They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”
Parallel translations
- WEB and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”
- KJV And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?
- BSB “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You the authority to do them?”
- NKJV And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
- NASB and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to 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
The leaders demand to know by what authority Jesus acts, especially in cleansing the temple.
Overview
Their question challenges the source and legitimacy of Jesus' bold actions and teaching. Rather than considering whether His authority is from God, they seek grounds to condemn Him. The exchange forces the issue of who Jesus truly is and where His authority comes from.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Exod 2:14He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.”
- Num 16:3They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”
- Acts 7:38–39This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Num 16:13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?
- Acts 7:27–28But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 11:28 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.