Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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 Jonah. And he left them, and departed.
4. adulterous ] See ch. Mat 12:39.
the sign of the prophet Jonas ] See ch. Mat 12:39-41. The words in Mar 8:12 are “there shall no sign be given unto this generation,” i. e. no such sign as they demanded.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 4. Wicked and adulterous generation] The Jewish people are represented in the Sacred Writings as married to the Most High; but, like a disloyal wife, forsaking their true husband, and uniting themselves to Satan and sin. Seeketh after a sign, , seeketh sign upon sign, or, still another sign. Our blessed Lord had already wrought miracles sufficient to demonstrate both his Divine mission and his divinity; only one was farther necessary to take away the scandal of his cross and death, to fulfil the Scriptures, and to establish the Christian religion; and that was, his resurrection from the dead, which, he here states, was typified in the case of Jonah.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We meet with the same answer given to the Pharisees, Mat 12:39. You pretend yourselves to be the children of Abraham, but you are bastards rather than his children; he saw my day afar off and rejoiced, you will not believe though you see me amongst you, and at your doors; he believed without any sign, you will not believe though I have showed you many signs. You shall have no such sign as you would have; the sign of the prophet Jonah is enough. But in our Lords former reference of them to the prophet Jonah, he instanced in one particular, viz. his being three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; here he seemeth more generally to refer to Jonah as a type of him in more respects, which indeed he was. Chemnitius reckons them up thus:
1. Jonah was thrown into the sea by the mariners, to whom he had entrusted himself: Christ was delivered to death by the Jews, to whom he was specially promised.
2. Jonah was willingly thrown into the sea: Christ laid down his life, and man took it not from him.
3. Jonah by being cast into the sea saved those in the ship: Christ by his death saved the children of men.
4. Jonah after he had been in the whales belly three days was cast up on dry land: Christ after three days rose again from the dead.
5. The Ninevites, though upon the preaching of Jonah they made a show of repentance, yet returning to their former sins were soon after destroyed; so were the Jews within forty years after Christs ascension.
So as Jonah was many ways an eminent sign and type of Christ. Our Lord having referred them to study this sign, would entertain no more discourse with them, but leaves, and departeth from them. Mark saith, Mar 8:13, that he entering into the ship again, departed to the other side, (the ship which brought him to Dalmanutha, or Magdala), and went into the coasts of Galilee again.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
A wicked and adulterous generation,…. He says the same things here, as he did to the Pharisees on a like occasion, in Mt 12:39.
And he left them; as persons hardened, perverse, and incurable, and as unworthy to be conversed with:
and departed: to the ship which brought him thither, and went in it to the other side of the sea of Galilee; see Mr 8:13.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Same words in 12:39 except , a real doublet.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Mat 16:4
. A wicked and adulterous nation. This passage was explained (426) under Mat 12:38. The general meaning is, that the Jews are never satisfied with any signs, but are continually tickled by a wicked desire to tempt God. He does not call them an adulterous nation merely because they demand some kind of sign, (for the Lord sometimes permitted his people to do this,) but because they deliberately provoke God; and therefore he threatens that, after he has risen from the dead, he will be a prophet like Jonah. So Matthew at least says — for Mark does not mention Jonah — but the meaning is the same; for, strictly speaking, this was intended to serve as a sign to them, that Christ, when he had risen from the dead, would in every place cause the voice of his Gospel to be distinctly heard.
(426) See page 93 of this volume.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) The sign of the prophet Jonas.See Note on Mat. 12:39. As given by St. Mark, the answer was a more absolute refusal, No sign (i.e., none of the kind that was demanded) shall be given to this generation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Sign of the prophet Jonas Our Lord here briefly refers them to his previous illustration of their request. Briefly, because they doubtless knew its farther exposition as previously given. Departed Our Lord knew that their temper was now of the hostile and treacherous kind; and as he went to Tyre and Sidon to avoid their treachery in chapter 15, and thence to Decapolis to elude Herod, so now he evades these men by a rapid departure. Indeed, his movements through these two or three chapters are rapid, and distant from the seat of government, as if aware that the eye of the authorities of Herod Antipas was upon him. This debate took place at Magdala or thereabouts. Mat 15:39. It is implied by the word departed that he left that place and again crossed the lake to the east side; and his next named locality is Bethsaida Julias. Note on Mat 16:13.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will no sign be given to it, but the sign of Jonah.” And he left them, and departed.’
