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Mat_12:39. Μοιχαλίς ] ὡς ἀφιστάμενοι ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ , Theophylact. The Hebrew (Psa_73:27; Isa_57:3 ff.; Eze_23:27, al.) conceived his sacred relation to God as represented by the figure of marriage, hence idolatry and intercourse with Gentiles were spoken of as adultery. Gesenius, Thes. I. p. 422. On this occasion Jesus transfers the figure to moral unfaithfulness to God, Jam_4:4; Rev_2:20 ff.
γενεά ] generation; the representatives of which had certainly made the request, while the multitude, Mat_12:46, was likewise present.
ἐπιζητεῖ ] See on Mat_6:32.
σημεῖον οὐ δοθήσεται αὐτῇ ] Seeing that the demand of the Pharisees had manifestly pointed to a sign of a higher order than any with which Jesus had hitherto favoured them,—that is to say, some wonderful manifestation, by which He might now prove, as He had never done before, that He was unquestionably the Messiah—for they would not admit that the miracles they had already seen were possessed of the evidential force of the actual σημεῖον ; it is certain that, in this His reply, Jesus must likewise have used σημεῖον as meaning pre-eminently a confirmatory sign of a very special and convincing nature. Consequently there is no need to say that we are here precluded from looking upon the miracles in the light of signs, and that, according to our passage, they were not performed with any such object in view (de Wette); rather let us maintain, that they were certainly performed for such a purpose (Joh_11:41 f., with which Joh_4:48 is not at variance, comp. the note following Mat_8:4), though, in the present instance, it is not these that are referred to, but a sign κατʼ ἐξοχήν , such as the Pharisees contemplated in their demand. Euth. Zigabenus (comp. Chrysostom) inaptly observes: τί οὖν ; οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἔκτοτε σημεῖον ; ἐποίησεν ἀλλʼ οὐ διʼ αὐτούς , πεπωρωμένοι γὰρ ἦσαν · ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ὠφέλειαν .
τὸ σημ . Ἰωνᾶ ] which was given in the person of Jonah, Joh_2:1. Jesus thus indicates His resurrection, διὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα , Euth. Zigabenus. Notice the emphasis in the thrice repeated σημεῖον .