What Does Mark 11:29 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The demand for authority becomes a mirror: the one asking must answer what source they recognize.
THE MEANING
Jesus asks the questioners to answer before he gives his own account. The truth of a claim is exposed by the source a person is willing to acknowledge. Authority is tested through an answer, not settled by assertion alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that demanding credentials is automatically impartial: the one demanding an account is also accountable for the source and standard behind the demand.
THE ROOT
ἐξουσίᾳ
exousia
GROWS FROM
ἔξεστιν
exestin
It is permitted; it is possible.
The Greek noun is tied to ἔξεστιν, meaning “it is permitted” or “it is possible,” so authority includes a recognized right or scope to act, not only force. Jesus turns the demand for that right back toward the questioners: they must name the source behind their own judgment.
ALSO GROWS
exousiazō: To exercise authority; to have power over.
ἐξουσιάζω
This verb turns the right or capacity named by exousia into the act of exercising it.
exousiastēs: One who holds or exercises authority; a ruler.
ἐξουσιαστής
This related noun shows authority as a capacity carried by someone.
ἀποκρίθητε
apokrithēte
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To separate, distinguish, decide, or judge.
The passage repeats this verb: Jesus answers them, then tells them to answer him. Its word-family carries the sense of discerning and deciding, so their reply will reveal what they judge to be a valid source.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: Judgment; a decision.
κρίσις
The noun names the act of deciding that is present in every answer.
kritēs: A judge; one who decides.
κριτής
This branch makes explicit the judging role carried within the exchange.
THE PATTERN
A claim’s source is disclosed when it is put to a truthful test.
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:John uses the same Greek word for authority, here rendered “power,” and presents it as something given. That shared word opens Jesus’ question further: authority carries a right or capacity whose source matters.
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