Then He points out what the nature is of those who seek spectacular signs in spiritual matters. They are ‘an evil and adulterous generation’ (compare Mat 12:39; Mat 11:16). The seeking after signs, when such wonders have been done before them, is simply evidence of the evil of their hearts. ‘Adulterous’ signifies a generation that is not in close touch with God, and is not truly seeking after God. Their minds are on other things, such as their own teaching and cleverness and self-importance. To such people no sign will be given, because they are unable to discern the true signs. Why, for those ready to see them, did not signs already abound? The problem lay not in Jesus’ unwillingness to give signs, but in their inability to receive them. Those who will not respond to the signs that He has given have revealed themselves as not fit to be given any signs.
Thus the only sign that will be given to them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah came from the innards of a large fish to successfully evangelise Nineveh. One day they will see the Son of Man arise from the grave, and successfully evangelise the world (see on Mat 12:38-42).
‘And he left them, and departed.’ The statement indicates their rejection. In Matthew Jesus never ‘leaves’ the crowds. It is only the opposition that He ‘leaves’ in such a way. (He temporarily leaves the disciples when He goes away to pray, but there He does not ‘depart’ – Mat 26:44).
So the gradual increase of opposition now includes the Sadducees. He has been rejected by the Pharisees (Mat 9:11; Mat 9:34; Mat 12:1-14; Mat 12:24-32; Mat 12:38; Mat 16:1); by Scribes (Mat 9:3; Mat 12:38); by many of the common people (Mat 11:16-19); by the towns of Galilee (Mat 11:20-24;, by His own countrymen (Mat 13:53-58); by Herod (Mat 14:1-12); by the Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem (Mat 15:1); and now by the Sadducees (Mat 16:1). All that now awaits is His final rejection at Jerusalem.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The refusal:
v. 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. As in the previous case, Mat 12:38-39, Christ does not mince matters. He calls them an evil and adulterous brood, one whose hearts have turned from justice, righteousness, and goodness, and from the worship of the true God to vain imaginations, meaningless traditions, a proud self-righteousness. They are eager in their demand for a sign, but when the greatest sign of all, the resurrection of Christ after the type of the Prophet Jonas, will be set before them, they will harden their hearts. Even so the present generation in the world is wise in the matters of this world, but the signs of the times it cannot discern. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Savior is the only agency that will set their hearts and minds aright is hidden from their eyes. The Lord realized the hopelessness of further argument in the case of these deceitful enemies. He pronounced judgment upon them by turning His back to them and abruptly departing, a very effective and, often, the only advisable way to deal with enemies of this type.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
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.
Ver. 4. A wicked and adulterous generation ] See Trapp on “ Mat 12:39 “ The same wedge serves the same knot. They shall have no new answer from Christ, till they have made better use of the old. Let them return to thee, not thou to them, Jer 15:19 .
And he left them, and departed ] Because he saw his sweet words were even spilt upon them. Frustra lavantur Aethiopes et certatur cum hypocritis: none are more obstinate and obdurate.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4. ] See note on ch. Mat 12:39 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 16:4 . ide chap. Mat 12:39 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
wicked = evil. See note on Mat 11:16.
adulterous: spiritually. See Mat 12:39. Jer 3:9. Eze 23:37, &c.
seeketh = is (constantly) seeking.
Jonas = Jonah. See Mat 12:39.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] See note on ch. Mat 12:39.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 16:4. , nation[714]) Itself the sign of its own time: for such it was to be in the time of the Messiah; see ch. Mat 11:6.-, wicked) and perverse.-, adulterous) accustomed to break the marriage vow, which it ought to have preserved inviolate to God.-, , …, a sign, and [no] sign, etc.) A weighty repetition. They prescribe the kind of miracles just as if there were no other kind; therefore[715] all kinds of miracles are denied to them. The miracles which our Lord performed afterwards, were done not for the sake of such as these, but for that of the poor[716] and the sick.[717]- , the sign of Jonah) that was not from heaven, but from the middle of the earth. Jonah returning from the whale proved his mission to the Ninevites; thus by the resurrection of Jesus, whom they had not before believed, a proof was given to the Jews, that He was the Messiah. He silently intimates, moreover, that after the three days spent in the middle of the earth, there should be plenty of signs from heaven, which were performed by His ascension into heaven, and shall be performed at the destruction of the heavens; cf. ch. Mat 24:30, Act 2:19. Nay more, not even then was it true that were there no signs from heaven; see ch. Mat 3:16.- , and He left them and departed) Just severity; see Tit 3:10. Our Lord never left the people in this manner.
