2 Tawarikh 1:7-12

1:7 That night God appeared ¹  to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me ²  what I should give you.” 1:8 Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated ³  great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. 1:9 Now, Lord God, may your promise ⁴  to my father David be realized, ⁵  for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. 1:10 Now give me wisdom and discernment so ⁶  I can effectively lead this nation. ⁷  Otherwise ⁸  no one is able ⁹  to make judicial decisions for ¹⁰  this great nation of yours.” ¹¹ 

1:11 God said to Solomon, “Because you desire this, ¹²  and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, ¹³  and because you did not ask for long life, ¹⁴  but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, 1:12 you are granted wisdom and discernment. ¹⁵  Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.” ¹⁶ 

Matius 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ¹⁷  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ¹⁸  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ¹⁹  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Markus 10:36

10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Markus 10:38-51

10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” ²⁰  10:39 They said to him, “We are able.” ²¹  Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience, 10:40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.” ²² 

10:41 Now ²³  when the other ten ²⁴  heard this, ²⁵  they became angry with James and John. 10:42 Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave ²⁶  of all. 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom ²⁷  for many.”

Healing Blind Bartimaeus

10:46 They came to Jericho. ²⁸  As Jesus ²⁹  and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, ³⁰  “Jesus, Son of David, ³¹  have mercy ³²  on me!” 10:48 Many scolded ³³  him to get him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 10:49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So ³⁴  they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up! He is calling you.” 10:50 He threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus. 10:51 Then ³⁵  Jesus said to him, ³⁶  “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied, “Rabbi, ³⁷  let me see again.” ³⁸ 

Markus 11:24

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Yohanes 14:13-14

14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, ³⁹  so that the Father may be glorified ⁴⁰  in the Son. 14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Yohanes 15:16

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you ⁴¹  and appointed you to go and bear ⁴²  fruit, fruit that remains, ⁴³  so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Yakobus 1:5-6

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. 1:6 But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.

Yakobus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ⁴⁴  a slave ⁴⁵  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ⁴⁶  Greetings!

Yohanes 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, ⁴⁷  lest anything worse happen to you.” 5:15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders ⁴⁸  that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “ask.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “did.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “you word.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Or “be firm, established.”

[1:10]  ⁶ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) following the imperative here indicates purpose/result.

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “so I may go out before this nation and come in.” The expression “go out…and come in” here means “to lead” (see HALOT 425 s.v. יצא qal.4).

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “for.” The word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[1:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to judge.”

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “these numerous people of yours.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “because this was in your heart.”

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “the life of those who hate you.”

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “many days.”

[1:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wisdom and discernment are given to you.”

[1:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “which was not so for the kings who were before you, and after you there will not be so.”

[7:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[10:38]  ²⁰ tn Grk “baptism I am baptized with.” This same change has been made in v. 39.

[10:39]  ²¹ sn No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “We are able.” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.

[10:40]  ²² sn After the first passion prediction in 8:31 Jesus rebuked Peter as having been used by Satan. After the second passion prediction in 9:31 the disciples were concerned about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. After the third passion prediction in 10:33 James and John asked for positions of honor and rulership in the kingdom, revealing their complete misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom and exposing their inadequacy as true disciples of Jesus. Jesus replied that such positions were for those for whom it has been prepared.

[10:41]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[10:41]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the ten.”

[10:41]  ²⁵ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:44]  ²⁶ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[10:45]  ²⁷ sn The Greek word for ransom (λύτρον, lutron) is found here and in Matt 20:28 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in humanity’s place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that was deserved for sin.

[10:46]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:46]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:47]  ³⁰ tn Grk “to shout and to say.” The infinitive λέγειν (legein) is redundant here and has not been translated.

[10:47]  ³¹ sn Jesus was more than a Nazarene to this blind person, who saw quite well that Jesus was Son of David. There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).

[10:47]  ³² sn Have mercy on me is a request for healing. It is not owed the man. He simply asks for God’s kind grace.

[10:48]  ³³ tn Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar.

[10:49]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[10:51]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:51]  ³⁶ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:51]  ³⁷ tn Or “Master”; Grk ῥαββουνί (rabbouni).

[10:51]  ³⁸ 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.

[14:13]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”

[14:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “may be praised” or “may be honored.”

[15:16]  ⁴¹ sn You did not choose me, but I chose you. If the disciples are now elevated in status from slaves to friends, they are friends who have been chosen by Jesus, rather than the opposite way round. Again this is true of all Christians, not just the twelve, and the theme that Christians are “chosen” by God appears frequently in other NT texts (e.g., Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4ff.; Col 3:12; and 1 Pet 2:4). Putting this together with the comments on 15:14 one may ask whether the author sees any special significance at all for the twelve. Jesus said in John 6:70 and 13:18 that he chose them, and 15:27 makes clear that Jesus in the immediate context is addressing those who have been with him from the beginning. In the Fourth Gospel the twelve, as the most intimate and most committed followers of Jesus, are presented as the models for all Christians, both in terms of their election and in terms of their mission.

[15:16]  ⁴² tn Or “and yield.”

[15:16]  ⁴³ sn The purpose for which the disciples were appointed (“commissioned”) is to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains. The introduction of the idea of “going” at this point suggests that the fruit is something more than just character qualities in the disciples’ own lives, but rather involves fruit in the lives of others, i.e., Christian converts. There is a mission involved (cf. John 4:36). The idea that their fruit is permanent, however, relates back to vv. 7-8, as does the reference to asking the Father in Jesus’ name. It appears that as the imagery of the vine and the branches develops, the “fruit” which the branches produce shifts in emphasis from qualities in the disciples’ own lives in John 15:2, 4, 5 to the idea of a mission which affects the lives of others in John 15:16. The point of transition would be the reference to fruit in 15:8.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[5:14]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.