Mark 8:12

8:12 Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, ¹  no sign will be given to this generation.”

Mark 13:4

13:4 “Tell us, when will these things ²  happen? And what will be the sign that all these things are about to take place?”

Mark 13:22

13:22 For false messiahs ³  and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect.

Mark 16:17

16:17 These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; ⁴ 

Mark 8:11

The Demand for a Sign

8:11 Then the Pharisees ⁵  came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for ⁶  a sign from heaven ⁷  to test him.

Mark 16:20

16:20 They went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through the accompanying signs.]]

[8:12]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[13:4]  ² 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.

[13:22]  ³ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “tongues,” though the word is used figuratively (perhaps as a metonymy of cause for effect). To “speak in tongues” meant to “speak in a foreign language,” though one that was new to the one speaking it and therefore due to supernatural causes. For a discussion concerning whether such was a human language, heavenly language, or merely ecstatic utterance, see BDAG 201-2 s.v. γλῶσσα 2, 3; BDAG 399 s.v. ἕτερος 2; L&N 33.2-4; ExSyn 698; C. M. Robeck Jr., “Tongues,” DPL, 939-43.

[8:11]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[8:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The participle ζητοῦντες (zhtountes) shows the means by which the Pharisees argued with Jesus.

[8:11]  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.