Mark 11:33
New International Version
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

New Living Translation
So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

English Standard Version
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Berean Standard Bible
So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Berean Literal Bible
And answering to Jesus, they say, "We do not know." And Jesus says to them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."

King James Bible
And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

New King James Version
So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

New American Standard Bible
Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

NASB 1995
Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

NASB 1977
And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Amplified Bible
So they replied to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Christian Standard Bible
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

American Standard Version
And they answered Jesus and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they answered and they were saying to Yeshua, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Contemporary English Version
and told Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus replied, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they answering, say to Jesus: We know not. And Jesus answering, saith to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

English Revised Version
And they answered Jesus and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus told them, "Then I won't tell you why I have the right to do these things."

Good News Translation
So their answer to Jesus was, "We don't know." Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."

International Standard Version
So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then Jesus told them, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I'm doing these things."

Literal Standard Version
and answering they say to Jesus, “We have not known”; and Jesus answering says to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Majority Standard Bible
So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

New American Bible
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

NET Bible
So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

New Revised Standard Version
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

New Heart English Bible
They answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know." Jesus said to them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Webster's Bible Translation
And they answered and said to Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Weymouth New Testament
So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."

World English Bible
They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Young's Literal Translation
and answering they say to Jesus, 'We have not known;' and Jesus answering saith to them, 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus' Authority Challenged
32But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet. 33So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Cross References
Mark 11:32
But if we say, 'From men'..." they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet.

Mark 12:1
Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.


Treasury of Scripture

And they answered and said to Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

We.

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 6:9,10
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not…

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…

Neither.

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…

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

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Authority Idea Jesus
Mark 11
1. Jesus rides with triumph into Jerusalem;
12. curses the fruitless fig tree;
15. purges the temple;
20. exhorts his disciples to steadfastness of faith, and to forgive their enemies;
27. and defends his actions by the witness of John, who was a man sent of God.














(33) We cannot tell.--Better, as also in Matthew 21:27, We do not know. The repetition of the verb "tell" in the English, gives an unreal emphasis which is not in the Greek. The real stress lies on the pronoun "I."

Verse 33. - We know not. They had seen the life of John. They had heard his holy and Divine teaching. They were witnesses to his death for the truth; and yet they lie. They might have said," We think it imprudent or inexpedient to say;" but for this they had not sufficient moral courage. Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. You will not answer my question; neither will I therefore answer yours; because your answer to mine is the answer to your own. "He thus shows," says St. Jerome, "that they knew, but would not answer; and that he knew, but did not speak, because they were silent as to what they knew." Our Lord did thus but mete out to them the measure which they meted to him.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
So
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

they answered
ἀποκριθέντες (apokrithentes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 611: From apo and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak.

[Him],
Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou)
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

“We do not know.”
οἴδαμεν (oidamen)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1492: To know, remember, appreciate.

And
Καὶ (Kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

Jesus
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.

replied,
λέγει (legei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

“Neither
Οὐδὲ (Oude)
Adverb
Strong's 3761: Neither, nor, not even, and not. From ou and de; not however, i.e. Neither, nor, not even.

{will} I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

by
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

what
ποίᾳ (poia)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4169: Of what sort. From the base of pou and hoios; individualizing interrogative what sort of, or which one.

authority
ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1849: From exesti; privilege, i.e. force, capacity, competency, freedom, or mastery, delegated influence.

I am doing
ποιῶ (poiō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

these things.”
ταῦτα (tauta)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.


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