Matthew 16:1

The Demand for a Sign

16:1 Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Matthew 24:1

The Destruction of the Temple

24:1 Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings.


sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.

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.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.