12:38 Then some of the experts in the law 1 along with some Pharisees 2 answered him, 3 “Teacher, we want to see a sign 4 from you.” 12:39 But he answered them, 5 “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish 6 for three days and three nights, 7 so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
1 tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
2 tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.
3 tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.
4 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.
5 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
6 tn Grk “large sea creature.”
7 sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.