Matthew 12:39

In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort, this verse is: :Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Γενεὰ πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλὶς σημεῖον ἐπιζητεῖ· καὶ σημεῖον οὐ δοθήσεται αὐτῇ, εἰ μὴ τὸ σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ τοῦ προφήτου. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: :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: The New International Version translates the passage as: :He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah". ==Analysis==

The generation (Greek. γενεὰ, nation/race) of the time is called adulterous, that is, faithless and unbelieving. Lapide writes that this was perhaps because they left God and the faith and character of Abraham, Isaac and the rest of the Patriarchs. Since they all believed and testified of the Messiah, but these would not acknowledge Him when He was present. The only sign Jesus promises is found in John 2, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up; but He spoke of the temple of His body." The prophet Jonah is a clear prefigure of the Resurrection since he emerges from the belly of the whale after 3 days. Similarities of this verse and the previous one with Matthew 16:1–4 (and also the parallel passages in Mark 8:11-13; Luke 11:16, 29-32) are noted; the comparison of the passages in Matthew 12 and Matthew 16 is as follows. ==Commentary from the Church Fathers==

Jerome: "Excellently is that said, and adulterous, seeing she has put away her husband, and, according to Ezekiel, has joined herself to many lovers." ==References==