What Does Matthew 21:24 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise 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 answer to authority is held behind the questioners’ willingness to answer honestly themselves.
THE MEANING
Jesus meets a demand for an account of his authority with one condition: he will answer after they answer his question. His question makes the answer depend on whether they will state what they judge to be true. Authority here is inseparable from the source one is willing to name.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a questioner can demand an answer while remaining exempt from answering.
THE ROOT
ἐξουσία
exousia
GROWS FROM
ἐξουσ-
The right or capacity to act; power that is within one’s remit.
The question concerns the warrant behind an action: what power or right makes it possible? The verse keeps authority tied to its source, so a claim of right cannot be separated from where it comes from.
ALSO GROWS
exousiazō: To exercise authority or have power over.
ἐξουσιάζω
This shows authority as something enacted, not merely held as a title.
exousiasthēsomai: I will be brought under someone’s power; a passive form in the same word family.
ἐξουσιασθήσομαι
This shows authority’s other direction: someone acts with power, while another can be placed under it.
ἐρωτήσω
erōtēsō
GROWS FROM
ἐρωτα-
To ask or inquire; here, “I will ask.”
The word translated “ask” belongs to a word family for inquiry and the question it produces. Jesus’ counter-question does not sidestep the demand; it makes the questioners disclose what they believe before he answers.
ALSO GROWS
erōtaō: To ask, request, or inquire.
ἐρωτάω
The verse uses a future form of this verb for a deliberate counter-question.
erōtēma: A question, inquiry, or appeal.
ἐρώτημα
The related noun keeps the focus on a question that calls for a stated judgment.
THE PATTERN
Claims about authority turn on the source that stands behind action.
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?THE THREAD
And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.The same word for authority returns, and the condition in this verse comes due: they cannot answer his question, so he does not name his authority. Their silence becomes part of the exchange, exposing the limit of their demand.
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