They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?”
Parallel Translations
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They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?”
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and spake vnto him sayinge. Tell vs by what auctorite thou doest these thinges? Ether who is he that gave ye this auctorite?
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And spake vnto him, saying, Tell vs by what authoritie thou doest these things, or who is hee that hath giuen thee this authoritie?
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Luke 20:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 2:14 He 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.”
- Matthew 21:23-27 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?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.” They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
- Mark 11:28-33 and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ If we should say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- John 2:18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”
- Acts 7:27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
- Acts 4:7-10 When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, may it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands here before you whole in him.
- Acts 7:35-39 “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’ This 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, to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
- 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.
- Luke 19:35-40 Then they brought it to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the colt, and sat Jesus on them. As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
- Luke 19:45-46 He entered into the temple, and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!”
- John 5:22-27 For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by…
2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?
Ver. 2. {See Trapp on "Mat 21:23"} See Mar 11:27.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And spoke unto him, saying, tell us by what…
And spoke unto him, saying, tell us by what authority doest thou these things?.... The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "this thing"; as if the sanhedrim only referred to his preaching the Gospel, which is mentioned in the preceding verse, and was what he was about when they came to him: but the Persic version reads, "all these things"; not only preaching, but working miracles; and particularly driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, which especially affected them, they losing their rents thereby:
or who is he that gave thee this authority? God or man? See Gill on Mat 21:23.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. By what authority, &c.] See Clarke's notes…
Verse 2. By what authority, &c.] See Clarke's notes on Mt 21:23-27.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Authority? By what authority do you make yourself a…
Authority? By what authority do you make yourself a teacher of the people, a censor of the priests, a reformer of the laws and customs? If Jesus Christ had not publicly given undeniable proofs of his mission, by his miracles, the Pharisees would have had a right to demand an answer to this question; but, after what had been done in their own sight, it was no longer excusable to oppose the preaching of the Son of God. (Calmet) --- Our Saviour himself teaches, that if he had not proved the divinity of his mission by his doctrine and works, it had been no sin to disbelieve or reject him. (John v. 31. and 36. and also x. 25, 37, and xv. 22, 24.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. by what authority] Rather, by what kind of…
2. by what authority] Rather, by what kind of authority. The implication is ‘you are only called a Rabbi by courtesyyou are not a ‘pupil of the wise you are not a priest, or a scribe, or a political functionary. Yet you usurp functions which rather belong to Caiaphas, or the President of the Sanhedrin, or the Romans, or Herod. If you act as a Prophet shew us a sign. Practically it was the old taunt by which he had been grieved in Galilee (Mat_12:39; Mat_16:4).
who is he that gave thee this authority?] Every recognised Rabbi had received his diploma; every Priest his ordination.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Tell us, by what authority . . .?—The…
(2) Tell us, by what authority . . .?—The form of the question is nearly identical in the three Gospels.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:2 By what authority are you doing all these…
20:2 By what authority are you doing all these things? Since these groups were the recognized Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, they wanted to know how Jesus could claim authority to enter Jerusalem as a king and drive the merchants from the Temple.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.