Luke 11:29

The Sign of Jonah

11:29 As ¹  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ²  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ³  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ⁴ 

Luke 15:8

15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins ⁵  and loses ⁶  one of them, ⁷  does not light a lamp, sweep ⁸  the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it?

[11:29]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:29]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:29]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[15:8]  ⁵ sn This silver coin is a drachma, equal to a denarius, that is, a day’s pay for the average laborer.

[15:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses.” The initial participle ἔχουσα (ecousa) has been translated as a finite verb parallel to ἀπολέσῃ (apolesh) in the conditional clause to improve the English style.

[15:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “one coin.”

[15:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “and sweep,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.