John 2:18

John 2:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
• New International Version (NIV)The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

Context of John 2:18

16To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.” On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?” 19Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20“This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?”

John 2:18 word by word

ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν ὅτι ταῦτα ποιεῖς;¶Read the interlinear

• On account of thisοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
• demandedἀποκρίνωapokrinomai · to answerG611
• demandedκαίkai · andG2532
• demandedεἶπονepō · to sayG2036
• demandedαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• signσημεῖονsēmeion · signG4592
• can You showδεικνύωdeiknuō · to showG1166
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• to proveὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• Your authority to doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• these thingsοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778

Cross-references for John 2:18

• John 6:30So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?
• Matthew 12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
• Matthew 16:1Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
• Mark 8:11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.
• Luke 11:29As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
• John 1:25asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
• Matthew 21:23When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
• Mark 11:27After their return to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in the temple courts, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders came up to Him.
• Luke 20:1One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, came up to Him.
• Acts 4:7They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
• Acts 5:28“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”

Commentaries on John 2:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18What sign showest thou - See on Matthew 12:38; (note); Matthew 16:1; (note). When Moses came to deliver Israel, he gave signs, or miracles, that he acted under a Divine commission. What miracle dost thou work to show us that thou art vested with similar authority?Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18What sign … - What “miracle” dost thou work? He assumed the character of a prophet. He was reforming, by his “authority,” the temple. It was natural to ask by what authority this was done; and as they had been accustomed to miracles in the life of Moses, and Elijah, and the other prophets, so they demanded evidence that he had authority thus to cleanse the house of God. Seeing that thou doest - Rather “by what title or authority thou doest these things.”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 The first public work in which we find Christ engaged, was driving from the temple the traders whom the covetous priests and rulers encouraged to make a market-place of its courts. Those now make God's house a house of merchandise, whose minds are filled with cares about worldly business when attending religious exercises, or who perform Divine offices for love of gain. Christ, having thus cleansed the temple, gave a sign to those who…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-25In this section, Jesus appeared at two symbolic Jewish ceremonies. At a wedding in Cana (2:1–12), he replaced the ritual cleansing water with his own superior wine. Later, around Passover, he cleansed the temple (2:13–25).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2218-22. What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?--Though the act and the words of Christ, taken together, were sign enough, they were unconvinced: yet they were awed, and though at His very next appearance at Jerusalem they "sought to kill Him" for speaking of "His Father" just as He did now (Joh 5:18), they, at this early stage, only ask a sign.Read the comment

Topics related to John 2:18

• Jesus, the Christ

In the dictionaries

• Fill
• Hour
• Miracle
• Propitiation
• Scourge
• Syriac
• Testify
• Jesus Christ
• John, the Epistles of
• Last Time, Times

Commentaries on John 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings