Discovery BoxIsaiah 38:7-8
Context38:7 Isaiah replied, 1 “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” 2 And then the shadow went back ten steps. 3
Matthew 16:1-4
Context16:1 Now when the Pharisees 4 and Sadducees 5 came to test Jesus, 6 they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 7 16:2 He 8 said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ 16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ 9 You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, 10 but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times. 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 11 he left them and went away.
Mark 8:11-12
Context8:11 Then the Pharisees 12 came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for 13 a sign from heaven 14 to test him. 8:12 Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, 15 no sign will be given to this generation.”
Luke 11:29-30
Context11:29 As 16 the crowds were increasing, Jesus 17 began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, 18 but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 19 11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, 20 so the Son of Man will be a sign 21 to this generation. 22
[38:7] 1 tn The words “Isaiah replied” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the present form of the Hebrew text v. 7 is joined directly to v. 6, but vv. 21-22, if original to Isaiah 38, must be inserted here. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.
[38:8] 2 tn Heb “the shadow on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, with the sun, back ten steps.”
[38:8] 3 tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”
[16:1] 4 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[16:1] 5 sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
[16:1] 6 tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.
[16:1] 7 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.
[16:2] 8 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and δέ (de) has not been translated.
[16:3] 9 tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).
[16:3] 10 tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”
[16:4] 11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[8:11] 12 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
[8:11] 13 tn Grk “seeking from him.” The participle ζητοῦντες (zhtountes) shows the means by which the Pharisees argued with Jesus.
[8:11] 14 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.
[8:12] 15 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
[11:29] 16 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[11:29] 17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:29] 18 sn The mention of a sign alludes back to Luke 11:16. Given what Jesus had done, nothing would be good enough. This leads to the rebuke that follows.
[11:29] 19 sn As the following comparisons to Solomon and Jonah show, in the present context the sign of Jonah is not an allusion to Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish, but to Jesus’ teaching about wisdom and repentance.
[11:30] 20 tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).
[11:30] 21 tn The repetition of the words “a sign” are not in the Greek text, but are implied and are supplied here for clarity.
[11:30] 22 tc Only the Western ms D and a few Itala
