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MATTHEW 12:39 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 12:38Matt 12:40
“But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:”
But he answered them: an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. The evil and adulterous generation designation applies to the sign-seekers the same assessment applied to the Beelzebul accusers: the heart that is evil and adulterous (unfaithful to the covenant) is the heart that demands signs rather than responding to what has already been given. The only sign is the sign of Jonah — which the next verse identifies as the resurrection.

Church Fathers on Matthew 12:39

Because the Lord had so oft repressed the shameless tongue of the Pharisees by His sayings, they now turn to His works, whereat the Evangelist wondering, says, 'Then certain of the Scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign of thee;' and that at a time when they should have been moved, when they should have wondered, and been dumb with astonishment; yet even at such time they desist not from their malice. For they say, 'We would see a sign of thee,'…

Chrysostom · 4th century · Hom., xliii

They require a sign of Him, as though what they had seen were not signs; and in another Evangelist what they required is more fully expressed, 'We would see of thee a sign from heaven.'

Jerome · 4th century

Then He begins to answer them, giving them a sign not from heaven, which they were unworthy to see, but giving it them from the deep beneath. But to His own disciples He gave a sign from heaven, to whom He shewed the glory of His blessed eternity both in a figure on the mount, and after in verity when He was taken up into heaven.

Rabanus Maurus · 9th century
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 12:39 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy