Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ¹  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ²  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ³  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Mark 10:36-37

10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 10:37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.”

Mark 10:51

10:51 Then ⁴  Jesus said to him, ⁵  “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied, “Rabbi, ⁶  let me see again.” ⁷ 

John 16:23

16:23 At that time ⁸  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ¹⁰ 

John 16:1

16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. ¹¹ 

John 5:14-15

5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, ¹²  lest anything worse happen to you.” 5:15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders ¹³  that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

[7:7]  ¹ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[7:7]  ² 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.

[7:8]  ³ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[10:51]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:51]  ⁵ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:51]  ⁶ tn Or “Master”; Grk ῥαββουνί (rabbouni).

[10:51]  ⁷ tn Grk “that I may see [again].” The phrase can be rendered as an imperative of request, “Please, give me sight.” Since the man is not noted as having been blind from birth (as the man in John 9 was) it is likely the request is to receive back the sight he once had.

[16:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “And in that day.”

[16:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:23]  ¹⁰ sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.

[16:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “so that you will not be caused to stumble.”

[5:14]  ¹² tn Since this is a prohibition with a present imperative, the translation “stop sinning” is sometimes suggested. This is not likely, however, since the present tense is normally used in prohibitions involving a general condition (as here) while the aorist tense is normally used in specific instances. Only when used opposite the normal usage (the present tense in a specific instance, for example) would the meaning “stop doing what you are doing” be appropriate.

[5:15]  ¹³ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.