Verse 39
39 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:
Ver. 39. An evil and adulterous generation, &c. ] Spuria soboles, a bastardly brood. So he calleth them, because utterly degenerate from their forefathers’ faith and holiness.
Seeking after a sign ] επιζητει , summo studio efflagitat. Seeking with utmost earnestness, as if it were such a business as must be done or they were undone. It is the guise of hypocrites to be hot in a cold matter, to show great zeal in trifles, neglecting the main meanwhile.
But the sign of the prophet Jonas ] Nor that neither, but for a further mischief to them; as their fathers had quails to choke them, a king to vex them, &c., and as Ahaz had a sign, whether he would or no, to render him the more inexcusable. Deus saepe dat iratus, quod negat propitius. God gives his enemies some giftless gifts ( αδωρα δωπα , Soph.), as Saul gave Michal to David, to be a snare to him; or as Christ gave Judas the bag, to discover the rottenness of his heart.
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