Matthew 16:4

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 ¹  he left them and went away.

Luke 11:29-30

The Sign of Jonah

11:29 As ²  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ³  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ⁴  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ⁵  11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, ⁶  so the Son of Man will be a sign ⁷  to this generation. ⁸ 

[16:4]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[11:29]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:29]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:29]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).

[11:30]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.