What Does Luke 20:2 Mean?
And they spoke to him, saying, Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? Or who is the one who gave you this authority?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?THE KEY
The hidden question in “authority” is not only what someone can do, but who has made that action permissible.
THE MEANING
The question meets every visible act with the deeper question beneath it: what gives this action its right to be here? Authority appears as something received, so its source remains present in the act itself. The verse speaks now wherever confidence, force, or position claims the right to define what is true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The strongest presence in the room is not necessarily self-authorizing; the verse makes the source of its authority a live question.
THE ROOT
ἐξουσίαν
exousian
GROWS FROM
ἔξεστιν
exestin
It is permitted or possible; ἐξουσία (exousia) carries the sense of authorized right or jurisdiction.
The word carries the sense of authorized right, with the sense of permission audible beneath “authority.” Its branches show that authority can be exercised or pressed over someone as domination, so the question “who gave you this?” probes the source behind the act.
ALSO GROWS
exousiazō: Exercise authority
ἐξουσιάζω
This verb shows authority as something enacted, making the question about the source relevant to what someone does.
katexousiazō: Exercise authority over; domineer
κατεξουσιάζω
This compound shows how authority can become domination, distinguishing the possession of authority from how it is used.
ἔδωκεν
edōken
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give or grant.
The sentence makes authority relational: it is given, so it is not self-originating. English keeps “who gave” beside “authority,” and the Greek makes that dependence clear through the act of granting.
ALSO GROWS
apodidōmi: Give back, render, or repay
ἀποδίδωμι
This branch makes giving answerable to a prior relation: what is given may be returned or rendered.
paradidōmi: Hand over, entrust, or deliver
παραδίδωμι
This branch shows something passing from one holder to another, illuminating how authority can be entrusted.
THE PATTERN
Authority is received from a source, and its source remains visible in what it authorizes.
And dominion was given to him, and weight, and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and tongues should serve him. His dominion is a dominion of ages, which shall not be moved away, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed.And Jesus came near and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in the heavens and upon the earth.And has given him authority to do judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.THE THREAD
And Jesus came near and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in the heavens and upon the earth.The word translated “power” here is the same Greek word ἐξουσία (exousia, authority or authorized right) translated “authority” in Luke 20:2. Luke gives the question about who grants that authority; Matthew states that it is given.
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