What Does Matthew 7:10 Mean in the King James?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The question is not whether something is given, but whether what reaches your hands is fit to nourish you.
THE MEANING
Your need is not met with a cruel substitute by the giver in this image. The contrast places the danger in what is handed over, not in the child’s asking; the next verse names the Father’s gifts as good.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the fear that your need makes you liable to receive harm from a loving giver.
THE ROOT
ἐπιδώσει
epidōsei
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (δίδωμι, didōmi)
To give, grant, or hand over.
“give” in this verse is epidōsei. The Greek verb for giving shares its word family with δόματα (domata), “gifts,” in the next verse. The contrast is not between giving and withholding, but between what is handed over: a serpent here, good gifts in the continuation.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give or grant.
δίδωμι
This is the verb behind the compound used here and shows the shared giving word family.
dosis: A giving; a gift.
δόσις
This related noun makes visible the link between the act of giving and what is given.
apodidōmi: To give back, render, or repay.
ἀποδίδωμι
This compound keeps the same giving root while showing how what is given depends on the relationship and context.
THE PATTERN
A trustworthy giver’s answer is measured by whether it is good for the one who asks.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.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.THE THREAD
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?The next line resolves the riddle with its positive counterpart: human fathers give good gifts, and the heavenly Father gives even more fully. The Greek moves from a serpent hypothetically handed over to the promise of good gifts, making the contrast about the character of the giver.
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