Passage

Luke 20.4

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

2. and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3. And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me:

4. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?

And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? 6. But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. (Luke 20:2-6, ASV)

WEB

2. They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” 3. He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me:

4. the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?”

They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6. But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” (Luke 20:2-6, WEB)

KJV

2. And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3. And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:

4. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6. But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. (Luke 20:2-6, KJV)

YLT

2. and spake unto him, saying, 'Tell us by what authority thou dost these things? or who is he that gave to thee this authority?' 3. And he answering said unto them, 'I will question you, I also, one thing, and tell me:

4. the baptism of John, from heaven was it, or from men?'

And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 'If we may say, From heaven, he will say, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? 6. and if we may say, From men, all the people will stone us, for they are having been persuaded John to be a prophet.' (Luke 20:2-6, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
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Quoted in

Concepts:

Jesus Said, via Luke 20.3-18

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.