Luke 11:29

29 As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, "How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah. 1

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 When Jesus had said this, a woman spoke up from the crowd and said to him, "How happy is the woman who bore you and nursed you!"
28 But Jesus answered, "Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!"
29 As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, "How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah.
30 In the same way that the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this day.
31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 11.29Matthew 16.4;Mark 8.12.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.