Matthew 7:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 7:6 tn Or “otherwise the latter will trample them under their feet and the former will turn around and tear you to pieces.” This verse is sometimes understood as a chiasm of the pattern a-b-b-a, in which the first and last clauses belong together (“dogs…turn around and tear you to pieces”) and the second and third clauses belong together (“pigs…trample them under their feet”).
2. Matthew 7:7 tn The three present imperatives in this verse are best viewed as iterative (Wallace, ExSyn 722, lists the verse as an example of this usage), calling for repeated action.sn Many interpreters see the three present imperatives (Ask…seek…knock) as mainly limited to persistence in prayer (cf. v. 11), though others see them referring more generally to taking the initiative with God in various ways.
3. Matthew 7:7 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.
4. Matthew 7:8 sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the additional encouragement that God does respond to such requests/actions.