Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 11:7
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
7. Trouble me not ] The answer is rough and discouraging. He does not say ‘friend.’ His phrase implies irritation. The details are of course not to be pressed. The parable is merely an illustration a fortiori. is now shut
I cannot ] Only a modified form for ‘I will not.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. My children are with me in bed] Or, I and my children are in bed; this is Bishop PEARCE’S translation, and seems to some preferable to the common one. See a like form of speech in 1Co 16:11, and in Eph 3:18. However, we may conceive that he had his little children, , in bed with him; and this heightened the difficulty of yielding to his neighbour’s request.
But if he persevere knocking. (At si ille perseveraverit pulsans.) This sentence is added to the beginning of Lu 11:8, by the Armenian, Vulgate, four copies of the Itala, Ambrose, Augustin, and Bede. On these authorities (as I find it in no Greek MS.) I cannot insert it as a part of the original text; but it is necessarily implied; for, as Bishop Pearce justly observes, unless the man in the parable be represented as continuing to solicit his friend, he could not possibly be said to use importunity: once only to ask is not to be importunate.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
7. Trouble me notthe troublemaking him insensible both to the urgency of the case and the claimsof friendship.
I cannotwithoutexertion which he would not make.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he from within shall answer and say,…. The friend within doors, shall reply to him that is without at his door, in the street:
trouble me not; by knocking at the door, and importuning to rise and lend loaves; whereby his rest would be disturbed, and trouble given him;
the door is now shut; being very late at night, and which could not be opened without noise and inconvenience:
and my children are with me in bed: sleeping, as the Persic version adds; there were none, children, or servants up, to let him in:
I cannot rise; without disturbing them:
and give thee; the loaves desired.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he (). Emphatic.
Shall say (). Still the aorist active deliberative subjunctive as in verse 5 (the same long and somewhat involved sentence).
Trouble me not ( ). and the present imperative active. Literally, “Stop furnishing troubles to me.” On this use of see also Matt 26:10; Mark 14:6; Gal 6:17 and the singular , Lu 18:5.
The door is now shut ( ). Perfect passive indicative, shut to stay shut. Oriental locks are not easy to unlock. From , common verb.
In bed ( ). Note use of in sense of . Often a whole family would sleep in the same room.
I cannot ( ). That is, I am not willing.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
My children are with me in bed. “A whole family – parents, children, and servants – sleep in the same room” (Thomson, ” Land and Book “). Tynd. my servants are with me in the chamber.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he from within shall answer and say,” (kakeinos esothen apokritheis eipe) “And that one waiting may answer (reply) saying,” attempting to turn you away from disturbing him at the midnight hour, Gal 6:9.
2) “Trouble me not: the door is now shut,” (me moi kopous pareche ede he thura kekleistai) “Do not cause me trouble now, the door has been and is shut,” has been barred for safety, don’t bother me, take care of your own problems some other way, See? It was an untimely hour to disturb a family.
3) “And my children are with me in bed;” (kai ta paidia mou met’ emou eis ten koiteb eisin) “And my children are in the bed with me.” They are my first priority, is the idea, but not his only duty; The ninety and nine in the fold were the Shepherd’s to provide food and shelter; Yet He went after the lost one, Luk 15:1-7.
4) I cannot rise and give thee.” (ou dunamai anastas dunai soi) “I am not able to rise up and dole out to you.” Such was untrue. He selfishly did not want to do it, neglected bearing and sharing the need of another at that opportune hour, See? Gal 6:2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) Trouble me not.As afterwards in the parable of the Unjust Judge, so here, the illustrative matter cannot be pressed into an interpretation. It seems, indeed, to have been purposely so stated that it could only suggest an fortiori argument. Thus man might answer, but so does not God. If prayer prevails over apathy and impatience, how much more will it prevail when we pray to One who knows our necessities before we ask Him? The picture drawn is obviously from a poor mans house, children and parents sleeping in the same room, the younger children (the Greek word is a diminutive) in the same bed. The word here, however, differs from the other two commonly translated bed (e.g., Mat. 9:2; Mat. 9:6; Mar. 2:4; Mar. 2:9), and probably means the divan or raised platform, which often filled nearly half a room in a Jewish or Eastern house.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. He from within To the soul that has hitherto neglected prayer, God is behind a vail; is shut up; is gone to sleep. But, in that case, woe when he awaketh!
Trouble me not He is short and sharp. He echoes not the honeyed word friend. Thus, in this parable, as in that of the unjust judge, the little obstinacy of man is made to illustrate the wise severity of God. The finite is the faint emblem of the Infinite; the defective of the perfect.
See note on Luk 18:2.