[714] E. V. generation.-(I. B.)
[715] Being weary of those miracles, which in great numbers they had seen heretofore; and, therefore, once and again demanding signs from heaven.-Harm., p. 345.
[716] Popelli, the lower classes, of conventional phraseology.-(I. B.)
[717] And of these miracles, Matthew mentions subsequently scarce one; Mark mentions only that upon the blind man of Bethsaida, ch. Mat 8:22. But as regards teaching, Jesus continued it without intermission.-Harm., p. 346.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
wicked: Mat 12:39, Mat 12:40, Mar 8:12, Mar 8:38, Act 2:40
but: Jon 1:17, Luk 11:29, Luk 11:30
And he: Mat 15:14, Gen 6:3, Hos 4:17, Hos 9:12, Mar 5:17, Mar 5:18, Act 18:6
Reciprocal: Deu 32:5 – a perverse 2Ki 14:25 – Jonah Isa 57:3 – sons Jer 7:29 – generation Mat 12:41 – this Mat 21:17 – he left Mat 27:40 – come Mar 11:33 – Neither Luk 9:41 – perverse Luk 20:8 – General Act 19:9 – he departed Rom 2:22 – adultery Jam 4:4 – adulterers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
16:4
This subject of the sign of Jonas is explained at chapter 12:40.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 16:4. Comp. chap. Mat 12:39 (exactly the same words). The audience may have been in part the same, hence no explanation is added here.
And he left them and departed. Abruptly it would seem. As events proved, He now gave them up to their blindness, but with pain at their unbelief. See on Mar 8:12 : And he sighed deeply in his spirit.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 16:4. A wicked and adulterous generation As if he had said, Ye would seek no further sign, did not your wickedness, and your love of the world, which is spiritual adultery, blind your understanding. There shall no sign be given, but of the Prophet Jonas Or the miracle of Christs own resurrection, a sign greater than any of those showed by the ancient prophets and messengers of God, and consequently a sign which proved Jesus to be superior unto them all. This sign our Lord had explained on a former occasion. See on Mat 12:40.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
PHARISAIC LEAVEN
Mat 16:4-12; Mar 8:13-21. Leaving them, embarking again in a ship, He departed to the other side. This voyage was from Magdala, on the northwest coast, over to the region of Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast coast. And they forgot to take bread, and had but one loaf with them in the ship. And He admonished them, saying, See, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Mat 16:6. And Jesus said to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, It is because, we did not take bread. Jesus, knowing, said to them, Why are ye reasoning among yourselves? O ye of little faith, because you did not take bread? Do you not yet understand? Do you not remember the five loaves and the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves and the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How do you not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, To beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Leaven here and elsewhere, so frequently mentioned in the Bible, Old and New, is always true to its lexical meaning, zurne, fermentation, corruption, . . . making everything sour, having wonderful power of interpenetration, so that it literally permeates every atom of the mass into which it is introduced; in that respect pertinently illustrating the kingdom of heaven, as our Savior gives us a parable, setting forth the secret and incessant work of the Holy Ghost in the heart and the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world, using the simile of leaven, as He represents the omnipotence and independency of God by the unjust judge, who neither feared God nor regarded man. The leaven here, as you see, means the false, corrupt, dead religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the debauched politics of the Herodians, in harmony with its lexical meaning and constant Scriptural use, as Paul calls Christ the Unleaven Bread of sincerity and truth (1Co 5:7), exhorting us to become like Him, by getting rid of all leaven i.e., all corruption, and everything that would make our religion sour; as we are warned by Wesley against sour godliness, which is Satans counterfeit sanctification. In this discourse, which our Savior preached to His disciples in the ship, we see that He warns them against the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. O how pertinent this admonitory exhortation comes this day to all Christendom! Now what is the leaven of the Pharisees? You are well apprised that they, as Paul tells us, were the straightest sect i.e., the orthodox denomination of the Jewish Church so rigidly contending for every tenet of the Mosaic and prophetic doctrines, and so very punctilious in their pursuit of every ramification of not only Biblical, but even traditionary, teaching; conspicuously punctilious in keeping all of the commandments. Now this was not the leaven; for leaven means corruption, and this was right. Well what was their leaven? Our Savior defines it didache, from didasko, to teach; hence it means teaching. Well, what was their teaching? Why, they taught the people that salvation was obtained by keeping the commandments and conforming to the law.
