Matthew 16:2

2 So he answered [and] said to them, "[When] evening comes you say, '[It will be] fair weather because the sky is red,'

Matthew 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 16:2

He answered and said unto them
Knowing full well their views, and having wrought sufficient miracles to confirm his Messiahship, he thought fit to give them no other answer than this:

when it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is
red;
when the sun is setting, it is a common thing for you to say, looking up to the heavens, and observing the face and colour of them, that it is like to be fair weather; no rain, that night, nor perhaps the next day, for the sky is red like fire, through the rays of the sun; which show the clouds to be very thin, and so will soon waste away, and consequently fine weather must follow.

Matthew 16:2 In-Context

1 And [when] the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test [him], they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

2 So he answered [and] said to them, "[When] evening comes you say, '[It will be] fair weather because the sky is red,'

3 and early in the morning, 'Today [it will be] stormy weather, because the sky is red [and] darkening.' You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able [to evaluate] the signs of the times.

4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!" And he left them [and] went away.

5 And [when] the disciples arrived at the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Footnotes

• [a] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("comes")