Matthew 7:7

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.

Matthew 12:39

12:39 But he answered them, 3  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matthew 13:11-12

13:11 He replied, 4  “You have been given 5  the opportunity to know 6  the secrets 7  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. 13:12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 8 

Matthew 15:5

15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” 9 

Matthew 21:43

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people 10  who will produce its fruit.

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.

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.

3 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

4 tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

5 tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

6 tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

7 tn Grk “the mysteries.”

sn The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing interpretation of existing revelation as in Dan 2:17-23, 27-30. Jesus seems to be explaining how current events develop old promises, since the NT consistently links the events of Jesus’ ministry and message with old promises (Rom 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-2). The traditional translation of this word, “mystery,” is misleading to the modern English reader because it suggests a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand (L&N 28.77).

8 sn What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will receive a share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken away forever.

9 tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

10 tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).