John Gill Commentary Matthew 16

The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came ,
&c] Not from Jerusalem, as in (Matthew 15:1) but from the neighbouring places: these were GalileanSadducees and Pharisees, of whom mention is made in the Misna ^F23 ; says (ylylg yqwdu) , "a Galilean Sadducee", (i.e. one that was of the land of Galilee, asBartenora on the place observes,) I complain of you Pharisees, because you write the name of a ruler with thename of Moses, in a divorce; say the Pharisees, we complain of you Galilean Sadducees, that you write thename of a ruler with the name of God, in the same leaf:'' but though these two sects could not agree in this,and in many other things, yet they could unite against Christ, to whom they bore an implacable hatred.

And tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from
heaven :
they came with no sincere view to be taught by him, or learn anything from him; but if they could, to ensnarehim, and get an opportunity of exposing him to the people; and therefore pretending dissatisfaction with themiracles he wrought on the earth, they ask of him to produce a sign from heaven, of his coming from thence,of his being the Son of God, and the true Messiah. They wanted some such sign, as the standing still of thesun and moon, in the times of Joshua; and as raining manna, in the times of Moses; or some such appearancesof thunder and lightning, as at the giving of the law.

The appearance of the rainbow, in a very extraordinary manner, is looked upon by the Jews as a sign of the Messiah's coming ^F24 . Says a certain Jew, when my father departed out of the world, he said thus to me; do not look for the Messiah until you see the bow in the world, adorned with light colours, and the world enlightened by it; then look for the Messiah, as it is written, (Genesis 9:16) .'' Some very unusual and uncommon sight in the heavens, was what these men asked of Christ in proof of his mission from God.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: Yadaim, c. 4. sect. 8.
• F24: Zohar in Gen. fol. 53. 2.

He answered and said to them
Knowing full well their views, and having wrought sufficient miracles to confirm his Messiahship, he thought fit to give them no other answer than this:

when it is evening, you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is
red ;
when the sun is setting, it is a common thing for you to say, looking up to the heavens, and observing the face and colour of them, that it is likely to be fair weather; no rain, that night, nor perhaps the next day, for the sky is red like fire, through the rays of the sun; which show the clouds to be very thin, and so will soon waste away, and consequently, fine weather must follow.

And in the morning, it will be foul weather today
When you rise in the morning, and take a survey of the heavens, it is a very usual thing with you to say, it is like to be windy or rainy weather today,

for the sky is red and lowring ;
which shows, that the clouds are so thick that the sun cannot pierce through them, and its face is not seen; so that it may be reasonably concluded they will issue in rain, or wind, or both.

O you hypocrites .
The Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel, leave out this appellation; but all other versions, as well as copies, have it: and it is an usual epithet, bestowed very justly by Christ, on these men; who pretended to be the guides of the people, took upon them to teach and instruct them in divine things, and set up themselves as men of great holiness, piety and knowledge; and yet, instead of searching the Scriptures, and comparing the characters of the times of the Messiah therein fixed, with the present ones, spent their time in making such low and useless observations, and which fall within the compass of everyone's knowledge and reach.

You can discern the face of the sky ;
very distinctly, and make some very probable guesses, if not certain conclusions, what will follow, good weather or bad:

but can you not discern the signs of the times?
or, as the Syriac reads it, "the time", the present time: if they had not been blind, they might easily have discerned, that the signs of the time of the Messiah's coming were upon them, and that Jesus was the Messiah; as the departure of the sceptre from Judah, the ending of Daniel's weeks, the various miracles wrought by Christ, the wickedness of the age in which they lived, the ministry of John the Baptist, and of Christ, the great flockings of the people, both to one and to the other, with divers other things which were easy to be observed by them:

but they pretend this to be a very great secret.``The secret of the day of death, they say ^F25 , and the secret of the day when the king Messiah comes, who by his wisdom can find out?''

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Targum in Eccl. vii. 24.

A wicked and adulterous generation
He says the same things here, as he did to the Pharisees on a like occasion, in (Matthew 12:39) (See Gill on Matthew 12:39).

And he left them ;
as persons hardened, perverse, and incurable, and as unworthy to be conversed with:

and departed :
to the ship which brought him thither, and went in it to the other side of the sea of Galilee; see (Mark 8:13) .

When his disciples were come to the other side
Of the sea, as Munster's Hebrew Gospel adds, to Bethsaida, (Mark 8:22) as they were either in the ship, or going from the shore to the said place, they recollected themselves,

that they had forgotten to take bread :
having but one loaf, as Mark says, in the ship; the seven baskets of fragments being either expended, or given away to the poor, of their own accord, or by Christ's orders. It seems, it was usual with the disciples to buy food at places most proper, and carry with them; since Christ often went into deserts and mountainous places, where provisions could not be had. This their forgetfulness to act according to their wonted method, might arise either from their being intent upon Christ's conversation with the Pharisees, and Sadducees, or from the suddenness of Christ's departure.