11:9 “So 4 I tell you: Ask, 5 and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door 6 will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks 7 receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door 8 will be opened.
18:1 Then 9 Jesus 10 told them a parable to show them they should always 11 pray and not lose heart. 12
4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together 15 in him.
1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man in bed in the house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The term ἀναίδεια (anaideia) is hard to translate. It refers to a combination of ideas, a boldness that persists over time, or “audacity,” which comes close. It most likely describes the one making the request, since the unit’s teaching is an exhortation about persistence in prayer. Some translate the term “shamelessness” which is the term’s normal meaning, and apply it to the neighbor as an illustration of God responding for the sake of his honor. But the original question was posed in terms of the first man who makes the request, not of the neighbor, so the teaching underscores the action of the one making the request.
4 tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.
5 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.
6 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.
8 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).
12 sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).
13 tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
14 tn Grk “and toward it.”
15 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
16 tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”