority, not merely citing tradition. He teaches as one who speaks for God, with the weight of divine truth. This authority will be confirmed immediately by His command over an unclean spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 4:36Amazement came on all, and they spoke together, one with another, saying, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
- Matt 7:28–29When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
- 2 Cor 10:4–5for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,
- John 6:63It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- Heb 4:12–13For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Titus 2:15Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise you.
- 1 Th 1:5and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.
- 1 Cor 14:24–25But if all prophesy, and someone unbelieving or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and he is judged by all.
- Mark 1:22They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes.
- 2 Cor 4:2But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
- Jer 23:28–29The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says Yahweh.
- 1 Cor 2:4–5My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
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 4:32 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
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