And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

But they thought within themselves, saying: If we shall say, From heaven: he will say: Why then did you not believe him?

So they debated the matter with one another. "If we say 'Heavenly,'" they argued, "he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'

And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?

So they discussed it among themselves, saying: "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

But they began arguing together, "If we say 'divine,' he will say 'Why didn't you believe him?'

And they reasoned with themselves,.... Or "they thought with themselves", as the Syriac version; or "within themselves", as the Vulgate Latin, though they did not express it; or "one with another", as the Arabic version; they took counsel together, and debated the matter among themselves, and reasoned after this manner:
saying, if we shall say from heaven; which was what, in their own consciences, they believed to be true,
he will say, why then believed ye him not? in what he said concerning the Messiah; which if they had, as they should, there would have been no reason for such a question they had put; See Gill on Matthew 21:25.

Why then believed ye him not?--that is, in his testimony to Jesus, the sum of his whole witness.