What Does Luke 11:13 Mean in the King James?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Luke 11:13 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The Father’s greatest gift is the Set-Apart Breath itself, the life that human hands cannot give.

Even within your limited goodness, you know how to give what is good to your children; the Father’s giving exceeds that measure. What the Father gives to those who ask is the Set-Apart Breath, God’s living breath among them.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Your flaws disqualify you from receiving anything good from God.

πνεῦμα

pneuma

GROWS FROM

πνέω

pnéō

To blow or breathe.

The Greek word translated “Spirit” also means breath and wind, holding together what English separates. Here, the Father’s gift is the Set-Apart Breath: life from God, given to those who ask.

ALSO GROWS

pneuma: Breath, wind, or spirit.

πνεῦμα

This is the word for the gift in the verse; its range lets the breath within “Spirit” come into view.

pnoē: Breath or blast.

πνοή

This related word shows the same breathing root at work in another Greek word for breath.

δώσει

dōsei

GROWS FROM

δίδωμι

didōmi

To give or grant.

“give” in this verse is dōsei. The verse uses the same verb for people giving gifts to their children and for the Father giving the Set-Apart Breath. The comparison turns on how much more the Father gives, not on a different kind of generosity.

ALSO GROWS

dōma: Gift.

δόμα

The verse uses its plural form for the good gifts parents give, placing human gifts beside the Father’s greater gift.

dosis: Giving or gift.

δόσις

This related word names the act and result of giving, echoing the verse’s movement from asking to receiving.

God gives life and goodness from above, with breath itself as a gift.

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Job 33:4 · KJVGod’s breath is the source of the life a person receives.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
John 20:22 · KJVThe gift of the Holy Ghost is placed beside the act of breathing.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17 · KJVEvery good gift descends from the Father, whose giving does not change.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
John 20:22 · KJV

Both verses name the gift with ⁨πνεῦμα⁩ (pneuma), meaning breath, wind, or spirit. John sets that same word beside an act of breathing, bringing the breath within Luke’s gift into view.

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Luke 11:13 KJV Meaning