Lukas 11:16

11:16 Others, to test ¹  him, ²  began asking for ³  a sign ⁴  from heaven.

Matius 12:38

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁵  along with some Pharisees ⁶  answered him, ⁷  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ⁸  from you.”

[11:16]  ¹ tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.

[11:16]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[12:38]  ⁵ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[12:38]  ⁶ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

[12:38]  sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

[12:38]  ⁸ 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.