His challengers have no questions so he asks one of them.
Luke 20:41 How say they that Christ is David's son?
Luke 20:41 “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David?
How do they recount the anointed to be David's son?
The word "Christ" is not translated in our Bible. It means "anointed". It is like a lot of other words, "satan", "hypocrite", and so on where we don't read what Jesus spoke, but the meaning created by the Bible for this word. In the Greek, it is "the anointed".
The verb "is" equating the Anointed with son is the infinitive form "to be." Because of this both "anointed" and "son" are in the form of objects.
Jesus describes him as "a son" not "the son" because David had many sons. The word "son" means any descendant or heir, which makes more sense here.
We want to be a son and and heir.
How say they that(IW) (MW) Christ(UW) is(WF) David's son?
- IW - Inserted Word-- The "that" doesn't exist in the source.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "Christ" is not shown in the English translation.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "Christ" means "anointed".
- WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to be".
“Why(CW) is(WF) it(WN) said that the Messiah(UW) is the(IW) son of David?
- CW --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "why".
- WV --Wrong Voice - The verb here is translated as passive but it is active.
- WN --Wrong Number- The word "it" is translated as singular but the Greek verb form is plural.
- IW - Inserted Word-- The "the" doesn't exist in the source.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "Messiah" means "anointed".
- WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to be".
How -- "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means" and "I suppose".
say -- The word translated as "say" is the most common word that means "to say" and "to speak", but it also means "to teach", which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself". Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching.
they -- This is from the third-person, plural form of the following verb.
that -- (IW) There is no Greek word that is translated as "it" in the source we use today nor was there one in the source that the KJV translators used. It was added for clarity. It does exist in the more detailed version in Mark 12:35.
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word 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" and "those"). See this article for more.
Christ -- (UW) The word translated as "Christ" means "anointed." In the NT, it is understood to mean the Messiah, following the anointing of the kings of Israel. The Jews of Jesus's era thought they understood who the Messiah was and the source of his authority. He was a descendant of David, and his authority came from David as "the anointed" king of the Jews. It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
is -- (CW) The verb "is" 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. However, it is not an active verb in but an infinitive. It is part of what it said. This is not an active verb but an infinitive.
David --"David" is from a Greek form of the Hebrew name.
's -- The apostrophe "s" comes from the assumed genitive form. This case usually requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession for which an apostrophe "s" can be substituted.
son? -- The word translated as "son" is the Greek word for "son", "scion", "heir" or "descendant". Like most male words, it can be used in the plural as a generic term for both sexes when they are descendants of someone. It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. More about it in this article.
Why -- (CW) "Why" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means" and "I suppose". This is not the word usually translated as "why".
is -- (WV) This helping verb "is" seems to indicate that the verb is passive but it is active.
it -- (WN) This word is not singular but plural.
said -- The word translated as "said" is the most common word that means "to say" and "to speak", but it also means "to teach," which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself". Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching.
that -- (CW) --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "why". There is no Greek word that is translated as "it" in the source we use today nor was there one in the source that the KJV translators used. It was added for clarity. It does exist in the more detailed version in Mark 12:35.
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.
Messiah -- (UW) The Greek word translated as "Messiah" means "anointed". In the NT, it is understood to mean the Messiah, following the anointing of the kings of Israel. The Jews of Jesus's era thought they understood who the Messiah was and the source of his authority. He was a descendant of David, and his authority came from David as "the anointed" king of the Jews. "Messiah" is an untranslated Hebrew word meaning "anointed" adopted into English.
is -- (CW) The verb "is" 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. However, it is not an active verb but an infinitive. It is part of what it said.
the -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
son -- The word translated as "son" is the Greek word for "son", "scion", "heir" or "descendant". Like most male words, it can be used in the plural as a generic term for both sexes when they are descendants of someone. It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. More about it in this article.
of -- This word "of" comes from the assumed possessive form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
David --"David" is from is a Greek form of the Hebrew name.
Πῶς (adv/conj) "How" is pos, which means "how", "how in the world", "how then", "in any way", "at all", "by any means", "in a certain way" and "I suppose".
λέγουσιν ( verb 3rd pl pres ind act ) "Say they" is lego, which means "to recount", "to tell over", "to say", "to speak", "to teach", "to mean", "boast of", "tell of", "recite", "nominate" and "command". It has a secondary meaning "pick out", "choose for oneself", "pick up", "gather", "count" and "recount". A less common word that is spelled the same means "to lay", "to lay asleep" and "to lull asleep".
τὸν )[821 verses](article sg masc acc) Untranslated 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 word that can become a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones".
χριστὸν ( noun sg masc acc) "Christ" is christos, which means "to be rubbed with salve", "used as an ointment" and, of persons, "anointed".
εἶναι ( verb pres inf act ) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case", of circumstance and events "to happen" and "is possible". (The future form is esomai. The 3rd person present indicative is "esti.")
Δαυεὶδ (Hebrew Name) "David" is from is from the Greek Daueid, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name.
υἱόν; ( noun sg masc acc ) "Son" is huios, which means a "son," and more generally to refer to any descendant, of any generation. It can refer to male sons or descendants of both sexes, but not purely female descendants. It can and often does refer to adults who are not "children". When it refers to "sons" specifically, it should be translated that way, but when it can be applied to both sexes, the less familiar "descendant" is better than "children", especially since this word can refer to adults. It is often a reference to the role of "heir". but Jesus uses another word that specifically means "heir". Jesus also used it metaphorically to describe those who follow a way of thought or set of beliefs that descend from an individual.