Luke 20:4

John’s baptism ¹  – was it from heaven or from people?” ² 

Da 4:25,26; Mt 11:7-19; Mt 17:11,12; Mt 21:25-32; Lu 7:28-35; Lu 15:18; Joh 1:6,19-28

¹ sn John, like Jesus, was not a part of the official rabbinic order. So the question “John’s baptism – was it from heaven or from men?” draws an analogy between John the Baptist and Jesus. See Luke 3:1-20; 7:24-27. The phrase John’s baptism refers to the baptism practiced by John.

² tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here (and in v. 6) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).

sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.