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.