Luke 11:11

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, ^[a] will give him a snake instead?

Luke 11:11 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 11:11

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,
&c.] Our Lord illustrates and confirms what he had said before by an instance common among men: the relation between a father and a son is natural, and it is very near; and it is usual for a son, when hungry, and at the proper times of meals, to ask bread of his father: and when he does,

will he give him a stone?
should he do so, he would show that his heart was as hard, or harder than the stone he gives:

or if he ask a fish, will he, for a fish, give him a serpent?
And endeavour to deceive him by the likeness of the one to the other, especially some sort of fish, which would poison or sting him, but not refresh and nourish him: such inhuman brutish parents are not surely to be found; (See Gill on Matthew 7:9), (See Gill on Matthew 7:10).

Luke 11:11 In-Context

9 So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Footnotes

• [a]. BYZ and TR if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or for a fish; see Matthew 7:9–10.