Matthew 16:4 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 16:4

A 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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

6 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Matthew (420)

(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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12.4 (253)

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.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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 Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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.

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)

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 ).

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
γενεὰ	genea	A generation	G1074 →
πονηρὰ	ponēra	evil	G4190 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
μοιχαλὶς	moichalis	adulterous	G3428 →
σημεῖον	sēmeion	a sign	G4592 →
ἐπιζητεῖ·	epizētei	seeks;	G1934 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
σημεῖον	sēmeion	a sign	G4592 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
δοθήσεται	dothēsetai	will be given	G1325 →
αὐτῇ	autēa	to it	G846 →
εἰ	ei	only	G1487 →
μὴ	mē	except	G3361 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
σημεῖον	sēmeion	sign	G4592 →
Ἰωνᾶ	Iōna	of Jonah	G2495 →
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
καταλιπὼν	katalipōn	having left	G2641 →
αὐτοὺς	autous	them	G846 →
ἀπῆλθεν.¶	apēlthen	He went away.	G565 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jonah 1:17
Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
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.
Through
Mark 8:38
If 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…
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…
Through
Mark 8:12
Jesus 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.”
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.