Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 16:4

"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them, and departed." — Matthew 16:4 (ASV)

But if a definitive sign is demanded, none but the sign of Jonah will be given (see 12:38–42 for an exposition of the sign). Jesus then left his opponents and withdrew by boat to the other side of the lake (v.5). But his withdrawal is emotional and judicial as well as geographical.