Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 20:21
And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person [of any,] but teachest the way of God truly:
21. Master, we know, &c.] There is something in this fawning malice, and treacherous flattery, almost as repulsive as the kiss of Judas.
neither acceptest thou the person of any ] Gal 2:6. The word for ‘person’ is prosopon, ‘a maskit is as though they would imply that Jesus was not only an Impartial Judge, too true for sycophancy, but also too keen-sighted to be deceived by hypocrisy. And the one blighting word ‘Ye hypocrites!’ shewed them that their words were truer than they had intended. From the phrase lambaneis prosopon are formed the words prosopolemptes and prosopolempsia; see Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; Act 10:34, &c. It is a Hebrew phrase, Lev 19:15; Mal 1:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This piece of history we have likewise met with, both in Mat 22:16-22, and Mar 12:14-17.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. we know, &c.hoping byflattery to throw Him off His guard.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they asked him, saying, master,…. Rabbi, or doctor; hoping, by this flattering title, and the flattering words used by them, to work him up to an openness and freedom of conversation with them:
we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly; rightly dividest the word of God, and deliverest out sound doctrine according to it: and this he certainly did, though they spoke these words hypocritically, not believing what they themselves said; at least, they did not care that others should believe this of him:
neither acceptest thou the person of any. The Persic version very wrongly renders it, “and lookest not upon the countenance, and heart of any one whomsoever”; for though Christ did not look upon the countenances of men, and judge according to the outward appearance, nor regard men on account of outward circumstances, as riches, honours, learning, c. yet he looked upon the heart, and knew what was in it, and respected sincerity and uprightness wherever he found it, and which were wanting in these men:
but teachest the way of God truly the way of worshipping God, and of enjoying him, both in this world, and in that to come;
[See comments on Mt 22:16].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Rightly (). Matthew (Mt 22:16) notes that these “spies” were “disciples” (students) of the Pharisees and Mark (Mr 12:13) adds that the Herodians are also involved in the plot. These bright theologues are full of palaver and flattery and openly endorse the teaching of Jesus as part of their scheme.
Acceptest not the person of any ( ). Dost not take the face (or personal appearance) as the test. It is a Hebraism from which the word (Jas 2:1) comes. Originally it meant to lift the face, to lift the countenance, to regard the face, to accept the face value. See Mark 12:13-17; Matt 22:15-22 for discussion of details here. They both have here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Acceptest not the person. See on Jas 2:1.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they asked him, saying,” (kai eperotesan auton legontes) “And they questioned him, repeatedly saying;” These are the “spies” the hired witnesses, the suborned entrapment employees, who were sent by the chief priests and scribes to confront Jesus with feigned piety, as carefully planned, Luk 20:19-20.
2) “Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly,” (didaskale, oidamen hoti orthos legeis kai didaskeis) “Teacher, we know that you teach and speak rightly,” in an orthodox manner. Note the deceitful flattery of feigned admiration they used to approach Him. If they believed it, why did they not follow His right teaching? Psa 78:36; Pro 20:20; Pro 26:28; Pro 29:5.
3) “Neither acceptest thou the person of any,” (kai ou lambaneis prosopon) “And you do not regard a person’s face,” you do not compromise your convictions, but say what you think is right. Then why did they not perceive that He knew their ulterior motives in an intended entrapment encounter? Did He not know their person, even the thin flattery they then spoke, Joh 2:24-25.
