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John’s baptism[a]—was it from heaven or from people?”[b] So[c] they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

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Footnotes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Luke 20:5 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ question.