Matthew 21:25

Bible in Basic English (1941)

The baptism of John, where did it come from? from heaven or from men? And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not have faith in him?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Τὸ βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου, πόθεν ἦν; ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἢ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων; Οἱ δὲ διελογίζοντο παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς, λέγοντες, Ἐὰν Εἴπωμεν, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· ἐρεῖ ἡμῖν, Διὰ τί οὖν οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε αὐτῷ;

Transliteration

The baptisma of Iōannou, from where was it? from ouranou, or from anthrōpōn? They de dielogizonto among themselves, legontes, If we eipōmen, from ouranou; he will erei to us, Dia why then not you episteusate him?

Grammar Details

• *baptisma*: nominative neuter singular - baptism
• *Iōannou*: genitive masculine singular - of John
• *ouranou*: genitive masculine singular - heaven
• *anthrōpōn*: genitive masculine plural - men/people
• *de*: postpositive particle - but/and
• *dielogizonto*: imperfect middle indicative, 3rd person plural - they reasoned/discussed
• *legontes*: present active participle, nominative masculine plural - saying
• *eipōmen*: aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural - we may say
• *erei*: future active indicative, 3rd person singular - he will say
• *Dia*: preposition with accusative - because of/for
• *episteusate*: aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural - you believed

Word Meanings

• *baptisma*: baptism/immersion/washing
• *ouranou*: heaven/sky
• *anthrōpōn*: men/people/mankind
• *dielogizonto*: reasoned/discussed/deliberated
• *eipōmen*: say/tell/speak
• *erei*: will say/tell/speak
• *episteusate*: believed/trusted/had faith in

