Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 21:24
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, &c.
blockversewordysbillionaire.aiyourlistWhiteboardAppquizieunschoolblockversewordysbillionaire.aiyourlistWhiteboardAppquizieunschoolAnd Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
| Word | Greek | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| And | δὲ de | G1161 | but · conjunction |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς Iēsous | G2424 | Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name |
| answered | Ἀποκριθεὶς Apokritheis | G611 | to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine |
| said | εἶπεν eipen | G2036 | to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular |
| them | αὐτοῖς· autois | G846 | the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine |
| I also | κἀγώ kagṓ | G2504 | so also the dative case |
| will ask | ἐρωτήσω erōtēsō | G2065 | to interrogate · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular |
| you | ὑμᾶς hymâs | G5209 | you (as the objective of a verb or preposition) |
| one | ἕνα, hena | G1520 | one · adjective — accusative singular masculine |
| thing | λόγον logon | G3056 | something said (including the thought) · noun — accusative singular masculine |
| which | ὃν hon | G3739 | the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — accusative singular masculine |
| if | ἐὰν ean | G1437 | a conditional particle · conditional particle |
| ye tell | εἴπητέ eipēte | G2036 | to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person plural |
| me | μοί moí | G3427 | to me |
| I in like wise | κἀγώ kagṓ | G2504 | so also the dative case |
| will tell | ἐρέω eréō | G2046 | an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tenses |
| you | ὑμῖν hymîn | G5213 | to (with or by) you |
| by | ἐν en | G1722 | "in · preposition |
| what | ποίᾳ poia | G4169 | individualizing interrogative (of character) what sort… · interrogative pronoun — dative singular feminine |
| authority | ἐξουσίᾳ exousia | G1849 | privilege · noun — dative singular feminine |
| I do | ποιῶ. poiō | G4160 | to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular |
| these things | ταῦτα taûta | 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 from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, &c.
And Jesus answered and said unto them,.... Not by replying directly to their question, but by putting another question to them, whereby he escaped the snare he saw they laid for him: I also will ask you one thing, word, or question, which if ye tell me; honestly, and plainly answer to it, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: which was putting the thing upon such a foot, and in such a form, as they could not well object to; for Christ promises, that if they would return a plain answer to the question he had to put to them, and which was no unreasonable, nor impertinent one, he would thoroughly satisfy them in this point; and expressly declare his commission and aut…
Read the whole note in the consoleMatthew 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…
Read the whole note in the consoleJesus propounded a riddle, the solution to which answered the leaders’ question and forced them into a dilemma that revealed their hearts (21:25-26). Answering by counter-question was typical for such debates.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
The Lord could have confuted the calumny of His tempters by a simple answer, but He put a question to them of such skilful contrivance, that they must be condemned either by their silence or their knowledge; Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one question.
(Verse 24) But Jesus, answering, said to them: I will also ask you one question, which if you tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. This is what is commonly said: A bad knot of a tree, a bad nail or wedge must be driven in. The Lord could have refuted the calumny of the tempters with an open response, but He wisely asks a question, so that they themselves, either by silence or by their answer, may be condemned.
Not that they should answer it, and thereupon hear of Christ the answer to their question, but that being puzzled they should ask Him no farther; according to that precept He had given above, Give not that which is holy to the dogs. (Mat. 7:6.) For even if He had told them, it would have profited nothing, because the darkened will cannot perceive the things that are of the light. For him that enquires we ought to instruct, but him that tempts, to overthrow by a stroke of reasoning, but not to publish to him the power of the mystery. The Lord thus sets before them in His question a dilemma; and that they might not escape Him, says, Which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. His question is this; The baptism of John whence was it? from heaven, or of men?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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).