Luke 11:30

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Νινευείταις

Nineuḯtēs

G3536

“Ninevite”

Noun, Dative, Plural, Masculine

Appears 3× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 12:41

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G3535

TDNT: None

1. a Ninevite, an inhabitant of Nineveh

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

17: words
14: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is Νινευείταις Ninevite G3536 — appearing just 3 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

Νινευείταις Ninevite G3536 occurs in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

τοῖς the G3588 ×4

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 11:30 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 12:40–42 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jonah 3:2–10 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you."
Jonah 1:17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Luke 24:46–47 He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Jonah 2:10 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 11:30 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 11:30. Τοῖς Νινευΐταις, unto the Ninevites) Therefore the Ninevites knew as to the three days of Jonah; and were thereby led to repentance: but afterwards they through impenitence drew down punishment upon themselves, after almost the same interval had elapsed from the time of the respite given to them (because of their penitence), as subsequently elapsed in the case of the Jews: which may in both cases be compared with the time given for repentance.[109]—οὕτως, so) This has the force of a promise, extending to a distant period.

[109] Forty days, Jon 3:4, given for repentance to the Ninevites after Jonah’s “three days,” somewhat analogous to the time, about forty years, between Jesus’ “three days” and the destruction of Jerusalem.—ED. and TRANSL.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 11:30 . The sign of Jonah is not further explained as in Mt. (Mat 12:40 ), and it might seem that the meaning intended was that Jonah, as a prophet and through his preaching, was a sign to the Ninevites, and that in like manner so was Jesus to His generation. But in reference to Jesus Lk. does not say “is” but “shall be,” ἔσται , as if something else than Christ’s ministry, something future in His experience, was the sign. Something is obscurely hinted at which is not further explained, as if to say: wait and you will get your sign.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

30. a sign unto the Ninevites] Jon_1:17.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it,.... Luke changes the order of these instances; Matthew mentions this before the instance of the queen of Sheba; but Luke puts it last: this circumstance is not material, and the design of it is the same with the former:

for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas is here: what in this case will aggravate the condemnation of the Jews in the day of judgment is, that these men were Heathens, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, and were not used to have prophets sent to them; and yet as soon as Jonas, a mere man, came to them, and preached but one sermon among them, they repented of their sins, and turned from them; whereas the Jews, who had a better notion of religion, and who, though they had the Son of God himself among them, and preached to them, and that many sermons, and whose ministry was confirmed by miracles, and afterwards his apostles for a course of years, had yet remained impenitent and unbelieving; See Gill on Mat 12:41.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

Ver. 30. So also shall the Son of man be] sc. A sign, not of confirmation, but of condemnation.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Scofield Reference Notes

C. I. Scofield

the Son of man

(See Scofield "Mat 8:20").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

30. τοῖς Νινευΐταις σημεῖον. Jon 1:17.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

A sign to the Ninevites. Compare Mt 12:40.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 17 words (14 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Nineuḯtēs (“Ninevite”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word Nineuḯtēs carries the sense “Ninevite.” How does it shape the verse?
Matthew 12:41 shares the word «Ninevite» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 4× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Reading how Bengel's Gnomon and Expositor's Greek Testament read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 6 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 4× in this single verse.
14 distinct Greek lemmas span 17 words in this verse.