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Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
Matthew 22:29 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
  • KJV Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
  • NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
  • NASB But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God.
  • NLT Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

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 tells them they err because they know neither the Scriptures nor God's power. Their denial of the resurrection rests on a double ignorance.

Overview

Jesus directly diagnoses the Sadducees' mistake: they misread the Scriptures and underestimate God's power to raise the dead and transform life. This rebuke affirms that right doctrine flows from rightly knowing God's Word and His might. It also models how Jesus corrects error by appeal to Scripture rather than human speculation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Rom 15:4For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
  • John 20:9For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
  • Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
  • Dan 12:2–3And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
  • Jer 32:17“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
  • Phil 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.
  • Ps 73:25–26Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
  • Isa 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
  • Job 19:25–27But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
  • Gen 18:14Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
  • Ps 49:14–15Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
  • Acts 26:8Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
  • Luke 24:44–47Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
  • Isa 25:8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
  • Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
  • Isa 57:1–2The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
  • Ps 16:9–11Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 22:29YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 22:29 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.