Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Mark 11:28

in Mark 11

“By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You the authority to do them?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and they said unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? or who gave thee this authority to do these things?

KJV

And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

⋯

This verse in Mark 11

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

(ubi sup.) And indeed, when they say, By what authority doest thou these things, they doubt its being the power of God, and wish it to be understood that what He did was the devil's work. When they add also, Who gave thee this authority, they evidently deny that He is the Son of God, since they believe that He works miracles, not by His own but by another's power.

This site's exposition

there come to him the chief priests

on Mark 11:27-28

There come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, the full and formal representation of the Sanhedrin's three constituencies, ritual, teaching, and civic authority, united in one delegation. By what authority doest thou these things presses directly at the temple cleansing of the day before, a direct challenge to a claim they had watched him act on. The question is genuine on its surface and hostile underneath, an attempt to force him into either blasphemy or retreat before the crowd.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And say unto him, by what authority dost thou do these things?.... Enter into the temple, as if he was Lord of it; and correct in such a magisterial way every thing he thought an abuse in it; do the miracles he did, as healing the lame, and blind; and take upon him to instruct the people, a work he was now engaged in: and who gave thee this authority to do these things? See Gill on Mat 21:23.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

on Mark 11:27-33

This colt was borrowed too. Christ went upon the water in a borrowed boat, ate the passover in a borrowed chamber, was buried in a borrowed sepulchre, and here rode on a borrowed ass. Let not Christians scorn to be beholden one to another, and, when need is, to go a borrowing, for our Master did not.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

on Mark 11:27-33

Let us observe in these verses, how much spiritual blindness may be in the hearts of those who hold high ecclesiastical office . We see "the chief priests and scribes and elders" coming to our Lord Jesus, and raising difficulties and objections in the way of His work. These men, we know, were the accredited teachers and rulers of the Jewish Church. They were regarded by the Jews as the fountain and spring-head of religious knowledge. They were, most of them, regularly ordained to the position they held, and could trace their orders by regular descent from Aaron.

The words behind it

18 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 4:7They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”7 worksMark 9:14When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.4 worksExodus 2:14But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”3 worksNumbers 16:3They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”2 worksNumbers 16:13Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?2 worksActs 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 7:38–39He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.2 worksActs 7:27–28But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 7:51

    You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 10:16

      Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

    • Isaiah 63:10

      But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

    • Jeremiah 4:4

      Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…

    • Ephesians 4:30

      And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

    • Leviticus 26:41

      and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,

  • Through

    Exodus 2:14

    But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done…

    it leads to

    • Luke 12:14

      But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?”

    • Matthew 21:23

      When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And…

  • Through

    Numbers 16:3

    They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 106:16

      In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee — Rembrandt (1633), public domain
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee — Rembrandt (1633), public domain
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Mark 11 →