4) “But teachest the way of God truly:” (air ep’ aletheias ten hodon tou theou didaskeis) “But on the basis of truth you teach the way of God,” Mat 22:26; Mar 12:14. You tell the word of truth like it is, and He did. If they were all this knowledgeable, then why did they not receive Him? Truly “the wisdom of this world is foolishness (moronic) with (in comparison with) God,” 1Co 3:19. For truly he “taketh (seizes) the wise in their own craftiness,” as He is about to do in this encounter that follows.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(21) Neither acceptest thou the person of any.To accept the person takes the place of regarding or looking at the person of Mat. 22:16, where see Note. The precise combination which St. Luke uses meets us again in Gal. 2:6.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach rightly, and do not accept the person of any, but of a truth teach the way of God.” ’
Their approach was with obsequious flattery. It is a warning to us to beware of those who speak too well of us. Very often it is because they seek to trap us. Here they lauded Him to the skies. They addressed Him as ‘Teacher’ (‘Rabbi), and then declared firstly that they knew that He only ever spoke and taught what was true, secondly that He was not afraid of any man’s person, and thirdly that He always spoke God’s way in truth. Such flattery could only have made Him suspicious, (any sensible person would have thought on receiving it, ‘now what do they want?’), but they did it because they hoped that it would make Him drop His guard and that, eager to show them how right they were about Him, He would give them the answer that they wanted.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any , but teachest the way of God truly:
Ver. 21. See Mat 22:16 ; Mar 12:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 20:21 . , rightly, as in Luk 7:43 , pointing not to sincerity in speech ( ) and teaching ( ) but to sound judgment = you always say the right thing; the second clause points to impartiality = you say the same thing to all; the third to sincerity = you say what you think. They describe an ideal from which their own masters were as remote as possible.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
asked = questioned.
Master = Teacher. Greek. didaskalos. App-98. Luk 20:1.
we know. Greek. oida. App-132.
neither. Greek. ou. App-105.
acceptest. See Gal 1:2, Gal 1:6. Jam 2:1. It is a Hebraism. See Lev 19:15. Mal 1:8.
God. Greek. theos. App-98.
truly = with (Greek. epi. App-104.) truth.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 20:21. , rightly) rigidly, with any bending of the truth [to suit a purpose].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jesus Confounds His Questioners — Luk 20:21-47
And they asked Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest Thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But He perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? Show Me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesars. And He said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesars, and unto God the things which be Gods. And they could not take hold of His words before the people: and they marvelled at His answer, and held their peace. Then came to Him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any mans brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her to wife, and he died childless. And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from die dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that die dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and die God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him. Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, Thou hast well said. And after that they durst not ask Him any question at all. And He said unto them, How say they that Christ is Davids son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. David therefore calleth Him Lord, how is He then his son? Then in the audience of all the people He said unto His disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and die chief rooms at feasts; which devour widows houses, and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation- Luk 20:21-47.
In this section we have our Lord Jesus Christ in controversy with His enemies. Two questions were raised by the leaders of the Jews; and one by the Lord Himself, and a very solemn warning added.
The first question had to do with the tribute money. We are told in Luk 20:19, And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on Him. They were watching Him. They sent men as spies, and they wanted to find some fault in Him for which they might arrest Him. This was the reason for their questions, which were put to Him by men who desired to entrap Him. In the first instance they endeavored to get Him to say something that would put Him in opposition to the Roman Government. They themselves hated that government, and they would have been delighted if it had been overthrown and the Jews liberated as a nation. But they took this opportunity to try to put the Lord Jesus in apparent opposition to the representatives of that government: And they asked Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest Thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. This was mere flattery. If they believed what they said they would have given heed to His words. They approached Him in this way in order to get Him to commit Himself, We know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest Thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. Then they put the question, Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? In other words, they were saying, This is the land of Israel! We know God gave this land to Abraham, our father, and to us, his descendants. Have the Romans the right to bear authority over us and to collect tribute from us? Is it lawful for us to meet their demands and pay taxes, to give tribute to Caesar? But He perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? Show Me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesars. The word translated penny refers to a much more valuable coin than either our penny, or an English penny, which is worth twice as much as ours. The word is denarius. A denarius was a little smaller than our twenty-five cent piece but had far more purchasing value in those days. Show Me a denarius, and someone handed Him one. Did He have none Himself? Probably not. He deigned to become poorer than the poorest in order to enrich us. You remember on another occasion a denarius was needed to pay the temple tax; so He sent Peter down to the seaside and commanded him to cast in his line and bring up a fish. He told him when he had taken the fish and opened his mouth he would find a denarius. When Peter obeyed, by casting in his line he drew up the fish and found the denarius. Evidently somebody had lost that coin overboard, and this fish, seeing it sinking in the water, darted over and swallowed it, and it lodged in the gullet of the fish; and there it was ready to pay the Lords tax when the time came. He seems to have been without a penny this time, and He said, Show Me a penny, and they handed Him one. He looked it over and asked, Whose image and superscription hath it? Many of those ancient Roman denarii, with the likeness of one of the Emperors upon them, are found today in different collections in our great museums. They answered and said, Caesars. He said, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesars, and unto God the things which be Gods. They were willing to use Caesars money; they were ready to profit thereby. Then they should pay such taxes to Caesar as he demanded. They were to recognize that the powers that be are ordained of God.
