Luke 20:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Luke 20:3 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2. Luke 20:4 sn John, like Jesus, was not a part of the official rabbinic order. So the question “John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men?” draws an analogy between John the Baptist and Jesus. See Luke 3:1-20; 7:24-27. The phrase John’s baptism refers to the baptism practiced by John.
3. Luke 20:4 tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) is used here (and in v. 6) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.
4. Luke 20:5 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ question.