Since the narrative continues the controversy begun in verse 22, Then is appropriate, or “After that.”

The scribes were first mentioned in 2.4; see comments there. For comments on Pharisees, see 3.7.

Jesus is first addressed as Teacher in 8.19; see comments there. As in the previous occurrence, so here also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch drops the noun of address.

We wish to see a sign from you is translated “we want to see you perform a miracle” by Good News Translation. Commentators are in unanimous agreement that sign here means more than the English word “miracle” implies. The word is in fact never used of healings or of miraculous deeds in any Gospel except the Gospel of John. Jesus’ opponents are not merely asking for another miracle; they have seen him perform many miracles, and they still refuse to believe. What they are seeking is an unambiguous demonstration that it is God himself who is at work in and through the miracles of Jesus. In other words, they are looking for “a sign from heaven” (see Matt 16.1), a “super miracle” that will serve to validate the divine origin of all Jesus’ other miracles. Only a few translations take seriously the need for radical restructuring: “some visible action of God which will prove your claims” (Barclay) and “a definitive miracle that you actually are commissioned by God” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition). Besides its usage here and in verse 39, the word is found elsewhere in the Gospel in 16.1, 3, 4; 24.3, 24, 30; 26.48.

Translators will do well to restructure sign in a manner similar to Barclay and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition above. Examples include “some mighty act that would show that God is with you,” “some great deed that would show us that your power comes from God,” and “some act that only God could do.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .