Matthew 12:39
New International Version
He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

New Living Translation
But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

English Standard Version
But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Berean Standard Bible
Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Berean Literal Bible
And answering He said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

King James Bible
But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

New King James Version
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

New American Standard Bible
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign; and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet;

NASB 1995
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

NASB 1977
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

Legacy Standard Bible
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

Amplified Bible
But He replied and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah;

Christian Standard Bible
He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

American Standard Version
But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But he answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the Prophet.

Contemporary English Version
But Jesus replied: You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

English Revised Version
But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He responded, "The people of an evil and unfaithful era look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Good News Translation
"How evil and godless are the people of this day!" Jesus exclaimed. "You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah.

International Standard Version
But he replied to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah,

Literal Standard Version
And He answering said to them, “A generation, evil and adulterous, seeks a sign, and a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet;

Majority Standard Bible
Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

New American Bible
He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

NET Bible
But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

New Revised Standard Version
But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

New Heart English Bible
But he answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

Webster's Bible Translation
But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Weymouth New Testament
"Wicked and faithless generation!" He replied, "they clamour for a sign, but none shall be given to them except the sign of the Prophet Jonah.

World English Bible
But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

Young's Literal Translation
And he answering said to them, 'A generation, evil and adulterous, doth seek a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Sign of Jonah
38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.…

Cross References
2 Kings 14:25
This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

Jonah 1:1
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.

Mark 8:12
Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

Luke 11:29
As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.


Treasury of Scripture

But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

adulterous.

Isaiah 57:3
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

Mark 8:38
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

James 4:4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

no sign.

Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Luke 11:29,30
And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet…

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Matthew 12
1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.














(39) An evil and adulterous generation.--The true relation between Israel and Jehovah had been represented by the prophets as that of the wife to her husband (Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16, 23; Hosea 1, 2). The adulterous generation was therefore one that was unfaithful to its Lord--demanding a sign, instead of finding sufficient proofs of faithfulness and love in what He had already done.

There shall no sign be given to it.--The words seem at first to place our Lord's miracles of healing outside the category of signs, and yet it was to these that He referred the messengers of the Baptist as proof that the Christ had indeed come (Matthew 11:5). They must, however, be interpreted by the context. One sign and only one, such as they demanded, should be given to those for whom the other notes of Messiahship were insufficient, and that should be the sign of the prophet Jonas.

Verse 39. - Of the passages mentioned in the introductory note on vers. 38-42, Matthew 16:4 is verbally identical with the answer of our present verse, except the omission of the words, "the prophet," which occur nowhere else but in this passage. But he answered and said to them, An evil (πονηρά, ch. 6:13, note) and adulterous generation. However frequent the sin of adultery may then have been, the common metaphorical sense of spiritual unfaithfulness to God and the practical worship of some other than Jehovah seems the more probable here (cf. James 4:4; Revelation 2:20-23). Seeketh after (ἐπιζητεῖ); Matthew 6:32. A sign; but there shall no sign be given to it. In Mark 8:12 our Lord's reply ends here. But the sign of the Prophet Jonas; Jonah the prophet (Revised Version). In Matthew 16:4 and Luke 11:29 "the prophet" has been added in the Received Text.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[Jesus] replied,
ἀποκριθεὶς (apokritheis)
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 611: From apo and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak.

“A wicked
πονηρὰ (ponēra)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4190: Evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

adulterous
μοιχαλὶς (moichalis)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3428: A prolonged form of the feminine of moichos; an adulteress.

generation
Γενεὰ (Genea)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1074: From genos; a generation; by implication, an age.

demands
ἐπιζητεῖ (epizētei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1934: To seek after, desire, search for, make inquiries about. From epi and zeteo; to search for; intensively, to demand, to crave.

a sign,
σημεῖον (sēmeion)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4592: Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of semaino; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally.

[but]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

none
οὐ (ou)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

will be given
δοθήσεται (dothēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1325: To offer, give; I put, place. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to give.

it
αὐτῇ (autē)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

except
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

sign
σημεῖον (sēmeion)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4592: Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of semaino; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally.

of the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

prophet
προφήτου (prophētou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4396: From a compound of pro and phemi; a foreteller; by analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet.

Jonah.
Ἰωνᾶ (Iōna)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2495: (Hebrew), Jonah, the Hebrew prophet. Of Hebrew origin; Jonas, the name of two Israelites.


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Matthew 12:38
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