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Mark 11:27-33, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Mark 11:27-33
Jesus Answers an Authority Trap with John's Baptism
They want his papers; he asks whether they believed John
They come again to Jerusalem. As he walks in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders come to him and say, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? Jesus answers, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me. They reason with themselves: if we shall say, From heaven, he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? If we shall say, Of men, they feared the people, for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed. They answer, We cannot tell. Jesus says, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
He is not dodging a sincere question. He is exposing a court that wants control without answering John's witness. Their fear of the crowd is not the same as truth. The scene does not authorize leaders to evade sincere accountability questions. If the question is honest, answer it. If it is a trap to keep from repenting, Jesus will not play.
How this should shape us
If you already know the next faithful step and are stalling with clever questions, stop interviewing Jesus and do the repentance John would have recognized. If someone asks you a real question about your authority, do not hide behind this paragraph.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters differ?
Best judgment: The exchange is a public contest over authority and accountability. It does not make questions illegitimate; it exposes a question used as a trap by leaders unwilling to state their judgment.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Mark 11:27-33, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 11:27-33
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew–Acts data, rows for 11:27-33
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 11:27-33 and attached translator/textual notes
Supports: Narrative boundaries, plot, characterization, kingdom, Christology, discipleship, conflict, Passion, and ending.
Broadhead, Mark, printed pp. 88–101, Mark 11.1–13.37; subsection covering 11:27-33
Supports: Authorship/date limits, whole-book movement, secrecy, disciple failure, Passion, Sonship, and reader-first context.
Enter the Bible Mark course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and related passage index; applied to 11:27-33
Supports: A complete confessional evangelical interpretation used as one traditioned voice, not consensus.
McKinley, “Mark,” Introduction and commentary heading covering Mark 11:27-33
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Mark 11:27-33, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 11:27-33
Open the Mark Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges; context controls sense.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew–Acts data, rows for 11:27-33
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Mark with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 11:27-33 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Mark PDF ↗modern scholarly narrative commentary
Mark, Second Edition
Edwin K. Broadhead
Sheffield Phoenix Press; distributed online by the Society of Biblical Literature, 2009
Supports: Narrative boundaries, plot, characterization, kingdom, Christology, discipleship, conflict, Passion, and ending.
Exact location: Broadhead, Mark, printed pp. 88–101, Mark 11.1–13.37; subsection covering 11:27-33
Open Broadhead's complete Mark commentary ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Mark course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Paul S. Berge; revised by Kristofer Phan Coffman
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2023 revision; current online course inspected 2026
Supports: Authorship/date limits, whole-book movement, secrecy, disciple failure, Passion, Sonship, and reader-first context.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Mark course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and related passage index; applied to 11:27-33
Open the Enter the Bible Mark course ↗modern open confessional commentary
Mark
Mike McKinley
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023 online edition
Supports: A complete confessional evangelical interpretation used as one traditioned voice, not consensus.
Exact location: McKinley, “Mark,” Introduction and commentary heading covering Mark 11:27-33
Open McKinley's Mark commentary ↗