Luke 20:5

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

Luke 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:5

And they reasoned with themselves
Or "they thought with themselves", as the Syriac version; or "within themselves", as the Vulgate Latin, though they did not express it; or "one with another", as the Arabic version; they took counsel together, and debated the matter among themselves, and reasoned after this manner:

saying, if we shall say from heaven;
which was what, in their own consciences, they believed to be true,

he will say, why then believed ye him not?
in what he said concerning the Messiah; which if they had, as they should, there would have been no reason for such a question they had put; (See Gill on Matthew 21:25).

Luke 20:5 In-Context

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?'

6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced [that] John was a prophet."

7 And they replied [that they] did not know where [it was] from.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation