Matthew 21:27

So ¹  they answered Jesus, ²  “We don’t know.” ³  Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell you ⁴  by what authority ⁵  I am doing these things.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

So they answered Jesus, "We don’t know." Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

So they finally replied, "We don’t know." And Jesus responded, "Then I won’t answer your question either.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

They decided to concede that round to Jesus. "We don't know," they answered. Jesus said, "Then neither will I answer your question.

SABDAweb Mat 21:27

And they made answer and said, We have no idea. Then he said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.

bibleoremus Mat 21:27

So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

biblegateway Mat 21:27

So ¹  they answered Jesus, ²  “We don’t know.” ³  Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell you ⁴  by what authority ⁵  I am doing these things.

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to indicate that the clause is a result of the deliberations of the leaders.

² tn Grk “answering Jesus, they said.” This construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been simplified in the translation.

³ sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Matt 21:23-27 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question, they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.

⁴ sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.

⁵ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 23.