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 2:12

2:12 This ⁵  will be a sign ⁶  for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ⁷ 

Luke 11:16

11:16 Others, to test ⁸  him, ⁹  began asking for ¹⁰  a sign ¹¹  from heaven.

Luke 21:11

21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and famines ¹²  and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights ¹³  and great signs ¹⁴  from heaven.

Luke 11:30

11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, ¹⁵  so the Son of Man will be a sign ¹⁶  to this generation. ¹⁷ 

Luke 21:7

21:7 So ¹⁸  they asked him, ¹⁹  “Teacher, when will these things ²⁰  happen? And what will be the sign that ²¹  these things are about to take place?”

Luke 21:25

The Arrival of the Son of Man

21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ²²  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ²³  anxious ²⁴  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.

Luke 2:34

2:34 Then ²⁵  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ²⁶  This child ²⁷  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ²⁸  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ²⁹ 

Luke 23:8

23:8 When ³⁰  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ³¹  some miraculous sign. ³² 

[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.

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “And this.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:12]  ⁶ sn The sign functions for the shepherds like Elizabeth’s conception served for Mary in 1:36.

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Or “a feeding trough,” see Luke 2:7.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.

[11:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[21:11]  ¹³ sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.

[21:11]  ¹⁴ tn This term, φόβητρον (fobhtron), occurs only here in the NT. It could refer to an object, event, or condition that causes fear, but in the context it is linked with great signs from heaven, so the translation “sights” was preferred.

[21:11]  ¹⁵ sn See Jer 4:13-22; 14:12; 21:6-7.

[11:30]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).

[11:30]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tc Only the Western ms D and a few Itala mss add here a long reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and the Son of Man being three days in the earth, apparently harmonizing the text to the parallel in Matt 12:40.

[21:7]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ comments about the temple’s future destruction.

[21:7]  ²² tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[21:7]  ²³ sn Both references to these things are plural, so more than the temple’s destruction is in view. The question may presuppose that such a catastrophe signals the end.

[21:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “when.”

[21:25]  ²⁵ sn Signs in the sun and moon and stars are cosmic signs that turn our attention to the end and the Son of Man’s return for the righteous. OT imagery is present: See Isa 13:9-10; 24:18-20; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8; Joel 2:1, 30-31; 3:15.

[21:25]  ²⁶ tn Grk “distress of nations.”

[21:25]  ²⁷ tn Or “in consternation” (L&N 32.9).

[2:34]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ³⁰ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ³¹ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ³² sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.

[2:34]  ³³ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[23:8]  ³³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:8]  ³⁴ tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:8]  ³⁵ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).