Matthew 21:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 21:23
And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
things
ταῦταtaûta
G5023
these things
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
gave
ἔδωκενedōken
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
this
ταῦταtauta
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — accusative plural neuter
authority
ἐξουσίανexousian
G1849
privilege · noun — accusative singular feminine
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
Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Mark 11:27-33 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
1 Chronicles 24:1-19 Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Exodus 2:14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and sai…
Matthew 26:55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with y…
Luke 19:47-20:8 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
Acts 7:27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Matthew 21:23
And when he was come into the temple,.... The day following the cursing the fig tree: for the withering of it, and the notice the disciples took of it, and our Lord's discourse with them about it, were not in one and the same day, as is clear from the account the Evangelist Mark gives; but on the morning that Christ had conversed with his apostles by the way from Bethany to Jerusalem, concerning the strength of faith in prayer, and the success of it; when they were come into the city, and to the temple, whither he directly went, and entered upon his work of preaching to the people,
the chief priests and elders of the people came unto him. The "chief priests" were not the high priest, and hi…
Matthew 21:23-27
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 a…
This section focuses on the Jewish leaders’ attack on Jesus’ authority. In each case, Jesus’ wisdom revealed the leaders’ spiritual blindness. These debates also revealed Jesus’ status as Messiah and the consequences of rejecting him. Tragically, the leaders grew more resistant with each encounter and plotted to eliminate Jesus (21:23, 46; 22:15-17, 23, 34, 41).
21:23 Elders (literally elders of the people) were family heads from each tribe who were members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (cp. Ezra 5:5; 6:14; 10:8).
Or in these words they urge the same cavil as above, when they said, He casteth out demons through Beelzebub the Prince of the demons. (Mat. 12:24.) For when they say, By what authority doest thou these things? they doubt concerning the power of God, and would have it understood that the things He does are of the Devil. But when they add, Who gave thee this authority? they most clearly deny the Son of God, whom they suppose to work miracles, not by His own, but by others' strength.
(Verse 23.) And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching, saying, 'By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?' In different words, they construct the same accusation as before, when they said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.' For when they say, 'By what authority are you doing these things?' they doubt the authority of God and want it to be understood that what he does is by the power of the devil. Moreover, they added: Who gave you this authority? They openly deny the Son of God, whom they consider to be not working by his own power, but by the power of others, to perform miracles.
The Priests were tormented with jealousy, because they had seen Christ entering the Temple in great glory. And not being able to master the fire of jealousy which burnt in their breasts, they break forth in speech. By that they add, Or who gave thee this authority? they show that there be many persons who give power to men, whether corporal or spiritual! as though they had said, Thou art not come of a priestly family; the Senate has not conferred on Thee this power, neither has Cæsar granted it. But had they believed that all power is from God, they would never have asked, Who gave thee this authority? For every man judges of others by himself. The fornicator thinks that none are chaste; the chaste does not readily suspect any of fornication; he who is not a Priest of God, thinks no man's Priesthood to be of God.
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
Elder — A name frequently used in the Old Testament as denoting a person clothed with authority, and entitled to respect and reverence (Gen. 50:7). It also denoted a political office (Num. 22:7). The “elders…
Vineyards · Illustrative: Of the Jewish Church — Illustrative: Of the Jewish Church
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).
