Psalms 55:17

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ¹ 

and he will hear ²  me. ³ 

Psalms 88:9

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ⁴ 

Luke 2:37

2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ⁵  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ⁶ 

Luke 11:8-13

11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside ⁷  will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s ⁸  sheer persistence ⁹  he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

11:9 “So ¹⁰  I tell you: Ask, ¹¹  and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door ¹²  will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks ¹³  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door ¹⁴  will be opened. 11:11 What father among you, if your ¹⁵  son asks for ¹⁶  a fish, will give him a snake ¹⁷  instead of a fish? 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹⁸  11:13 If you then, although you are ¹⁹  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ²⁰  to those who ask him!”

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ²¹  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ²²  to him day and night? ²³  Will he delay ²⁴  long to help them?

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ²⁵  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ²⁶  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

[55:17]  ¹ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ² tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[88:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[2:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ⁶ sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[11:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man in bed in the house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ⁹ 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.

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.

[11:9]  ¹¹ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[11:9]  ¹² tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:10]  ¹³ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[11:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[11:11]  ¹⁶ tc Most mss (א A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h bo) have “bread, does not give him a stone instead, or” before “a fish”; the longer reading, however, looks like a harmonization to Matt 7:9. The shorter reading is thus preferred, attested by Ì^45,75 B 1241 pc sy^s sa.

[11:11]  ¹⁷ sn The snake probably refers to a water snake.

[11:12]  ¹⁸ sn The two questions of vv. 11-12 expect the answer, “No father would do this!”

[11:13]  ¹⁹ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.

[11:13]  ²⁰ sn The provision of the Holy Spirit is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. Some apply it to the general provision of the Spirit, but this would seem to look only at one request in a context that speaks of repeated asking. The teaching as a whole stresses not that God gives everything his children want, but that God gives the good that they need. The parallel account in Matthew (7:11) refers to good things where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit.

[18:7]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ²² sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ²³ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ²⁴ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

[6:18]  ²⁵ 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.

[6:18]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and toward it.”