The principle which the Lord set forth applies today. We as Christians know that it is God who puts up one ruler and puts down another; it is He who permits any particular government to exist. We are therefore to pay taxes as commanded by the rulers of the land in which we live. We are also to remember that we are heavenly citizens, that we are linked up with the God of heaven. We are to render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and we are to render unto God the things that belong to Him. Jesus knew well that these scribes were trying to get Him to commit Himself so that they might accuse Him, but His words silenced them. They could not take hold ,of His words before the people: and they marvelled at His answer, and held their peace.
Having been silenced on this point they next came to Him with a doctrinal question: Then came to Him certain of the Sadducees which deny that there is any resurrection. There were at this time several different sects among the Jews; two of them are specifically mentioned in Scripture, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the most orthodox party in Israel. The Sadducees did not believe in angels or spirits, or in the resurrection of the body. The Pharisees confessed all these things. And so there was constant strife between them because of their different doctrinal positions. It was a group of these Sadducees who put to the Lord what they thought was a very perplexing question. They asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any mans brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. That was according to the law of Moses. If an Israelite married and he was taken away by death and left no children to inherit his estate, his brother, if free to do so, was responsible to marry the widow. If children were born as the result of that marriage, the first child would inherit the estate of the deceased husband as though the child were his own. The Sadducees supposed a case where seven brothers were married in turn to one woman and all died childless. Probably the whole story was fabricated in order to enable them to show, as they thought, the absurdity of a physical resurrection. So they put the question, Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife. The Lord Jesus was not perplexed; He was not troubled about that. He turned to them and said, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God (Mat 22:29). How often we err because we do not know the Scriptures and ignore the power of God! If we knew our Bibles better we would have fewer questions to ask. And if we recognized the power of God more definitely we would not be as confused as we often are. The Sadducees did not know the Scriptures, nor did they realize Gods omnipotence. Jesus added, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. When our Lord became Man He was made a little lower than the angels. Man under the present order is lower than the angels which are greater in power and might; but in the resurrection the redeemed will be equal unto the angels. We will no longer be inferior to them, because we will be the children of God in a manifest sense, even the children of the resurrection. All this the Sadducees denied. The Lord continued to answer by saying, Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him. But where is there anything in that about resurrection? Well, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not blotted out of existence; they had not become extinct through death; they are still living. God did not say to Moses that He was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob when they were here in the world. He said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus explained this clearly. So our dear ones in Christ who have left us are not utterly unconscious: they are living unto God; He knows them well and they know Him, and they have blessed fellowship with Him. It is necessary that there be a resurrection for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because God had made a promise to them which had not been fulfilled. He promised to give them the land of Canaan that they might possess it to the end of the time, and they never possessed it while on earth. They dwelt in the land as strangers, but the promise will be fulfilled when God brings them back from the dead. Thus the Lord silenced these Sadducees. Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, Thou hast well said. And after that they durst not ask Him any questions at all.
