Luke 11:29

The Sign of Jonah

29 And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah!

Luke 11:29 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 11:29

And when the people were gathered thick together
Upon this woman's lifting up her voice, and saying the things she did; or rather to see what sign he would give, which some had desired ( Luke 11:16 )

he began to say, this is an evil generation.
The Alexandrian copy, two copies of Beza's, and the Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions read, "this generation is an evil generation"; and also it was an "adulterous one", as is added in ( Matthew 12:39 )

they seek a sign;
for they had asked one of him, ( Luke 11:16 )

and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the
prophet; one like unto it: (See Gill on Matthew 12:39)

Luke 11:29 In-Context

27 Now it happened that as he said these [things], a certain woman from the crowd raised [her] voice [and] said to him, "Blessed [is] the womb that bore you, and [the] breasts [at] which you nursed!"

28 But he said, "On the contrary, blessed [are] those who hear the word of God and follow [it]!"

29 And [as] the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation! It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah!

30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

31 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, [something] greater than Solomon [is] here!

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[as]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("were increasing")