Luke 20:26

And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
could	ἴσχυσαν ischusan	G2480	to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
of	ἐπιλαβέσθαι epilabesthai	G1949	to seize (for help · verb — second aorist middle deponent infinitive
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
words	ῥήματος rhēmatos	G4487	an utterance (individually · noun — genitive singular neuter
before	ἐναντίον enantion	G1726	(adverbially) in the presence (view) of · preposition
people	λαοῦ, laou	G2992	a people (in general · noun — genitive singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
marvelled	θαυμάσαντες thaumasantes	G2296	to wonder · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
at	ἐπὶ epi	G1909	properly · preposition
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
answer	ἀποκρίσει apokrisei	G612	a response · noun — dative singular feminine
peace	ἐσίγησαν.¶ esigēsan	G4601	to keep silent (transitively or intransitively) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Luke 20:20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they mig…
Job 5:12-13 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Proverbs 26:4-5 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Matthew 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Matthew 22:22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Luke 13:17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done…
Luke 20:39-40 Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 20:20-26

We have here Christ's evading a snare which his enemies laid for him, by proposing a question to him about tribute. We had this passage before, both in Matthew and Mark. Here is, I. The mischief designed him, and that is more fully related here than before. The plot was to deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor, Luk 20:20. They could not themselves put him to death by course of law, nor otherwise than by a popular tumult, which they could not depend upon; and, since they could not be his judges, they would willingly condescend to be his prosecutors and accusers, and would themselves inform against him. They hoped to gain their point, if they could but incense the governor a…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 20:25

things which be CÃ&brvbrsar's--Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare. and unto God--How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!

Adam Clarke on Luke 20:22

Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar - See this insidious but important question considered at large on Mat 22:16-22 (note).

John Gill on Luke 20:26

And they could not take hold of his words before the people,.... Which was what they wanted; that if he had dropped any seditious and treasonable expressions against the government, they might be witnesses against him; or if he had not vindicated the liberties of the people, and the rights of the Jewish nation, these might be exasperated against him, and leave him: and they marvelled at his answer; which was so formed, as to give them no handle against him either way: and held their peace; they were silenced, and had nothing to say to him, nor against him, but left him, and went their way.

John Calvin

The Church Fathers

And they could not reproach his word before the people, and marveling at his answers they remained silent. They who ought to have believed because of such wisdom, wondered that their cunning in ensnaring had found no place.
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

Now they who ought rather to have believed such great wisdom, marvelled that in all their cunning they had found no opportunity of catching Him. As it follows, And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

If, then, forasmuch as there is in the law a precept that a man is to take in marriage the wife of his brother if he have died without children, for the purpose of raising up seed to his brother; and this may happen repeatedly to the same person, according to that crafty question of the Sadducees; men for that reason think that frequency of marriage is permitted in other cases as well: it will be their duty to understand first the reason of the precept itself; and thus they will come to know that that reason, now ceasing, is among those parts of the law which have been cancelled.
— Tertullian, On Monogamy

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Craftiness · .Jews, in seeking to entangle the Master — .Jews, in seeking to entangle the Master

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 20:20-26

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 20:25

Adam Clarke on Luke 20:22

John Gill on Luke 20:26

John Calvin

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 20:20-26

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 20:25

Adam Clarke on Luke 20:22

John Gill on Luke 20:26

John Calvin

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 20:25