to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
could
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
tell
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
whence
πόθεν.pothen
G4159
from which (as interrogative) or what (as relative) pla… · adverb
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
Isaiah 41:28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Isaiah 42:19-20 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’s servant?
Isaiah 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isaiah 26:11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine…
Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wi…
Isaiah 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Jeremiah 8:7-9 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but…
Zechariah 11:15 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 20:1-8
In this passage of story nothing is added here to what we had in the other evangelists; but only in the first verse, where we are told,
I. That he was now teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel. Note, Christ was a preacher of his own gospel. He not only purchased the salvation for us, but published it to us, which is a great confirmation of the truth of the gospel, and gives abundant encouragement to us to receive it, for it is a sign that the heart of Christ was much upon it, to have it received. This likewise puts an honour upon the preachers of the gospel, and upon their office and work, how much soever they are despised by a vain world. It puts an honour upon the pop…
could not tell--crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer (Mat 7:6). But what dignity and composure does our Lord display as He turns their question upon themselves!
Adam Clarke on Luke 20:2
By what authority, etc. - See the note on Mat 21:23-27 (note).
John Gill on Luke 20:7
Whether from heaven, or of men; in this, no doubt, they told an untruth: but they chose rather to sacrifice their consciences than their interest, and pretend ignorance rather than profess the truth, when they saw they should be put to confusion, or be exposed to the resentments of the people.
John Calvin on Luke 20:1-8
Luke 20:1-8
Matthew 21:23-27
Mark 11:27-33
Luke 20:1-8
23. And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him, saying By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee that authority? [23] 24. And Jesus answering said to them, I also will ask you something, which if you shall tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25. Whence was the baptism of John? From heaven, or from men? But they thought within themselves saying, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? 26. But if we shall say, From men, we dread the multitude, for they all hold John for a prophet. 27. And answer…
The Church Fathers
And then it follows, And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. Because they will not confess that which they knew, they were baffled, and the Lord would not tell them what He knew; as it follows, And Jesus said unto them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. For there are two reasons especially why we should conceal the truth from those that ask; for example, when the questioner is incapable of understanding what he asks, or when from hatred or contempt he is unworthy to have his questions answered.
And they answered that they did not know whence he was. And Jesus said to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. I do not tell you what I know, because you do not wish to confess what you know. Rejected most justly, they certainly left confused, and what is said in the psalm by the Prophet God the Father was fulfilled: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ (Psalm CXXXI), that is, John himself: I will clothe his enemies with confusion (Ibid.). However, it should be noted that the knowledge of the truth is to be concealed from those seeking for two main reasons, namely when the one who seeks is either less capable of understanding what he seeks, or is unworthy out of hatred or contempt for the truth itself that it should be revealed to him. For the sake of the one, the Lord said: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (John XVI). For the other reason, however, he instructs the disciples: Do not give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before swine (Matthew VII).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
The Jewish authorities refused to answer Jesus’ question, so Jesus had no obligation to answer their question. Both their question and their refusal were guided by self-interest rather than integrity.
