20:8a–b

And Jesus replied: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And Jesus replied is literally, “And Jesus said to them.” The Revised Standard Version and several other English versions translate it that way. It introduces Jesus’ response to what the leaders said in 20:7b. Some other ways to translate it are:

Then Jesus said to the leaders
-or-
So Jesus replied

Introduce Jesus’ response in a natural way in your language.

Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things: Jesus refused to answer the question that the Jewish leaders had asked him.

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Neither indicates here that Jesus would not tell the leaders where he got his authority. Jesus said this because the leaders would not say where John got his authority. Some other ways to translate this are:

⌊You refuse to tell me what right John had to baptize.⌋ So I too will not tell you what right I have to do these things.
-or-
I also will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things, ⌊because you will not say who gave John his authority⌋.
-or-
Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do. (Contemporary English Version)

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