Luke 20:2

2 and said, saying to him, "Tell us, by what authority you are doing these [things], or who is the one who gave you this authority?

Luke 20:2 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:2

And spoke unto him, saying, tell us by what authority
doest thou these things?
&c.] The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "this thing"; as if the sanhedrim only referred to his preaching the Gospel, which is mentioned in the preceding verse, and was what he was about when they came to him: but the Persic version reads, "all these things"; not only preaching, but working miracles; and particularly driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, which especially affected them, they losing their rents thereby:

or who is he that gave thee this authority?
God or man? (See Gill on Matthew 21:23).

Luke 20:2 In-Context

1 And it happened that on one of the days [while] he was teaching the people in the temple [courts] and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders

2 and said, saying to him, "Tell us, by what authority you are doing these [things], or who is the one who gave you this authority?

3 And he answered [and] said to them, "I also will ask you a question, and you tell me:

4 The baptism of John--was [it] from heaven or from men?

5 And they discussed [this] with one another, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'