14:6

And: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And here introduces the fact that the leaders did not respond to Jesus’ question in 14:5a–b in the way Jesus wanted them to. Some English versions do not have a conjunction here. Other versions, such as the Good News Translation and NET Bible, introduce this verse with “But.” Connect 14:6 to 14:5 in a natural way in your language. See the examples in the next note.

they were unable to answer these questions: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they were unable to answer these questions is literally “they could not reply to these things.” The English Standard Version translates it that way. This Greek clause is slightly different from the clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “they remained silent” in 14:4a.

The phrase “could not reply” implies that the leaders could not think of a way to answer Jesus’ question without supporting his viewpoint. They did not want to admit that they would rescue a person or animal from a well on the Sabbath. If they admitted that, they would also be admitting that Jesus was right to heal the man. Other ways to translate this clause are:

And to this they could find no answer (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
They couldn’t argue with him about this. (God’s Word)
-or-
But they were not able to answer him about this. (Good News Translation)

Your translation should not imply that they were literally unable to speak.

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