The Meaning of Matthew 16:3 Explained

Matthew 16:3

KJV: And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

YLT: and at morning, Foul weather to-day, for the heaven is red -- gloomy; hypocrites, the face of the heavens indeed ye do know to discern, but the signs of the times ye are not able!

Darby: and in the morning, A storm to-day, for the sky is red and lowering; ye know how to discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot the signs of the times.

ASV: And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot discern the signs of the times.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  in the morning,  [It will be] foul weather  to day:  for  the sky  is red  and lowring.  O [ye] hypocrites,  ye can  discern  the face  of the sky;  but  can ye  not  [discern] the signs  of the times? 

What does Matthew 16:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 16:1-12 - Beware Of Evil Influences
The signs of the times in our own day are much as they were in that. Still men are lovers of pleasure rather than of God. Still they who will live a godly life must be prepared to suffer persecution. The forms of hatred and dislike of the gospel change, but the hatred of the Cross is as inveterate as ever. The sign of Jonah was his resurrection to take up his cry against Nineveh; the resurrection of Jesus is the Father's seal of endorsement. See to it that He shall rise, not only in Joseph's garden, but in thy heart! That is the best evidence of the truth of our holy faith.
There is abroad today much teaching which may be compared to leaven. The germs of hurtful and false doctrine are as thick as microbes. Propagated by the agencies of the spoken address and the written page, they produce fermentation and unrest in the young and unstable. We must judge these pernicious teachings, not by their pleasant and innocent appearance, but by their effect on heart and character. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 16

1  The Pharisees require a sign
5  Jesus warns his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
13  The people's opinion of Jesus,
16  and Peter's confession of him
21  Jesus foretells his death;
23  reproves Peter for dissuading him from it;
24  and admonishes those who will follow him, to bear the cross

Greek Commentary for Matthew 16:3

Lowring [στυγναζων]
A sky covered with clouds. Used also of a gloomy countenance as of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:22. Nowhere else in the New Testament. This very sign of a rainy day we use today. The word for “foul weather” (χειμων — cheimōn) is the common one for winter and a storm. [source]
The signs of the times [τα σημεια των καιρων]
How little the Pharisees and Sadducees understood the situation. Soon Jerusalem would be destroyed and the Jewish state overturned. It is not always easy to discern (διακρινειν — diakrinein discriminate) the signs of our own time. Men are numerous with patent keys to it all. But we ought not to be blind when others are gullible. [source]
Lowering [στυγνάζων]
The verb means to have a gloomy look. Dr. Morison compares the Scotch gloaming or glooming. Cranmer, the sky is glooming red. The word is used only here and at Mark 10:22, of the young ruler, turning from Christ with his face overshadowed with gloom. A.V., he was sad. Rev., his countenance fell. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 16:3

Matthew 16:2 Fair weather [εὐδία]
Colloquial. Looking at the evening sky, a man says to his neighbor, “Fine weather:” and in the morning (Matthew 16:3), “Storm to-day” ( σήμερον χειμών )i1. [source]
Matthew 16:2 Fair weather [ευδια]
An old poetic word from ευ — eu and ευς — Zeus as the ruler of the air and giver of fair weather. So men today say “when the sky is red at sunset.” It occurs on the Rosetta Stone and in a fourth century a.d. Oxyr. papyrus for “calm weather” that made it impossible to sail the boat. Aleph and B and some other MSS. omit Matthew 16:2 and Matthew 16:3. W omits part of Matthew 16:2. These verses are similar to Luke 12:54-56. McNeile rejects them here. Westcott and Hort place in brackets. Jesus often repeated his sayings. Zahn suggests that Papias added these words to Matthew. [source]
Mark 10:22 He was sad [στυγνάσας]
Applied to the sky in Matthew 16:3; lowering. The word paints forcibly the gloom which clouded his face. [source]
Mark 10:22 But his countenance fell [ο δε στυγνασας]
In the lxx and Polybius once and in Matthew 16:3 (passage bracketed by Westcott and Hort). The verb is from στυγνος — stugnos sombre, gloomy, like a lowering cloud. See note on Matthew 19:22 for discussion of “sorrowful” (lupoumenos). [source]
Luke 12:54 To the multitudes also [και τοις οχλοις]
After the strong and stirring words just before with flash and force Jesus turns finally in this series of discourses to the multitudes again as in Luke 12:15. There are similar sayings to these Luke 12:54-59 in Matthew 16:1; Matthew 5:25. There is a good deal of difference in phraseology whether that is due to difference of source or different use of the same source (Q or Logia) we do not know. Not all the old MSS. give Matthew 16:2, Matthew 16:3. In Matthew the Pharisees and Sadducees were asking for a sign from heaven as they often did. These signs of the weather, “a shower” (ομβρος — ombros Luke 12:54) due to clouds in the west, “a hot wave” (καυσων — kausōn Luke 12:55) due to a south wind (νοτον — noton) blowing, “fair weather” (ευδια — eudia Matthew 16:2) when the sky is red, are appealed to today. They have a more or less general application due to atmospheric and climatic conditions. [source]
1 Thessalonians 5:1 Times - seasons [χρόνων - καιρῶν]
See on Acts 1:7. With special reference to the Lord's coming. The plural is used because Paul is thinking of a number of incidents attending the preparation and accomplishment of the second advent, and occurring at different times. The collocation times and seasons only here and Acts 1:7. Καιρός is the suitable time, χρόνος the time measured by duration. Hence καιρός ajuncture, an occasion, as Matthew 16:3. The distinction is so well marked that have the phrases χρόνου καιρός theright moment of the time, and εὔκαιρος χρόνος theopportune moment. See Soph. Elec. 1292. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 16:3 mean?

And in the morning Today a storm is red for being overcast the sky The indeed appearance of the sky you know [how] to discern - but the signs of the times not you are able
καὶ πρωΐ Σήμερον χειμών πυρράζει γὰρ στυγνάζων οὐρανός τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ γινώσκετε διακρίνειν τὰ δὲ σημεῖα τῶν καιρῶν οὐ δύνασθε

πρωΐ  in  the  morning 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πρωί̈  
Sense: in the morning, early.
Σήμερον  Today 
Parse: Adverb
Root: σήμερον  
Sense: this (very) day).
χειμών  a  storm 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: χειμών  
Sense: winter.
πυρράζει  is  red 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: πυρράζω  
Sense: to become glowing, grow red, be red.
στυγνάζων  being  overcast 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: στυγνάζω  
Sense: to be sad, sorrowful.
οὐρανός  sky 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὐρανός  
Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it.
μὲν  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: μέν  
Sense: truly, certainly, surely, indeed.
πρόσωπον  appearance 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: πρόσωπον  
Sense: the face.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐρανοῦ  sky 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: οὐρανός  
Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it.
γινώσκετε  you  know  [how] 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: γινώσκω  
Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
διακρίνειν  to  discern 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: διακρίνω  
Sense: to separate, make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer.
τὰ  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
σημεῖα  the  signs 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: σημεῖον  
Sense: a sign, mark, token.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
καιρῶν  times 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: καιρός  
Sense: due measure.
δύνασθε  you  are  able 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 2nd Person Plural
Root: δύναμαι  
Sense: to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom.