Matthew 16:4
in Matthew 16A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed.
KJV
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
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This verse in Matthew 16
Commentary
14 notes on this verse(Chapter XVI—Verse 1 and following) And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. But he answered and said to them: When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
This site's exposition
discern the face of the sky
on Matthew 16:3-4
Jesus answers with a weather proverb every farmer in the region would recognize, red sky at evening for fair weather, red and overcast at morning for storm, and then presses the irony: they can read the sky's face with ease but cannot read the hour standing in front of them. Some early manuscripts omit this weather saying, a text critical note the exposition holds alongside the reading, since the KJV floor carries it in full and the point stands either way. The sign refused here is the sign of Jonas repeated from 12:39-41, its second sounding in this Gospel, and Jesus simply leaves them and departs.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Now he called them evil because their wicked deeds had made them evil people (evil because of deliberate wickedness) and adulterous because when the Pharisees and Sadducees left their metaphoric spouse, the true word, they committed adultery, with falsehood and the law of sin.Assume there are two laws: the law of our bodies, which is in conflict with the law of our mind.
Observe, we do not read here as in other places, that He sent the multitudes away and departed; but because the error of unbelief held the minds of the presumptuous, it is said that He left them.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 53 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
"And besides, how shall I give the great signs, when the little are not believed?" Little, I mean, as regards display, since in power these latter were much greater than the former. For what could be equal to remitting sins, and raising the dead, and driving away devils, and creating a body, and ordering all other things aright? But do thou see their hardened heart, how on being told, that "no sign should be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonas," they do not ask. And yet, knowing both the prophet, and all that befell him, and having been told this a second time, they ought to have inquired and learnt what the saying could mean; but, as I said, there is no desire of information in these their doings. For this cause "He also left them, and departed."
Just as that whale was not able to digest Jonah nor was able to keep him alive inside himself for long, so too voracious Death assuredly received the Lord. But since he was not able to keep him alive and in custody inside himself, Death …
But he descended from the sky and established for these an earthly sign that he might preserve among them a conviction of bodily humility, saying that the sign was to be given by Jonah. The Lord compares himself by means of like appearance with this one whom he had dispatched to Nineveh to accomplish the coming suffering for the proclamation of repentance. Indeed, Jonah was thrown from the ship by furiously raging winds and was devoured by the whale. After the space of three days he was cast out alive, not retained by the monster. He was not digested as food, but contrary to the nature of the human body, he escaped whole and unharmed into the open air. He prefigured the Lord. Therefore Jesus demonstrated that this sign of his own power had been divinely constituted, thus proclaiming in himself the forgiveness of sins through repentance. For he was soon to be cast out of Jerusalem and the synagogue by the blast of unclean spirits and by the power of Pontius Pilate.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then he denies the sign they asked for; hence it is said: a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. It is called a wicked generation, because it departs from God: for evil is through departure from God. He forsook God who made him, …
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and departed. He calls them "a wicked generation" for tempting Him, and "adulterous" for deserting God …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A wicked and adulterous generation,.... He says the same things here, as he did to the Pharisees on a like occasion, in Mat 12:39. And he left them; as persons hardened, perverse, and incurable, and as unworthy to be conversed with: and departed: to the ship which brought him thither, and went in it to the other side of the sea of Galilee; see Mar 8:13.
A wicked and adulterous generation - Ye would seek no further sign, did not your wickedness, your love of the world, which is spiritual adultery, blind your understanding.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Wicked and adulterous generation - The Jewish people are represented in the Sacred Writings as married to the Most High; but, like a disloyal wife, forsaking their true husband, and uniting themselves to Satan and sin. Seeketh after a sign, σημειον επιζητει, seeketh sign upon sign, or, still another sign.
