If we should say, ‘From men’” — they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet.
Parallel translations
- KJV But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.
- BSB But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet.
- NKJV But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.
- NASB But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet.
- NLT But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet.
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
They fear to say John was merely human because the people held him to be a true prophet.
Overview
Fear of the crowd, not love of truth, governs the leaders' calculations. They are caught between the people's high regard for John and their own refusal to believe. Their cowardly evasion reveals leaders more concerned with public opinion than with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 21:46When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
- Mark 12:12They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.
- Matt 14:5When he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
- Luke 7:26–29But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
- Luke 20:6–8But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
- Acts 5:26Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.
- Matt 11:9But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
- Matt 3:5–6Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.
- Matt 21:31–32Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you.
- Mark 6:20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.
- John 10:41Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”
- Luke 22:2The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people.
- Luke 20:19The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people — for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:32 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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