7:7 “Ask 3 and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door 4 will be opened for you.
1 sn Jesus advocates a generosity and a desire to meet those in dire need with the command give to the one who asks you. This may allude to begging; giving alms was viewed highly in the ancient world (Matt 6:1-4; Deut 15:7-11).
2 tn Grk “do not turn away from.”
3 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.
4 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.
5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 tc Most witnesses (C L Θ 0233 Ë13 Ï) have ἐθαύμασαν (eqaumasan; “marveled, were amazed”) instead of ἐφοβήθησαν (efobhqhsan) here, effectively turning the fearful reaction into one of veneration. But the harder reading is well supported by א B D W 0281 Ë1 33 892 1424 al lat co and thus is surely authentic.
7 tn Grk “people.” The plural of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") usually indicates people in general, but the singular is used in the expression “Son of Man.” There is thus an ironic allusion to Jesus’ statement in v. 6: His self-designation as “Son of Man” is meant to be unique, but the crowd regards it simply as meaning “human, person.” To maintain this connection for the English reader the plural ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated here as “men” rather than as the more generic “people.”
7 tc The majority of Byzantine minuscules, along with a few other witnesses (C3 K L Γ Θ 700* al), lack νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε (nekrou" ejgeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ετε in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). The longer version of this verse is found in several diverse and ancient witnesses such as א B C* (D) N 0281vid Ë1,13 33 565 al lat; P W Δ 348 have a word-order variation, but nevertheless include νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε. Although some Byzantine-text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). In reality, such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).
9 tn Grk “And his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tc ‡ The majority of witnesses read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) here, perhaps to clarify the subject. Although only a few Greek
12 tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.
13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
15 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
16 tn Grk “this last one,” translated as “this last man” because field laborers in 1st century Palestine were men.
17 tn Or “lawful,” that is, in accordance with God’s divine law. On the syntax of ἔξεστιν (exestin) with an infinitive and accusative, see BDF §409.3.
18 tn According to L&N 57.180 the term κῆνσος (khnso") was borrowed from Latin and referred to a poll tax, a tax paid by each adult male to the Roman government.
19 tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
19 tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
21 tn Grk “the ten talents.”
23 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 sn It is difficult to say for certain who gave Jesus this drink of wine mixed with gall (e.g., the executioner, or perhaps women from Jerusalem). In any case, whoever gave it to him most likely did so in order to relieve his pain, but Jesus was unwilling to take it.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.