In these verses we find our Lord assailed by the untiring enmity of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As a general rule these two sects were at enmity between themselves; in persecuting Christ, however, they made common cause. Truly it was an unholy alliance! Yet how often we see the same thing in the present day. Men of the most opposite opinions and habits will agree in disliking the Gospel, and will work together to oppose its progress. “There is no new thing under the sun” ( Ecclesiastes 1:9 ).
In these verses we find our Lord assailed by the untiring enmity of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As a general rule these two sects were at enmity between themselves; in persecuting Christ, however, they made common cause. Truly it was an unholy alliance! Yet how often we see the same thing in the present day. Men of the most opposite opinions and habits will agree in disliking the Gospel, and will work together to oppose its progress. “There is no new thing under the sun” ( Ecclesiastes 1:9 ). The first point in this passage which deserves special notice is the repetition which our Lord makes of words used by him on a former occasion. He says, “a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” If we turn to the twelth chapter of this gospel and the thirty ninth verse, we shall find that he had said the very same thing once before. This repetition may seem a trifling and unimportant matter in the eyes of some. But it is not so in reality. It throws light on a subject which has perplexed the minds of many sincere lovers of the Bible, and ought therefore to be specially observed. This repetition shows us that our Lord was in the habit of saying the same things over again. He did not content himself with saying a thing once, and afterwards never repeating it. It is evident that it was his custom to bring forward certain truths again and again, and thus to impress them more deeply on the minds of his disciples. He knew the weakness of our memories on spiritual things; he knew that what we hear twice, we remember better than what we hear once. He therefore brought out of his treasury old things as well as new. Now what does all this teach us? It teaches us that we need not be so anxious to harmonize the narratives we read in the four Gospels, as many are disposed to be.
The words behind it
20 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| γενεὰ | genea | A generation | G1074 → | 43 times |
| πονηρὰ | ponera | evil | G4190 → | 78 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μοιχαλὶς | moichalis | adulterous | G3428 → | |
| σημεῖον | semeion | a sign | G4592 → | 75 times |
| ἐπιζητεῖ· | epizetei | seeks; | G1934 → | 13 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| σημεῖον | semeion | a sign | G4592 → | 75 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| δοθήσεται | dothesetai | will be given | G1325 → | 412 times |
| αὐτῇ | autea | to it | G846 → | 5565 times |
| εἰ | ei | only | G1487 → | 508 times |
| μὴ | me | except | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σημεῖον | semeion | sign | G4592 → | 75 times |
| Ἰωνᾶ | iona | of Jonah | G2495 → | 9 times |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| καταλιπὼν | katalipon | having left | G2641 → | 23 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀπῆλθεν.¶ | apelthen | He went away. | G565 → | 115 times |
γενεὰA generation
geneaG1074 →43 times
πονηρὰevil
poneraG4190 →78 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μοιχαλὶςadulterous
moichalisG3428 →
σημεῖονa sign
semeionG4592 →75 times
ἐπιζητεῖ·seeks;
epizeteiG1934 →13 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
σημεῖονa sign
semeionG4592 →75 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
δοθήσεταιwill be given
dothesetaiG1325 →412 times
αὐτῇto it
auteaG846 →5565 times
εἰonly
eiG1487 →508 times
μὴexcept
meG3361 →1066 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
σημεῖονsign
semeionG4592 →75 times
Ἰωνᾶof Jonah
ionaG2495 →9 times
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
καταλιπὼνhaving left
kataliponG2641 →23 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
ἀπῆλθεν.¶He went away.
apelthenG565 →115 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jonah 1:17Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
- Luke 11:30
For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.
- Matthew 12:40
Through
Mark 8:38If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the…
it leads to
- Luke 12:8–9
I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
- Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
- 1 John 2:23
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
- James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- Luke 9:26
If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the…
- Luke 12:8–9
Through
Mark 8:12Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
it leads to
- Matthew 12:39–40
Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
- Matthew 12:39–40
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Chromatius of Aquileia, TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 54.3; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 16.2-3; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 53; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12.4; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.