Referenced Verses

• 1 John 3:20 : 20 When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things.
• Matt 3:1-9 : 1 And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the waste land of Judaea, 2 Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near. 3 For this is he of whom Isaiah the prophet said, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. 4 Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea went out to him, and all the people from near Jordan; 6 And they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying openly that they had done wrong. 7 But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? 8 Let your change of heart be seen in your works: 9 And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. 10 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire. 11 Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire: 12 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.
• Matt 11:7-9 : 7 And when they were going away, Jesus, talking of John, said to all the people, What went you out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind? 8 But what went you out to see? a man delicately clothed? Those who have fair robes are in kings' houses. 9 But why did you go out? to see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you. 11 Truly I say to you, Among the sons of women there has not been a greater than John the Baptist: but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way in, and men of force take it. 13 For all the prophets and the law were in force till John. 14 And if you are able to see it, this is Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him give ear.
• Matt 17:12-13 : 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come, and they had no knowledge of him, but did to him whatever they were pleased to do; the same will the Son of man undergo at their hands. 13 Then the disciples saw that he was talking to them of John the Baptist.
• Mark 1:1-9 : 1 The first words of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 Even as it is said in the book of Isaiah the prophet, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight; 4 John came, and gave baptism in the waste land, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. 5 And there went out to him all the people of Judaea, and all those of Jerusalem, and they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying that they were sinners. 6 And John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. 7 And he said to them all, There is one coming after me who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. 8 I have given you baptism with water, but he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit. 9 And it came about in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was given baptism by John in the Jordan. 10 And straight away, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens broken open and the Spirit coming down on him as a dove: 11 And a voice came out of heaven, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
• Mark 11:27-33 : 27 And they came again to Jerusalem: and while he was walking in the Temple, there came to him the chief priests and the scribes and those in authority: 28 And they said to him, By what authority do you do these things? or who gave you authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus said to them, I will put to you one question; give me an answer, and I will say by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? give me an answer. 31 And they gave thought to it among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did you not have faith in him? 32 But if we say, From men--they were in fear of the people, because all took John to be truly a prophet. 33 And they said in answer to Jesus, We have no idea. And Jesus said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.
• Luke 1:11-17 : 11 And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar. 12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him. 13 But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John. 14 And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth. 16 And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.
• Luke 1:67-80 : 67 And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words: 68 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free, 69 Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 (As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,) 71 Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us; 72 To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word, 73 The oath which he made to Abraham, our father, 74 That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship, 75 In righteousness and holy living before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins, 78 Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us, 79 To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace. 80 And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.
• Luke 3:2-9 : 2 When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land. 3 And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. 4 As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. 5 Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh will see the salvation of God. 7 So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? 8 Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham. 9 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire. 10 And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do? 11 And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same. 12 Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do? 13 And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount. 14 And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you. 15 And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not, 16 John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire: 17 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out. 18 And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people; 19 But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done, 20 Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.
• Luke 7:28-35 : 28 I say to you, Among all the sons of women, not one is greater than John: but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 (And all the people, and the tax-farmers, to whom John had given baptism, when they had knowledge of these things, gave glory to God. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were against the purpose of God for themselves, not having had his baptism.) 31 What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like? 32 They are like children who are seated in the market-place, crying out to one another, and saying, We made music for you, but you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow, but you were not sad. 33 For John the Baptist came, taking no food or drink, and you say, He has an evil spirit. 34 The Son of man came feasting, and you say, Here is a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners. 35 But wisdom is judged to be right by all her children.
• Luke 20:5 : 5 And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?
• John 1:6 : 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
• John 1:15 : 15 John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.
• John 1:25-34 : 25 And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet? 26 John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge; 27 It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes. 28 These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism. 29 The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me. 31 I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel. 32 And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him. 33 I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit. 34 This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
• John 3:18 : 18 The man who has faith in him does not come up to be judged; but he who has no faith in him has been judged even now, because he has no faith in the name of the only Son of God.
• John 3:26-36 : 26 And they went to John and said to him, Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the man to whom you gave witness, is now giving baptism, and everyone is going to him. 27 And this was John's answer: A man is unable to have anything if it is not given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves give witness that I said, I am not the Christ. What I said was, I am sent before the Christ. 29 He who has the bride is the husband: but the husband's friend, whose place is by his side and whose ears are open to him, is full of joy because of the husband's voice: such is my joy, and it is complete. 30 He has to become greater while I become less. 31 He who comes from heaven is greater than all others: he who comes from earth is of the earth, and of the earth are his words: he who comes from heaven is over all. 32 He gives witness of what he has seen and of what has come to his ears; and no man takes his witness as true. 33 He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father has love for the Son and has put all things into his hands. 36 He who has faith in the Son has eternal life; but he who has not faith in the Son will not see life; God's wrath is resting on him.
• John 5:33-36 : 33 You sent to John and he gave true witness. 34 But I have no need of a man's witness: I only say these things so that you may have salvation. 35 He was a burning and shining light, and for a time you were ready to be happy in his light. 36 But the witness which I have is greater than that of John: the work which the Father has given me to do, the very work which I am now doing, is a witness that the Father has sent me.
• John 5:44-47 : 44 How is it possible for you to have faith while you take honour one from another and have no desire for the honour which comes from the only God? 45 Put out of your minds the thought that I will say things against you to the Father: the one who says things against you is Moses, on whom you put your hopes. 46 If you had belief in Moses you would have belief in me; for his writings are about me. 47 If you have no belief in his writings, how will you have belief in my words?
• John 10:25-26 : 25 Jesus said in answer, I have said it and you have no belief: the works which I do in my Father's name, these give witness about me. 26 But you have no belief because you are not of my sheep.
• John 12:37-43 : 37 But though he had done such a number of signs before them, they still had no belief in him: 38 So that the words of the prophet Isaiah might come true, when he said, Lord, who has any belief in our preaching? and the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been unveiled? 39 For this reason they were unable to have belief, because Isaiah said again, 40 He has made their eyes blind, and their hearts hard; for fear that they might see with their eyes and get knowledge with their hearts, and be changed, and I might make them well. 41 (Isaiah said these words because he saw his glory. His words were about him.) 42 However, a number even of the rulers had belief in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not say so openly for fear that they might be shut out from the Synagogue: 43 For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.