Hence, you see, Jesus warns us against the dead orthodoxy of the Pharisees. You may be straight as a crowbar, and still as dead and cold as a crowbar. You may be as orthodox as Wesley, Knox, and Bunyan, and still dead as a hammer and cold as an iceberg, only waiting to warm in hell. What was the leaven of the Sadducees? They did not believe all the Scriptures, and were not orthodox like the Pharisees, yet, you see, Jesus puts them in the same black catalogue, having the same trouble; i.e., they were spiritually dead, and neither of them had salvation. Now, what is the leaven of the Herodians? The Herodian family had long been the rulers of that country, through Roman patronage, the old king, who was on the throne of Judea when Jesus was born, having reigned thirty-eight years, and died while the infant Christ was in Egypt, being the last king of the Jews, according to prophecy; was an especial favorite of Caesars, who honored him with the title of king. Subsequently to his death, his sons had been kings and proconsuls of Judea, Galilee, Perea, Iturea, and Trachonitis, all being invested with their offices by the Roman emperor. Hence, the Herodians were a political party, in favor of Roman rule in that country. Though the Pharisees and Sadducees were in open hostility to all the sympathizers with Roman rule, and longing to regain their independence, yet in their malignant opposition to Jesus, they actually unite with the Herodians. Now how does this warning to beware of the Herodian leaven apply to us? The Roman Government was an awful military despotism, full of political intrigue and corruption. O how pertinent for the people of God at the present day to beware of the corrupt politics which inundate the country with intrigue, peculation, perjury, and an overflowing sea of vice and fraud, actually threatening the very stability of the Republic!
Now I think we understand our Saviors salutary admonition to His disciples, aboard the ship crossing the sea of Galilee. Shall not all of us, who are sailing over times stormy sea on the good old Ship of Zion, heed this warning of our Prophet? Now what is it? Hear, and govern yourselves accordingly. Beware of dead orthodoxy, whether in Methodism, Baptistism, Presbyterianism, or Quakerism. Orthodoxy can never keep you out of hell. You must, with all your orthodoxy, have matter of fact, experimental, personal regeneration and sanctification; i.e., spiritual life and holiness. Beware of dead heterodoxy, like the Sadducees; and beware of politics do not talk them, but talk about Jesus. Do not read political papers, but read your Bible and holiness literature. Go quietly to the polls, and vote on the Lords side of every question, knowing no politics, but seeing Jesus only.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 4
The sign of the prophet Jonas; as it had been previously explained. (Matthew 12:40.)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but (c) the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
(c) The article shows how notable the sign is.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus refused to give His critics the sign they wanted. The only sign they would get would be the sign of Jonah when Jesus rose from the dead (cf. Mat 12:38-42).
"The only sign to Nineveh was Jonah’s solemn warning of near judgment, and his call to repentance-and the only sign now, or rather ’unto this generation no sign,’ [Mar 8:12] was the warning cry of judgment and the loving call to repentance." [Note: Ibid., 2:70.]
"Miracles will give confirmation where there is faith, but not where there is willful unbelief." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:56.]
Jesus withdrew again in response to opposition. However this time Matthew used a stronger word (kataleipo) meaning "to forsake or abandon." Jesus turned His back on these religious leaders because they were hopeless and incorrigible. [Note: Plummer, p. 221.] This was to be Jesus’ last and most important withdrawal from Galilee before His final trip south to Jerusalem (Mat 19:1). He remained outside Galilee through Mat 17:20, when He returned there from the North.