Discovery BoxLuke 11:8-13 
Context11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside 1 will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s 2 sheer persistence 3 he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
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. 11:11 What father among you, if your 9 son asks for 10 a fish, will give him a snake 11 instead of a fish? 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 12 11:13 If you then, although you are 13 evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit 14 to those who ask 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 Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
10 tc Most
11 sn The snake probably refers to a water snake.
12 sn The two questions of vv. 11-12 expect the answer, “No father would do this!”
13 tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.
14 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.
