When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”
Parallel translations
- WEB When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
- KJV And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
- BSB When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
- NKJV Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
- NLT When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
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 chief priests and elders challenge Jesus' authority to teach and act in the temple. The question exposes the conflict between Israel's leaders and the true King.
Overview
Having cleansed the temple and entered Jerusalem as Messiah, Jesus is now confronted by the official leadership demanding His credentials. Their question about authority is really a challenge to His messianic claims and his right to act as Lord of the temple. The exchange begins a series of confrontations in which Jesus repeatedly silences His opponents and reveals their unbelief.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 4:7When they had stood them in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”
- Mark 11:27–33They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him,
- 1 Chr 24:1–19These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
- 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.”
- Luke 19:47He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him.
- Matt 26:55In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me.
- Acts 7:27But 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
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 21:23 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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