The Queen of the South (i.e, Sheba) traveled a great distance to hear Solomon"s wisdom ( 1 Kings 10:1-13), yet the people of Palestine paid little attention to Jesus" wisdom. This was true even though the Son of Man was greater than Solomon. Therefore their judgment was sure. Similarly the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah , yet Jesus" hearers did not repent at His preaching despite His superiority to Jonah. Furthermore the Queen and the Ninevites both responded to spoken messages without any authenticating signs. [source][source][source]
The neuter "something" may refer generally to the authority of the Son of Prayer of Manasseh , but it may refer specifically to His superior wisdom in the first comparison and to His preaching in the second. Another view is that the "something" refers to God"s action in Christ. [1] Significantly for Luke"s original readers, the people who responded so admirably to the two Old Testament characters Jesus cited were Gentiles. By comparing Himself to the most wise and glorious Israelite king and the most effective Jewish prophet (in terms of audience response), Jesus taught His superiority in both roles. [source][source][source]