Matthew 21:25

The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
The baptism	βάπτισμα baptisma	G908	baptism (technically or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular neuter
of John	Ἰωάννου Iōannou	G2491	Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
whence	πόθεν pothen	G4159	from which (as interrogative) or what (as relative) pla… · adverb — interrogative
was it	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
from	ἐξ ex	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
heaven	οὐρανοῦ ouranou	G3772	the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
or	ἢ ē	G2228	disjunctive · conjunction
of	ἐξ ex	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
men	ἀνθρώπων;¶ anthrōpōn	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
reasoned	διελογίζοντο dielogizonto	G1260	to reckon thoroughly · verb — imperfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
with	παρά pará	G3844	properly
themselves	ἑαυτοῖς he'autois	G1438	him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
saying	λέγοντες· legontes	G3004	properly · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
If	ἐὰν ean	G1437	a conditional particle · conditional particle
say	εἴπωμεν· eipōmen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
From	ἐξ ex	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
heaven	οὐρανοῦ, ouranou	G3772	the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
say	ἐρέω eréō	G2046	an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tenses
us	ἡμῖν hēmîn	G2254	to (or for
Why	τί ti	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
ye	ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate	G4100	to have faith (in · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
believe	πιστεύω pisteúō	G4100	to have faith (in
him	αὐτῷ; autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine

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

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Mark 1:1-11 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Matthew 3:1-12 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Luke 20:5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
John 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before…
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the o…
John 10:25-26 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Matthew 11:7-15 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken wit…

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

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 21:25

The baptism of John--meaning his whole mission and ministry, of which baptism was the proper character. whence was it? from heaven, or of men?--What wisdom there was in this way of meeting their question will best appear by their reply. If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?--"Why did ye not believe the testimony which he bore to Me, as the promised and expected Messiah?" for that was the burden of John's whole testimony.

John Gill on Matthew 21:25

The baptism of John, whence was it?.... By the baptism of John, is meant the ordinance of water baptism, which was first administered by him; from whence he took the name of John the Baptist: and the doctrine which he preached concerning it, and previous to it, and even the whole of his ministry; which is denominated from a principal part of it, and which greatly distinguished his ministry from all others: and the question put by Christ concerning it is, whence it was? by what authority did John administer the ordinance of water baptism, which had never been administered before by any? who sent him to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, a doctrine the world had never…

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John Calvin on Matthew 21:23-27

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…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes

The Church Fathers

What the Priests revolved in their malice is shown when he adds, But they reasoned with themselves. For had they replied that it was from heaven, the question was inevitable, Why then were ye not baptized by John?
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The baptism announced by John formed the subject, even at that time, of a question, proposed by the Lord Himself indeed to the Pharisees, whether that baptism were heavenly, or truly earthly: about which they were unable to give a consistent answer, inasmuch as they understood not, because they believed not.
— Tertullian, On Baptism

(Verse 25) The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men? But they thought within themselves, saying: If we say, From heaven, he will say to us: Why then did you not believe him? For if they had answered that the baptism of John was from heaven (as they cleverly handled in their malice), the consequent response would have been: Why then were you not baptized by John?
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

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

Baptism · General references — General references
Prudence · Exemplified by Christ — Exemplified by Christ

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).