What Does Matthew 7:10 Mean?
Or if he asks for a fish, will he hand him a serpent?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?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 you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask him?For the LORD God is sun and shield. The LORD gives favor and weight. He will hold back no good from those who walk in wholeness.Every good giving and every complete gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shifting and no shadow cast by turning.THE THREAD
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who 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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