Door is now shut And doubtless bolted with a huge Oriental wooden lock. See on Matthew 16.
My children are with me in bed Says Dr. Thomson, “the whole family, parents, children, and servants, sleep in the same room, with slight change of garments or none at
all.” I cannot rise and give thee These are wayward human reasons; yet symbols of the divine sternness. For with the froward God will shew himself froward. Psa 18:26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And he from within shall answer and say, Do not disturb me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give you what you want.”
The neighbour is very unwilling. He tells him that he and his family have all settled down on their sleeping mat and are huddled together around the fire on the sleeping platform, and for him to get up will disturb the whole family. Thus he is unable to comply with his request. The picture is vivid and uncompromising.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Ver. 7. Trouble me not ] The carnally secure, cast into Jezebel’s bed, unworthily answer Christ on this sort, when he stands at the door and knocks by the hammer of his word and the motions of his Spirit, which they slight and withstand.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] We have an interesting fragment of domestic life here given us. The door is ‘barred,’ not only ‘shut;’ there is the trouble of unbarring it; the father and children are in bed ( . . . ellipt. for ‘have gone . ., and are .:’ see reff.); (observe how in all the parables which place the Father, or the Husband, before us, the Mother , or the Bride does not appear; ) and he cannot (i.e. will not, cannot from being overcome by reluctance) rise and give to him.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 11:7 . , etc.: similar phrase in Luk 18:5 . Cf. Mat 26:10 , Mar 14:6 . Here = don’t bother me! , has been barred for the night, a thing done and not to be undone for a trifling cause. : they have gone to bed and are now sleeping in bed, and he does not want to risk waking them ( , Euthym.). : would have been nearer the truth.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
now = already. The door would on no account be opened to a stranger at night.
children. Greek. paidion. App-108.
with. Greek. meta. App-104. Not the same word as in verses: Luk 11:20, Luk 11:37. A whole family will sleep in one room, in the garments worn by day, in one large bed.
in. Greek. eis. App-104.
cannot = am not (Greek. ou. App-105) able to.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] We have an interesting fragment of domestic life here given us. The door is barred, not only shut; there is the trouble of unbarring it; the father and children are in bed ( . . . ellipt. for have gone . ., and are .: see reff.); (observe how in all the parables which place the Father, or the Husband, before us, the Mother, or the Bride does not appear;) and he cannot (i.e. will not, cannot from being overcome by reluctance) rise and give to him.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 11:7. , has been shut) with a bolt (long since): such as is removed with greater difficulty.- , with me) It is the duty of parents to guard their children, especially at night.- , I cannot) namely, without great inconvenience and trouble.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Trouble: Luk 7:6, Gal 6:17
the door: Luk 13:25, Mat 25:10
Reciprocal: Gen 44:26 – General Deu 9:14 – Let me Son 5:3 – have put Luk 8:49 – trouble 3Jo 1:8 – to receive
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Luk 11:7. Trouble me not. The half-vexed tone is true to nature. The one asked is selfish, and his reluctance is real. But Gods reluctance is apparent only, and even this appearance arises from reasons which work for our best good. This contrast is borne out by Luk 11:13.
The door is now shut. Barred too, as the original implies.
My children are with me in bed, having gone to bed and remaining there.
I cannot, i.e., will not, because of the trouble of unbarring the door, and the danger of disturbing the children, whose repose is more to him than his friends requestThe father is naturally introduced, and represents, better than the mother, in such a parable, the heavenly Father we should importune.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 7
With me in bed; that is, my children, as well as myself, are in bed.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
This unfriendly behavior of this "friend" is understandable since in the typical one-room Palestinian home the whole family, and even often the household animals, all slept near each other. In the parable the sleeping neighbor’s desire to avoid shame in the eyes of the knocking host, and probably in the eyes of all his neighbors once his inhospitable behavior became known, led him to get up and give his neighbor bread. The Greek word anaideia means shameless, or avoidance of shame, not persistence. [Note: See Alan F. Johnson, "Assurance for Man: The Fallacy of Translating Anaideia by ’Persistence’ in Luke 11:5-8," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 22:2 (June 1979):123-31.]
Jesus was contrasting, not comparing, God’s attitude with the friend’s attitude (Luk 11:9-13). [Note: See Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet and Peasant: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke, pp. 125-33.] God’s attitude toward His children is the opposite of the attitude of the friend toward his knocking neighbor. God will not grant answers to prayer to avoid shame, as this man did. He will grant them unselfishly and lovingly. Jesus’ point was that if shame was effective with such a friend how much more eagerly shall the heavenly Father respond when His children make requests of Him. God is more than the friend of disciples; He is their father.