Luke 20:1-2

The Authority of Jesus

20:1 Now one ¹  day, as Jesus ²  was teaching the people in the temple courts ³  and proclaiming ⁴  the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law ⁵  with the elders came up ⁶  20:2 and said to him, ⁷  “Tell us: By what authority ⁸  are you doing these things? ⁹  Or who it is who gave you this authority?”

[20:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:1]  ³ tn Grk “the temple.”

[20:1]  ⁴ tn Or “preaching.”

[20:1]  ⁵ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[20:1]  ⁶ sn The chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up. The description is similar to Luke 19:47. The leaders are really watching Jesus at this point.

[20:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “and said, saying to him.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[20:2]  ⁸ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.

[20:2]  ⁹ sn The leadership is looking back to acts like the temple cleansing (19:45-48). How could a Galilean preacher do these things?