Luke 11:16

11:16 Others, to test ¹  him, ²  began asking for ³  a sign ⁴  from heaven.

Luke 11:29

The Sign of Jonah

11:29 As ⁵  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ⁶  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ⁷  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ⁸ 

[11:16]  ¹ tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.

[11:16]  ² tn The pronoun “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[11:16]  ³ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The imperfect ἐζήτουν (ezhtoun) is taken ingressively. It is also possible to regard it as iterative (“kept on asking”).

[11:16]  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.

[11:29]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:29]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:29]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.