And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
- BSB While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, He asked, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?
- NKJV Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?
- NASB And Jesus responded and began saying, as He taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
- NLT Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David?
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
Teaching in the temple, Jesus raises a question: how can the scribes call the Messiah merely David's son? It sets up a deeper truth about the Christ's identity.
Overview
The scribes rightly taught that the Messiah would descend from David (2 Samuel 7), but Jesus presses them to see more. Citing Psalm 110, he shows that David calls this descendant 'Lord,' implying the Messiah is greater than David and is divine. Jesus is indeed David's son in the flesh, yet also David's Lord — the eternal Son of God, a truth the cross and resurrection make plain.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Luke 20:41–44And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
- Matt 22:41–45While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
- Matt 26:55In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
- Matt 9:27And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.
- Mark 11:27And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
- John 18:20Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
- Luke 20:1And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
- Luke 19:47And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
- Luke 21:37And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
- John 7:42Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
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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 12:35 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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