Matthew 22:41
in Matthew 22While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
KJV
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
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This verse in Matthew 22
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jesus proposes a question concerning the Messiah - See also Mar 12:35-37; Luk 20:41-44. Mat 22:41 While the Pharisees ... - Jesus, having confounded the great sects of the Jews, proceeds, in his turn, to propose to them a question for their solution. This was done, not for the purpose of vain parade and triumph, but: 1. To show them how ignorant they were of their prophecies. 2. To humble them in view of their ignorance.
This site's exposition
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them
on Matthew 22:41-42
While the Pharisees were still gathered, Jesus turns questioner himself, what think ye of Christ, whose son is he, and their answer, the Son of David, is entirely correct as far as it goes, the same title the crowds cried at his entry into the city. The Son of David thread that has run since Joseph was first so addressed reaches here its final beat before the cross, no longer a title supplied by the crowd but one the Pharisees themselves confirm under direct questioning. Their confidence in the answer is exactly what the next verse will unsettle.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 71 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Then since He had answered, He asks also in turn, "What think ye of Christ, whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David." See after how many miracles, after how many signs, after how many questions, after how great a display of His unanimity with the Father, as well in words, as in deeds; after having praised this man that said, that there is one God, He asks the question, that they may not be able to say, that He did miracles indeed, yet was an adversary to the law, and a foe to God. Therefore, after so many things, He asks these questions, secretly leading them on to confess Him also to be God. And the disciples He asked first what the others say, and then themselves; but these not so; for surely they would have said a deceiver, and a wicked one, as speaking all things without fear. So for this cause He inquires for the opinion of these men themselves. For since He was now about to go on to His passion, He sets forth the prophecy that plainly proclaims Him to be Lord; and not as having come to do this without occasion, nor as having made this His aim, but from a reasonable cause. For having asked them first, since they answered not the truth concerning Him (for they said He was a mere man), to overthrow their mistaken opinion, He thus introduces David proclaiming His Godhead. […]
(verses 41 onwards) But when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them, saying, 'What do you think about the Christ, whose son is he?' They said to him, 'David.' He said to them, 'How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?" If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son?' Those who had gathered together to test Jesus and tried to capture the truth through deceitful questioning, gave an opportunity for their own refutation.
The Medieval Church2 voices
And when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them. After he had responded to them, he himself wished to raise an objection: and he does two things. First, the question is presented; secondly, its effect, at no man was able to answer him a …
Since they thought He was a mere man, He overturns their belief and by means of the prophecy of David (Ps. 109:1) teaches the truth, that He is also the Lord, proclaiming His own divinity. For when the Pharisees said that the Christ was the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
While the Pharisees were gathered together,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
While the Pharisees were gathered together - Jesus asks a question in his turn, utterly to confound them, and to show the people that the source of all the captious questions of his opponents was their ignorance of the prophecies relative to the Messiah.
How the passage was read
On Matthew 22:23-46On Matthew 22:23-46
The Sadducees' riddle, the greatest commandment, and David's son
The Sadducees, the priestly party that denied the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8), build their riddle on levirate marriage: the Torah's command that a man marry his brother's childless widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10, the law behind Ruth; the Mishnah's tractate Yevamot regulates its cases). Seven brothers, one widow: “in the resurrection whose wife shall she be?” Jesus answers them from the Torah alone, the canon they granted: “I AM the God of Abraham” (Exodus 3:6), the living God of living men. Note where the parties stand: the Pharisees affirmed the resurrection so strongly that the Mishnah excludes from the world to come anyone who says the resurrection is not from the Torah (Sanhedrin 10:1). On this doctrine the Pharisaic tradition and Christian confession stand together against the Sadducees.
The lawyer's question that follows, “which is the great commandment?”, belongs to a genuine rabbinic genre: the search for a kelal gadol, a great governing principle. Hillel, asked to teach the whole Torah while a challenger stood on one foot, answered “what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow; that is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary; go and learn” (Shabbat 31a); Rabbi Akiva later called “love your neighbor as yourself” the all-embracing principle of the Torah (Sifra on Leviticus 19:18). Jesus' first answer IS the Shema, the confession every observant Jew prays morning and evening (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), joined to Leviticus 19:18. The materials are the tradition's own; what is His alone is the authority with which He joins and ranks them, and the counter-question He then asks from Psalm 110: whose son is the Messiah?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1 (the resurrection as core doctrine) · Shabbat 31a (Babylonian Talmud, Hillel on one foot) · Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12 (Akiva's great principle) · Mishnah Yevamot 1:1 (the levirate tractate)
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Συνηγμένων | sunegmenon | When were assembled | G4863 → | 59 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Φαρισαίων | pharisaion | Pharisees | G5330 → | 97 times |
| ἐπηρώτησεν | eperotesen | questioned | G1905 → | 56 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
ΣυνηγμένωνWhen were assembled
sunegmenonG4863 →59 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ΦαρισαίωνPharisees
pharisaionG5330 →97 times
ἐπηρώτησενquestioned
eperotesenG1905 →56 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 22:34And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together.
it leads to
- Mark 12:28–31
Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
- Matthew 25:3–5
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil.
- John 11:47–50
Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
- Mark 12:28–31
Through
Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
it leads to
- Luke 20:20–26
So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of…
- Mark 12:13–17
Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
- Psalms 2:2
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:
- Psalms 56:5–7
All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.
- Psalms 59:3
See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
- Luke 20:20–26
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 71; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.