Luke 11:29
 
Luke 11:29
(KJV) And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
(1611 KJV)  And when the people were gathered thicke together, hee began to say, This is an euill generation, they seeke a signe, and there shall no signe be giuen it, but the signe of Ionas the Prophet:
(1526 Tyndale) When the people were gadered thicke to geder: he began to saye. This is an evyll nacion: they seke a signe and ther shall no signe be geven them but the signe of Ionas the Prophet.
(1382 Wycliffe)  And whanne the puple runnen togidere, he bigan to seie, This generacioun is a weiward generacioun; it sekith a token, and a tokene schal not be youun to it, but the tokene of Jonas, the profete.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(CSB) As the crowds were increasing, he began saying: “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(NIV) As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
(NASV) As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.
(NLT) As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah.
(ESV) When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(CEV) As crowds were gathering around Jesus, he said: You people of today are evil! You keep looking for a sign from God. But what happened to Jonah is the only sign you will be given.
(1901 ASV) And when the multitudes were gathering together unto him, he began to say, This generation is an evil generation: it seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah.
(NLV) When the people were gathered near Jesus, He said, "The people of this day are sinful. They are looking for something special to see. They will get nothing special to see, except what Jonah the early preacher did.
(HCSB) As the crowds were increasing, He began saying: "This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(NCV) As the crowd grew larger, Jesus said, "The people who live today are evil. They want to see a miracle for a sign, but no sign will be given them, except the sign of Jonah.
(RSV) When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) While still more people gathered in the crowd, he said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witness) When the crowds were massing together, he started to say: “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign. But no sign will be given it except the sign of Jo´nah.
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
twn de oclwn epaqroizomenwn hrxato legein h genea auth ponhra estin shmeion epizhtei kai shmeion ou doqhsetai auth ei mh to shmeion iwna tou projhtou
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
twn de oclwn epaqroizomenwn hrxato legein h genea auth genea ponhra estin shmeion zhtei kai shmeion ou doqhsetai auth ei mh to shmeion iwna
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
L 019 - Eighth century
XI 040 - Sixth century
P 45 - Third century
P 75 - Third century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omit ”the prophet” after “Jonah”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
 
Affected Teaching
Jonah was a bona fide prophet of the Lord and his ministry was a sign to the Ninevites that there was a judgment coming unless there was repentance. In the same manner, the Lord Jesus Christ was also a sign to the generation that He was born into. They had sought a sign as to His authenticity but He told them to look at the ministry of Jonah. Jonah had preached that if Nineveh did not repent, then there would come a total judgment upon them. So everyone in Nineveh had repented in sackcloth and ashes, therefore, the judgment of God was delayed upon Nineveh for 135 years when we read about their pending destruction in the book of Nahum. The Lord Jesus was teaching the same thing that if there was no repentance, then judgment would fall upon the present generation. The end of Judah came in 70 AD when Titus ravaged the city of Jerusalem. That destruction symbolized the end of the temple sacrificial system and the feasts since the Lord Jesus had already fulfilled them in 33 AD by His death and resurrection. The modern versions leave out the fact that Jonah was a prophet of the Lord and that he was speaking directly for God to Nineveh. He was not just an itinerant preacher who was on a mission of evangelism, he was declaring the imminent judgment of God. This is why Jesus pointed the Pharisees to Jonah because they were now facing the same situation. The rejection of Jesus meant that the nation of Judah would be destroyed by the coming judgment of God upon it. Jonah, being a prophet of God, was on the same par with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. This omission in the modern versions lessens the authority by which Jonah had ministered. Once again we see the modern versions dumbing down the Scriptures by erasing valuable information which is part of the real Bible.

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