Matthew 16:2

He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
answered	ἀποκριθεὶς apokritheis	G611	to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
said	εἶπεν eipen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτοῖς· autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
When it is	γενομένης genomenēs	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent participle, genitive singular feminine
evening	ὀψίας opsias	G3798	late · adjective — genitive singular feminine
ye say	λέγετε· legete	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
fair weather	εὐδία, eudia	G2105	a clear sky · noun — nominative singular feminine
for	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
the sky	οὐρανός. ouranos	G3772	the sky · noun — nominative singular masculine
is red	πυρράζει purrazei	G4449	to redden (intransitively) · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular

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

Luke 12:54-56 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 Matthew 16:1-4

We have here Christ's discourse with the Pharisees and Sadducees, men at variance among themselves, as appears Act 23:7, Act 23:8, and yet unanimous in their opposition to Christ; because his doctrine did equally overthrow the errors and heresies of the Sadducees, who denied the existence of spirits and a future state; and the pride, tyranny, and hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who were the great imposters of the traditions of the elders. Christ and Christianity meet with opposition on all hands. Observe, I. Their demand, and the design of it. 1. The demand was of a sign from heaven; this they desired him to show them; pretending they were very willing to be satisfied and convinced, when really…

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John Gill on Matthew 16:2

He answered and said unto them,.... Knowing full well their views, and having wrought sufficient miracles to confirm his Messiahship, he thought fit to give them no other answer than this: when it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; when the sun is setting, it is a common thing for you to say, looking up to the heavens, and observing the face and colour of them, that it is like to be fair weather; no rain, that night, nor perhaps the next day, for the sky is red like fire, through the rays of the sun; which show the clouds to be very thin, and so will soon waste away, and consequently fine weather must follow.

John Calvin on Matthew 16:1-4

Matthew 16:1-4 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 disput…

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The Church Fathers

This is not found in most codices: it is clear that from the arrangement and stability of the elements, both fair and rainy days can be predicted. However, the scribes and Pharisees, who seemed to be experts in the law, could not understand the advent of the Savior from the prophecy of the prophets.
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

He exposes the rashness of their question, saying, "You regard the air as moving according to a certain order, so that by means of signs you are able to predict when the weather will be fair and when stormy. But in the case of miracles you recognize no order at all. You do not recognize any occasions on which doing or not doing wonders is appropriate. You assume that such a thing happens completely without order and without any reason."
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, FRAGMENT 89

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

Pharisees — Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt…
Sadducees — The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they…
Apostles · of the kingdom he — of the kingdom he
Evening, The · The sky red in, a token of fair weather — The sky red in, a token of fair weather
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Weather · Signs of — Signs of

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).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 16:1-4

John Gill on Matthew 16:2

John Calvin on Matthew 16:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 16:1-4

John Gill on Matthew 16:2

John Calvin on Matthew 16:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 16:2-3