The Meaning of Luke 20:7 Explained

Luke 20:7

KJV: And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

YLT: And they answered, that they knew not whence it was,

Darby: And they answered, they did not know whence.

ASV: And they answered, that they knew not whence it was .

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  they answered,  that they could  not  tell  whence  [it was]. 

What does Luke 20:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 20:1-8 - The Unanswered Question
When anyone has received a divine commission, he does not need to prove it. His credentials are written large upon his life and message. It was so with John the Baptist. There was no need for him to argue his claims. The crowds in the Jordan valley; the multitudes in the baptismal waters, were sufficient to attest him as God's servant. What he said about God and sin found corroboration in their hearts. So it was with our Lord. The masses of people that followed Him and hung on His words had no doubt that He was the heir of the vineyard. The leaders professed to doubt it, because, to use the language of the parable that follows, they were reluctant to surrender their claims to the ownership of the vineyard. Probably, sufficient stress has not been laid upon the supreme intellectual power of our Lord, which shone out so clearly in these conflicts with Hebrew casuists, and in which He always came off conqueror, by the sheer force of His mind. "We have the mind of Christ!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 20

1  Jesus confirms his authority by a question of John's baptism
9  The parable of the vineyard
19  Of giving tribute to Caesar
27  He instructs the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection
41  How Jesus is the Son of David
45  He warns his disciples to beware of the scribes

Greek Commentary for Luke 20:7

That they knew not [μη ειδεναι]
Accusative and infinitive in indirect assertion again with the negative μη — mē rather than ου — ou f0). [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 20:7 mean?

And they answered not they knew from where
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν μὴ εἰδέναι πόθεν

ἀπεκρίθησαν  they  answered 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἀποκρίνομαι  
Sense: to give an answer to a question proposed, to answer.
εἰδέναι  they  knew 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Infinitive Active
Root: οἶδα  
Sense: to see.
πόθεν  from  where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πόθεν  
Sense: of place: from where, from what condition.