Deuteronomy 32:5

32:5 His people have been unfaithful ¹  to him;

they have not acted like his children ²  – this is their sin. ³ 

They are a perverse ⁴  and deceitful generation.

Psalms 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ⁵ 

Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ⁶  and Sadducees ⁷  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matthew 12:39

12:39 But he answered them, ⁸  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matthew 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ⁹  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Matthew 16:4

16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then ¹⁰  he left them and went away.

Matthew 23:36

23:36 I tell you the truth, ¹¹  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ¹² 

Acts 2:40

2:40 With many other words he testified ¹³  and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse ¹⁴  generation!”

¹ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

² tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

³ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

⁴ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

⁵ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).

⁶ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

⁷ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

⁸ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹² tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

¹³ tn Or “warned.”

¹⁴ tn Or “crooked” (in a moral or ethical sense). See Luke 3:5.