Bible Strands
Luke 20:8
And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the religious questioners who just refused His counterquestion, immediately before He turns to address the crowd with a parable.
The words — οὐδὲ (oude) carries the literal sense "neither" or "not even," and λέγω (legō) means "I say" or "I tell." Together they record Jesus’ deliberate refusal to state His credentials to those who evaded truth.
The thread — Jesus’ refusal to engage deceptive questioning runs parallel to Job 5:12, which describes God thwarting the schemes of the crafty, and Proverbs 26:4, which warns against answering a fool according to his folly.
Why it lands — The text states Jesus declined to answer a trap question, leaving the interrogators without grounds to press further before He addresses the people. A reader must choose whether to accept His authority without demanding prior validation or to remain in a cycle of testing that produces no truth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
Cross-references
- Job 5:12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Proverbs 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
- Matthew 15:14 Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
- Matthew 21:27 So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
- Mark 11:33 So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
- Luke 22:68 And if I ask you a question, you will not answer.