Luke 11:16

11:16 Others, to test ¹  him, ²  began asking for ³  a sign ⁴  from heaven.

Luke 23:8

23:8 When ⁵  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ⁶  some miraculous sign. ⁷ 

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¹ tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.

² tn The pronoun “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

³ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The imperfect ἐζήτουν (ezhtoun) is taken ingressively. It is also possible to regard it as iterative (“kept on asking”).

⁴ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

⁷ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).