Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 11:29-32

"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. For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here." — Luke 11:29-32 (ASV)

This is an evil generation: they seek a sign.—See Notes on Matthew 12:38-42. The words here spoken are clearly an answer to the demand for a sign in Luke 11:16. In Matthew the demand and the answer appear in close sequence.

The variations in Luke are:

1. The omission of the explanation of the manner in which the sign of the prophet Jonah was to be fulfilled by the three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
2. The position of the reference to the queen of the south, as coming between the sign of Jonah and the rising of the men of Nineveh.

In other respects, the agreement is more than usually complete.