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Matthew 12:38-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Matthew 12:38-40
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher,[a] we wish to see a sign from you.”(A) 39 He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful[b] generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40 Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,[c] so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 12:38 Teacher: see note on Mt 8:19. In Mt 16:1 the request is for a sign “from heaven” (Mk 8:11).
- 12:39 Unfaithful: literally, “adulterous.” The covenant between God and Israel was portrayed as a marriage bond, and unfaithfulness to the covenant as adultery; cf. Hos 2:4–14; Jer 3:6–10.
- 12:40 See Jon 2:1. While in Q the sign was simply Jonah’s preaching to the Ninevites (Lk 11:30, 32), Matthew here adds Jonah’s sojourn in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, a prefigurement of Jesus’ sojourn in the abode of the dead and, implicitly, of his resurrection.
Matthew 12:38-40
New International Version
Matthew 12:38-40
New International Version
The Sign of Jonah(A)(B)
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign(C) from you.”(D)
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.(E) 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,(F) so the Son of Man(G) will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.(H)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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