Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Parallel Translations
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Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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Iesus answered and sayde vnto them: I will also axe of you a certayne thinge: and answere ye me and I wyll tell you by what auctorite I do these thinges.
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Then Iesus answered, and saide vnto them, I will also aske of you a certaine thing, and answere ye me, and I will tell you by what authoritie I do these things.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Mark 11:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.
- Matthew 21:24 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.
- Luke 20:3-8 He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me: the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” They answered that they didn’t know where it was from. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I…
29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Ver. 29. {See Trapp on "Mat 21:24"}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain See Poole on "Mat 21:24", and following verses to…
See Poole on "Mat 21:24", and following verses to Mat 21:27, where are the same passages opened.
A prophet here, Mar 11:32, signifieth, one extraordinarily inspired and sent of God to reveal his will, so as his baptism must needs be from heaven. This reputation John it seems universally had, so as to have denied his baptism to have been from heaven, had been to have exposed themselves to the mockings, if not the rage, of the people, which they were loath to do. If they had said,
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From heaven, they had accused themselves for not believing him, Joh 7:48. This makes them choose rather to make themselves doubtful in the case, and giveth our Saviour a fitting occasion to deny them satisfaction as to what they asked of him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The baptism of John,.... The doctrine of which he…
The baptism of John,.... The doctrine of which he was the first preacher, and the ordinance of which he was the first administrator:
was it from heaven, or of men? was it of divine or of human institution?
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answer me; directly and plainly, without any shuffling, or evasion: it is a fair question, and may be answered; and the answer to it our Lord suggests would naturally lead to a proper one to their question; See Gill on Mat 21:25.
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 29. See Clarke on Mr 11:27.
Verse 29. See Clarke on Mr 11:27.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. And Jesus answered] They doubtless hoped that He…
29. And Jesus answered] They doubtless hoped that He would have claimed Divine authority, and then they would have had matter for accusation against Him, but He answered their question by another.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I will ask of you one question (eperwthsw umav…
I will ask of you one question (eperwthsw umav ena logon). The verb justifies the translation, one question, for "one word." The question which our Lord put to them was one on which hung the solution of that proposed by the scribes. It is as though he said, "You do not believe me when I say that I have received power from God. Believe then John the Baptist, who bare witness of me that I was sent from God to do these things."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The effective counter-question of Jesus:
The effective counter-question of Jesus:
v. 29. And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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v. 30. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer Me.
v. 31. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, He will say, Why, then, did ye not believe him?
v. 32. But if we shall say, Of men, they feared the people; for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed.
v. 33. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus, answering, saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Jesus was perfectly willing to give them an account of Himself and of all His actions in the Temple, under one condition. He had one single matter concerning which He desired information from them. If they would answer Him about that, He would be glad to tell them by what authority He was performing His miracles, teaching the people and purging the Temple. The question that Jesus proposed proved a dilemma to the Jewish chiefs: Whether the work of John the Baptist, specifically his baptizing, was done by orders from heaven, from God, or on his own responsibility. This was a poser for them. For, as they reasoned themselves in their perplexity, if they should say: From heaven, then the obvious retort would be: For what reason, then, did you refuse him belief? On the other hand: But, suppose we say, from men? This they also did not dare to answer, for they were afraid of the multitude, for all of the common people sincerely held that John was a prophet. In either direction there lay trouble for them, and so they preferred not to answer; whereupon Jesus informed them that He also would not answer their challenge. Their conscience told them that, if even the baptism of John was from heaven, then the ministry of Jesus with His wonderful miracles and powerful preaching must surely have authority from God. Thus unbelief is objectionable even from the standpoint of mere moral reasoning. The unbelievers cannot deny the power of the Word, but refuse to bow to the truth of it. And so, when driven to bay, they make use of lies, evasions, and excuses.
Summary.Jesus makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, performs the miracle of the fig-tree, purges the Temple, explains to His disciples the lesson of the dead tree, and answers the challenge of the Jewish authorities concerning His right to do these things.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Tell me
Tell me
"Answer me"
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The baptism of John
"The baptism that John performed"
was it from heaven or from men
"was it authorized by heaven or by men"
from heaven
Here "heaven" refers to God. AT: "from God" (See: Metonymy)
from men
"from people"
translationWords
Jesus
authority
baptize
John (the Baptist)
heaven
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:29-30 Jesus often replied to his opponents with counter-questions…
11:29-30 Jesus often replied to his opponents with counter-questions (e.g., 2:8-9, 19, 25-26; 3:4, 23; 10:3, 38; see also 12:16), which is an effective way both to teach and to refute.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.