But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts?
Parallel translations
- KJV But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
- BSB Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
- NKJV But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
- NASB But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts?
- NLT Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?
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 hidden thoughts and confronts their reasoning. His knowledge of hearts reveals his divine insight.
Overview
Jesus discerns the leaders' unspoken objections, showing a knowledge of the heart that Scripture attributes to God. Rather than ignore their charge, he addresses it directly. This perception both substantiates the very authority they question and presses them to reckon with who stands before them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 24:38He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
- Matt 9:4Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
- Isa 66:18“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time comes that I will gather all nations and languages, and they will come, and will see my glory.
- Ps 139:2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
- Acts 5:3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
- Mark 8:17Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet, neither understand? Is your heart still hardened?
- Matt 12:25Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
- Rev 2:23I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
- Heb 4:12For 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.
- Ezek 38:10Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
- Prov 15:26Yahweh detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.
- 1 Chr 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
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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 5:22 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.