This is Jesus's questioner for his challengers who want to know the sources the Jesus's authority.
Luke 20:4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
Luke 20:4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
The dunking of John: was it from sky or from men?
The "religious" words here, "baptism" and "heaven" were not heard as religious at the time. What people heard was "dunking" and "sky." The fact that "heaven" and "men" are introduced by the same preposition, meaning "from" is lost in translation because one of those "from's" is change to an "of men."
All powerful ideas are from the sky. Getting drenched started with downpours.
The baptism(CW) of John, was it from heaven(CW), or of(CW) men?
- CW --Confusing Word -- The word "baptism" has a religious meaning that the Greek word didn't have.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The word, "heaven," is a religious concept, but this word just means "sky."
- CW --Confusing Word -- This is the word usually translated as "from."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" at the beginning of the sentence is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The word "baptism" has a religious meaning that the Greek word didn't have.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The word, "heaven," is a religious concept, but this word just means "sky."
- CW --Confusing Word -- This is the word usually translated as "from."
- IW - Inserted Word-- The "origin" doesn't exist in the source.
The -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
baptism -- (CW) The Greek noun for "baptism" appears only in the NT. However, it comes from a Greek verb that means to "dip" or "to plunge" and was used for many different ideas ranging a town being "flooded to a person being "drown" and from someone being "over their heads" in debt to "getting in deep water." The word "baptism" has a religious meaning that the Greek word didn't have.
of -- This word "of" comes from the possessive form (genitive case) of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
John -- "John" is from the Greek form of the proper noun.
was -- The verb "was it" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The tense is something started in the past, but not completed, still on-going.
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
from -- The Greek preposition translated as "from" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of."
heaven-- (CW) The word translated as "heaven" means simply the "sky," but it can also mean the "climate," or the "universe." It was used to indicate the realm of higher concepts such as ideals and values. It also meant the home of the gods in a physical sense: the sun, moon, and planets were named for the gods. More about the word in this article.
or -- "Or" is translated from a Greek word that means primarily "or" but serves as "than" in a comparison.
of -- (CW) The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of." This is same preposition as above. This is not the word form usually translated as "of." This is the word usually translated as "from."
men -- The Greek word for "of man" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in the plural.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
John's -- "John" is from the Greek form of the proper noun.
baptism -- (CW) The Greek noun for "baptism" appears only in the NT. However, it comes from a Greek verb that means to "dip" or "to plunge" and was used for many different ideas ranging a town being "flooded to a person being "drown" and from someone being "over their heads" in debt to "getting in deep water." The word "baptism" has a religious meaning that the Greek word didn't have.
was -- The verb "was it" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. The tense is something started in the past, but not completed, still on-going.
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
from -- The Greek preposition translated as "from" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of."
heaven-- (CW) The word translated as "heaven" means simply the "sky," but it can also mean the "climate," or the "universe." It was used to indicate the realm of higher concepts such as ideals and values. It also meant the home of the gods in a physical sense: the sun, moon, and planets were named for the gods. More about the word in this article.
or -- "Or" is translated from a Greek word that means primarily "or" but serves as "than" in a comparison.
of -- (CW) The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of." This is same preposition as above. This is not the word form usually translated as "of." This is the word usually translated as "from."
human -- The Greek word for "human" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in the plural.
origin -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
Τὸ [821 verses](article sg neut nom/acc) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). It usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. When not preceding a a word that can become a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
βάπτισμα (noun sg neut nom/acc) "The baptism" is from baptisma, which is only in the New Testament and means "baptism.
Ἰωάνου (Proper name) "Of John" is from Ioannes, which is the Greek form of the name "John." It has a Greek word ending for the "of".
ἐξ (prep) "From" is ek, which means 1) [of motion] "out of", "from", "by", "away from;" 2) [of place] "beyond", "outside of", "beyond;" 3) [of succession] "after", "from;" 4) [of rest] "on", "in," 5) [of time] "since", "from", "at", "in;" 5) [of materials] "out of", "made from." -- The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." In Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases with usually use with "of."
οὐρανοῦ (noun sg masc gen) "Heaven" is from the Greek ouranos, which means "heaven as in the vault of the sky", "heaven as the seat of the gods", "the sky", "the universe," and "the climate."
ἦν ( verb 3rd sg imperf ind act) "Was it" is from eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case," and "is possible." (The future form is esomai.)
ἢ (conj/adv) "Or" is e which is a particle meaning "either", "or," or "than." --
ἐξ (prep) "Of" is ek, which means 1) [of motion] "out of", "from", "by", "away from;" 2) [of place] "beyond", "outside of", "beyond;" 3) [of succession] "after", "from;" 4) [of rest] "on", "in," 5) [of time] "since", "from", "at", "in;" 5) [of materials] "out of", "made from."
ἀνθρώπων; (noun pl masc gen) "Of man" is from anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.