a separatist · noun — nominative plural masculine, a title
forth
ἐξῆλθονexēlthon
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
began
ἄρχομαιárchomai
G756
to commence (in order of time)
question
συζητεῖνsuzētein
G4802
to investigate jointly · verb — present active infinitive
him
αὐτῷautō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
seeking
ζητοῦντεςzētountes
G2212
to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
of
παρ᾽par᾽
G3844
properly · preposition
him
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
sign
σημεῖονsēmeion
G4592
an indication · noun — accusative singular neuter
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῦ,ouranou
G3772
the sky · noun — genitive singular masculine
tempting
πειράζοντεςpeirazontes
G3985
to test (objectively) · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
him
αὐτόν.¶auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
John 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD…
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Malachi 3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Luke 11:16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
Luke 12:54-57 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 8:10-21
Still Christ is upon motion; now he visits the parts of Dalmanutha, that no corner of the land of Israel might say that they had not had his presence with them. He came thither by ship (Mar 8:10); but, meeting with occasions of dispute there, and not with opportunities of doing good, he entered into the ship again (Mar 8:13), and came back. In these verses, we are told,
I. How he refused to gratify the Pharisees, who challenged him to give them a sign from heaven. They came forth on purpose to question with him; not to propose questions to him, that they might learn of him, but to cross question with him, that they might ensnare him.
1. They demanded of him a sign from heaven, as if the sign…
And the Pharisees came forth,.... Out of their houses; who dwelt in the coasts of Magdala, and parts of Dalmanutha, and came to Jesus, hearing of his being arrived in their neighbourhood:
and began to question with him; or to dispute with him, it being their manner to carry on disputations by questions and answers. The Persic version has the question they put, and about which they disputed, "if thou art the Christ"; in proof of which they required a sign:
seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him; See Gill on Matthew 16:1.
John Calvin on Mark 8:11-13
Mark 8:11-13
Matthew 16:1-4
Mark 8:11-13
Luke 12:54-57
1. And the Pharisees, together with the Sadducees, came, and tempting desired that he would show them a sign from heaven. 2. But he answering said to them, About the commencement of the evening you say, It will be fine weather; for the sky is red. 3. And in the morning, There will be a storm today; for the sky is red and lowering. Hypocrites, you can judge aright of the face of the sky; but can you not judge of the signs of the times? 4. A wicked and adulterous nation demandeth a sign, and no sign shall be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed.
11. And the Pharisees came, and began to dispute…
The Church Fathers
(in Marc. 2, 33) The Pharisees, then, seek a sign from heaven, that He, Who had for the second time fed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, should now, after the example of Moses, refresh the whole nation in the last time with manna sent down from heaven, and dispersed amongst them all.
Let no one, however, be perplexed that the answer which Mark says was given to them, when they sought a sign from heaven, is not the same as that which Matthew relates, namely, that concerning Jonah. He says that the Lord's answer was, that no sign should be given to it; by which we must understand such an one as they asked for, that is, one from heaven; but he has omitted to say, what Matthew has related.
And the Pharisees went out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. Thus they seek a sign, as if what they had seen were not signs. But what they seek is shown when it is said: Seeking from Him a sign from heaven. Either they desired fire to come down from above in the manner of Elijah, or like Samuel in the summer season, they wished for the thunder to roar, the lightning to flash, and rains to fall, as if they could not also slander those and say that they happened from hidden and various passions of the air. But you who slander what you see with your eyes, hold with your hands, feel with utility, what will you do about those things which come from heaven? Certainly, you will answer that magicians in Egypt also performed many signs from heaven. Or surely they seek a sign from heaven, so that He who fed many thousands of people with a few loaves would now, in imitation of Moses with manna sent from heaven and scattered everywhere, sustain the whole people for a long time. Which we read in the Gospel of John that after the eating of the loaves, the crowds sought from Him, saying: What sign then do you do so that we may see and believe you? What do you work? Our fathers ate manna in the desert (John 6), as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat (Ibid.).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Miracle — An event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to…
Sodom — Burning; the walled, a city in the vale of Siddim (Gen. 13:10; 14:1-16). The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (18:16-33; 19:1-29; Deut.…
Sign · A miracle to confirm faith — A miracle to confirm faith
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The antagonism of the Pharisees was persistent (2:16-18, 24; 3:6; 7:1-5; 10:2; 12:13, 15). The request for a sign is at times acceptable (Judg 6:36-40; 2 Kgs 20:8-11; Isa 7:10-12; see also John 2:18-19), but in this case it was obstinate testing of God. • The sought-after sign was not a healing, an exorcism, a raising from the dead, or a nature miracle, for there had been many of these already, and Jesus’ ability to work such signs was well known (Mark 1:32-34, 45; 3:7-12; 6:53-56) even to the Pharisees (3:22). What they sought was a miraculous sign from heaven—that is, directly from God—that would demonstrate once for all that Jesus was the Christ. No sign, however, could ever convince them…
