σημεῖον, σημείου, τό (σημαίνω (or σῆμα)), from Aeschylus and Herodotus down, Hebrew àåú, a sign, mark, token;

1. universally, that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and known: Mat 26:48; Luk 2:12; 2Th 3:17; σημεῖον περιτομῆς (explanatory genitive (cf. Buttmann, § 123, 4)), equivalent to σημεῖον, ὁ ἐστι περιτομή, circumcision which should be a sign of the covenant formed with God, Rom 4:11; τά σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου, the tokens by which one is proved to be an apostle, 2Co 12:12; a sign by which anything future is pre-announced, Mar 13:4; Luk 21:7; τό σημεῖον τῆς σής παρουσίας, genitive of the object, Mat 24:3; τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, the sign which indicates that the Messiah will shortly, or forthwith, come from heaven in visible manifestation, Mat 24:30; with a genitive of the subjunctive τά σημεῖα τῶν καιρῶν, i. e. the indications of future events which οἱ καιροί furnish, what οἱ καιροί portend, Mat 16:3 (T brackets WH reject the passage); a sign by which one is warned, an admonition, 1Co 14:22. used of noteworthy personages, by whom God forcibly admonishes men and indicates to them what he would have them do: thus σημεῖον ἀντιλεγόμενον is said of Jesus Christ, Luk 2:34; Ἰωνᾶς ἐγένετο σημεῖον τοῖς Νινευίταις (Jon 3:4), Luk 11:30; hence, τό σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ, Luk 11:29, is equivalent to τό σημεῖον like to that ὅς ἦν Ἰωνᾶς, i. e. to the sign which was given by the mission and preaching of Jonah, to prompt men to seek salvation (Winer’s Grammar, 189 (177)); in the same sense, ὁ υἱός τοῦ ἀνθρώπου says that he will be a σημεῖον, to the men of his generation, Luk 11:30; but in Mat 12:39; Mat 16:4 τό σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ is the miraculous experience which befell Jonah himself, cf. Mat 12:40; that Luke reproduces Christ’s words more correctly than Matthew is shown by De Wette and Bleek on Mat 12:40, by Neander, Leben Jesu, p. 265f edition 1 (English translation, (3rd edition N. Y. 1851) § 165, p. 245f), and others; (but that Luke’s report is less full than Matthew’s, rather than at variance with it, is shown by Meyer, Weiss, Keil, and others (on Matthew, the passage cited)).

2. a sign, prodigy, portent, i. e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature;

a. of signs portending remarkable events soon to happen: Luk 21:11; Luk 21:25; Act 2:19; Rev 12:1; Rev 12:3; Rev 15:1.

b. of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God’s: Mat 12:38; Mat 16:1; Mat 16:4; Mar 8:11; Mar 16:17; Mar 16:20; Luk 11:16; Luk 11:29; Luk 23:8; Joh 2:11; Joh 2:18; Joh 2:23; Joh 3:2; Joh 4:54; Joh 6:2; Joh 6:14; Joh 6:26; Joh 6:30; Joh 7:31; Joh 9:16; Joh 10:41; Joh 11:47; Joh 12:18; Joh 12:37; Joh 20:30; Act 2:22; Act 2:43; Act 8:6; 1Co 1:22; but time power διδόναι σημεῖα, by which men are deceived, is ascribed also to false teachers, false prophets, and to demons: Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; Rev 13:13; Rev 16:14; Rev 19:20; 2Th 2:9. σημεῖα καί τέρατα (åÌîÉôÀúÄéí àÉúåú) or (yet less frequent) τέρατα καί σημεῖα (terms which differ not in substantial meaning but only in origin; cf. Fritzsche, Romans, vol. iii., p. 270f; (Trench, § xci.)) are found conjoined: Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; Joh 4:48; Act 2:19; Act 2:43; Act 4:30; Act 5:12; Act 6:8; Act 7:36; Act 14:3; Act 15:12; Rom 15:19; 2Th 2:9, (Deu 28:46; Deu 34:11; Neh 9:10; Isa 8:18; Isa 20:3; Jeremiah 39:20 (); Wis 8:8 Wis 10:16; Polybius 3, 112, 8; Philo, vit. Moys. 1:16; Josephus, Antiquities 20, 8, 6; b. j. prooem. 11; Plutarch, Alex. 75; Aelian v. h. 12,57); with καί δυνάμεσιν added, 2Co 12:12; Heb 2:4; σημεῖα καί δυνάμεις, Act 8:13; δυνάμεις καί τέρατα καί σημεῖα, Act 2:22; διδόναι σημεῖα (see δίδωμι, B. II. 1 a.): Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22 (here Tdf. ποιεῖν, σημεῖον, see ποιέω, I. 1 c.); σημεῖα are said γίνεσθαι διά τίνος in Act 2:43; Act 4:1-37:(),; (here ποιεῖν σημεῖον, see above); τό σημεῖον τῆς ἰάσεως, the miracle, which was the healing, Act 4:22.