to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
these things
ταῦταtaûta
G5023
these things
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 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be save…
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Proverbs 26:4-5 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Isaiah 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isaiah 29:9-14 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
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?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 11:27–end
We have here Christ examined by the great Sanhedrim concerning his authority; for they claimed a power to call prophets to an account concerning their mission. They came to him when he was walking in the temple, not for his diversion, but teaching the people, first one company and then another. The Peripatetic philosophers were so called from the custom they had of walking when they taught. The cloisters, or piazzas, in the courts of the temple, were fitted for this purpose. The great men were vexed to see him followed and heard with attention, and therefore came to him with some solemnity, and did as it were arraign him at the bar with this question, By what authority doest thou these thing…
They feared the people - Or rather, We fear, etc. Instead of εφοβουντο, they feared; the Codex Bezae, seven others, later Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and all the Itala, read φοβουμεν, or φοβουμεθα. The common reading appearing to me quite improper.
We fear the people. Εαν, if, before ειπωμεν, we shall say, is omitted by ABCEFGHLS, and more than fifty others. Bengel leaves it out of the text, and puts a note of interrogation after Εξ ανθρωπων; and then the whole passage reads thus: But shall we say, Of men? They feared the people, etc. This change renders the adoption of φοβουμεν, we fear, unnecessary. Several critics prefer this mode of distinguishing the text. Howev…
And they answered and said unto Jesus,.... Being reduced by this dilemma to the greatest streight and difficulty;
we cannot tell: they could, if they would, but they did not care to tell; they knew if they did, they should expose themselves one way or other:
and Jesus answering, saith unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things; See Gill on Matthew 21:27.
John Calvin on Mark 11:27–end
Mark 11:27-33
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 answ…
The Church Fathers
They envied the Lamp, and were in the dark, wherefore it is said, I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed; his enemies will I clothe with shame. (Ps. 132:17, 18) There follows: And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
(ubi sup.) As if He had said, I will not tell you what I know, since ye will not confess what ye know. Further, we must observe that knowledge is hidden from those who seek it, principally for two reasons, namely, when he who seeks for it either has not sufficient capacity to understand what he seeks for, or when through contempt for the truth, or some other reason, he is unworthy of having that for which he seeks opened to him.
And answering, they say to Jesus: We do not know. And Jesus, responding, 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 want to admit what you know. Most justly rejected, they indeed went away confused. And it was fulfilled what in the psalm the Father God says through the prophet: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ, that is, John himself. I will clothe his enemies with shame (Psalm 131). It should be noted, moreover, that the knowledge of the truth is to be hidden from those who seek it for two main reasons. Namely, when he who asks is either less capable of understanding what he seeks, or is unworthy because of hatred or contempt of the truth itself, to whom it ought to be revealed what he seeks. For one of these reasons, the Lord said: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. For the other reason, he commanded the disciples: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw your pearls before swine.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
In answering, “We don’t know,” the religious leaders of the nation admitted that they could not answer a simple question that the people had no difficulty in answering: John was sent from God. They thus forfeited the religious leadership of the nation on this question. Their hardness of heart (3:5; 7:6), their unwillingness to see (4:12), and their deliberate refusal to accept the truth made further discussion fruitless. Their blindness and hostility toward God’s servants John the Baptist and Jesus, their desecration of the Temple, and their plot to kill Jesus all revealed why God’s judgment would come within that very generation (13:30).
