Isaiah 7:11

7:11 “Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ¹ 

Matthew 12:39

12:39 But he answered them, ²  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

John 2:18

2:18 So then the Jewish leaders ³  responded, ⁴  “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” ⁵ 

John 6:30

6:30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?

John 10:38

10:38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, ⁶  so that you may come to know ⁷  and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

¹ tn Heb “Make it as deep as Sheol or make it high upwards.” These words suggest that Ahaz can feel free to go beyond the bounds of ordinary human experience.

² tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

³ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. Here the author refers to the authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.)

⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

⁵ sn The request “What sign can you show us” by Jesus’ adversaries was a request for a defense of his actions – a mark of divine authentication. Whether this was a request for a miracle is not entirely clear. Jesus never obliged such a request. Yet, ironically, the only sign the Jewish leadership will get is that predicted by Jesus in 2:19 – his crucifixion and resurrection. Cf. the “sign of Jonah” in the synoptics (Matt 12:39, 40; Luke 11:29-32).

⁶ tn Or “works.”

⁷ tn Or “so that you may learn.”