He then put a question to them; one which they found it impossible to answer unless they were willing to bow before Him and accept Him as their Messiah and Saviour. He said unto them, How say they that Christ is Davids Son? Why did the scribes say the Messiah is Davids Son? Scripture says that in many places. In the 110th Psalm (Psa 110:1) we read, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Now that passage admittedly referred to the Messiah, the coming Redeemer. David wrote it, and David there calls the Messiah his Lord. He says, Jehovah said unto my Lord. David therefore calleth Him Lord, how is He then his Son? If they had been able to answer that question intelligently, the whole truth of His Messiahship would have been settled. The answer is this: He is Davids Lord because He is the eternal God; He is Davids Son because He became Man, and He chose to come into this world as born of a daughter of Davids line, the blessed Virgin Mary. He is therefore both Davids Son and Davids Lord.
Then in the audience of all the people He said unto His disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts. They took their places as the religious leaders of the people. The Lord knew that many of them were downright hypocrites: they devoured widows houses, and for a show they made long prayers. Many of them were money-lenders, who would take mortgages on the homes of widows at exorbitant interest, so that the poor women would have great difficulty in keeping up their payments; and then when they got in arrears these hypocrites would foreclose the mortgages and take everything from the helpless widows. Was not that legal? Yes; it was legal according to mans laws. But many things were legal according to mans law which were absolutely illegal according to the law of God, who had forbidden the very practices of which these hypocrites were guilty. Imagine one of these extortioners foreclosing on a widows home on Friday night, and on the Sabbath standing up in the synagogue and making a long prayer! It may well speak to us today. God give us to be consistent, that our lives may answer to our profession, that we may be real in public and in private, as real before God in our business as in the affairs of the Church of God. The Lord said, The same shall receive greater damnation. The day is coming when the Lord will deal with all hypocrites. Such hypocrites are found among those who profess Christianity, and many make this an excuse for rejecting Christ. But it does not alter the fact that if you are not saved at last you will have to answer for your .own sins in the day of judgment. How much better to get right with God now than to wait until that day when He will judge every man according to his works!
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Master: Psa 12:2, Psa 55:21, Jer 42:2, Jer 42:3, Mat 22:16, Mat 26:49, Mat 26:50, Mar 12:14, Joh 3:2
sayest: 2Co 2:17, Gal 1:10, 1Th 2:4, 1Th 2:5
acceptest: 2Ch 19:7, Job 34:19, Act 10:34, Act 10:35, Gal 2:6
truly: or, of a truth
Reciprocal: Deu 1:17 – shall not Psa 38:12 – speak Pro 10:18 – that hideth Pro 26:28 – a flattering Pro 29:5 – spreadeth Mal 2:6 – law Mat 2:8 – that Luk 7:40 – Master Act 16:17 – the way Rom 2:11 – General Rom 13:6 – pay Col 3:25 – and 1Ti 5:21 – without preferring
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
These spies really did know all the things they claimed to know, and their statements were the truth. But their motive in saying them was to flatter Jesus, which they should have known would be a failure.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
20:21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the {e} person [of any], but teachest the way of God truly:
(e) You are not moved by favour of any man: and by “person” he means outward circumstances, for if a man judges according to these, there will be those who are truly alike whom he will judge to be different.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The spies’ preamble was both flattering and devious (cf. Act 24:2-3). They claimed to accept Jesus’ teaching and to desire a clarification of a point of law. Probably they hoped that their preamble would give Jesus a feeling of self-confidence that would lead to a foolish answer. They wanted to know if Jesus believed that the Mosaic Law required the Jews to pay taxes (Gr. phoros, a general word for tribute) to the occupying Romans. They thought that if Jesus said yes He would alienate the common people, especially the Zealots, who objected strongly to paying. If Jesus said no, He would incur the wrath of Rome, and the Sanhedrin could tell Pilate that He taught the people not to pay their taxes.