Matthew 7:11

Matthew 7:11 is the eleventh verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This summarizes the preceding metaphors in favour of prayer.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

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 World English Bible translates the passage as:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts

to your children, how much more will your Father who

is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 7:11

The previous two verses presented a pair of metaphors that showed how a human father would not callously mistreat his own child. This verse extends the metaphor to God. If a flawed human father looks out for his own child, then there is no reason to doubt that the perfectly good God will not have the best interest of his followers in heart.

This verse makes clear that all humans are evil. Jesus was here speaking to his disciples, and others that had chosen to follow him, far from the most reprehensible part of society. The text is unambiguous, the word here translated as evil is the same one routinely used to describe Satan himself. Fowler does argue that Jesus might simply mean that all humans are evil when compared to the perfection of God. ^[1]

Jesus here presents no arguments for man's evil nature, he takes it as a given. This is true throughout the New Testament, the essentially evil nature of humanity is simply assumed. Schweizer notes that this passage is somewhat hopeful, as even the inherently evil man will in some situations almost always do good.^[2]

God will give good things to those who ask him. In Luke the text has God giving the Holy Spirit, but Hill feels that Matthew is likely closer to the original.^[3] The reference to good things might be linked to the idea that God will only give good gifts, that if you ask for something that will end up harming you God will not provide it. Luz disagrees with this view, and feels it would contradict the thrust of this group of verses.^[4]

References

1. Fowler, Harold. The Gospel of Matthew: Volume One. Joplin: College Press, 1968
2. Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
3. Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
4. Luz, Ulrich. Matthew 1-7: A Commentary. trans. Wilhlem C. Linss. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortess, 1989.