Ask
Ask
in Norse mythology, is the first created man. The three mighty Asas-Odin, Wile, and We-once assembled together on the sea-shore. There they found two trees, an ash and an alder. ‘Odin gave them breath and life; Wile (or Honir), spirit and power of motion; We (or Lodur), blood, speech, beauty, and the sense of hearing and seeing. The Asas called one of them A s (Ash), and the other Enibla (Alder). Thus originated. the first man and the first woman.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Ask
ask (, sha’al to inquire, to seek for counsel, to demand): It is the word commonly used in the Old Testament and is equivalent to , eperotao, to request, used in the New Testament. It does not imply any inferiority on the part of the person asking (Psa 2:8). It is the Son who is bidden to ask, and therefore the word expresses the request of an equal. It has also the meaning to inquire: Wherefore … ask after my name? (Gen 32:29) signifying, Surely you must know who I am. Ye shall ask me no question (Joh 16:23), i.e. about the true meaning of My words, for all will then be clear to you (Dummelow). , aiteo, is the word commonly used with reference to prayer. It means to ask, to implore, and presents the petitioner as an inferior asking from a superior (Mat 6:8; Mat 7:7, Mat 7:8; Mar 10:35; Joh 14:13, and in many other places). It is not, however, asking in the sense of the word beg, but rather that of a child making request of its father. The petitioner asks both because of his need and of the assurance that he is welcome. He is assured before he asks that the petition will be granted, if he asks in accordance with God’s will (1Jo 3:22; 1Jo 5:15). Moreover the Spirit leads us to such asking in that He reveals our need and the goodness of God to us. See AMISS; PRAYER.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Ask
aiteo (G154) Ask, Inquire
erotao (G2065) Request, Seek, Beseech
Aiteo and erotao are frequently translated as though they were synonymous. In numerous instances it is correct to translate either word by “to ask,” though sometimes the translators of the Authorized Version marred the perspicuity of their work by not varying their words where the original indicates a difference. For example, obliterating the distinction between aitein and erotan in Joh 16:23 might easily suggest a wrong interpretation of the verse as though its two clauses were closely related and directly antithetical, which is not the case. Our English version reads: “In that day you will ask Me nothing [eme ouk erotesete ouden]. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask [hora an aitesete] the Father in my name He will give you.” All competent scholars agree that the “you will ask” in the first half of the verse has nothing to do with the “you ask” in the second. In the first half Christ is referring back to the ethelon auton erotan of Joh 16:19 to the questions the disciples wanted to ask him, the perplexities they wanted him to resolve if only they dared to ask. “In that day,” he would say, “in the day of my seeing you again I will by the Spirit so teach you all things that you will be no longer perplexed, no longer wishing to ask me questions [cf. Joh 21:12], if only you might venture to do so.” Thus Lampe well stated:
It is a new promise for the fullest light of understanding, by which the situation in the New Testament must be properly illuminated. For as an inquiry presupposes ignorance, so the person who no more asks questions believes that he has been fully taught, and he agrees to a teaching as completely explained and understood.
This verse does not draw a contrast between asking the Son, which will cease, and asking the Father, which will begin. The first half of the verse closes the declaration of one blessing: from now on the Spirit will teach them so that they will have nothing further to inquire; the second half of the verse begins the declaration of a new blessing: whatever they seek from the Father in the Son’s name, he will give to them. No one would say that this is the impression conveyed by the English text.
The distinction between aiteo and erotao is as follows. Aiteo is the more submissive and suppliant term. It is consistently used to refer to an inferior’s seeking something from a superior (Act 12:20), of a beggar’s seeking alms from a potential donor (Act 3:2), of a child’s seeking something from a parent (Lam 4:4; Mat 7:9; Luk 6:11), of a subject’s seeking something from a ruler (Ezr 8:22), and of a man’s seeking something from God. In classical Greek, erotao never means “to ask” but only “to interrogate,” or “to inquire.” Like rogare (inquire), erotao implies an equality between the one who asks and the one who is askedas a king with another king (Luk 14:32) or if not equality, then a familiarity that lends authority to the request.
It is noteworthy that Jesus never used aitein or aiteisthai to refer to himself when speaking to God on behalf of his disciples, for his is not the petition of the creature to the Creator but the request of the Son to the Father. Jesus’ consciousness of his equal dignity and prevailing intercession appears whenever he asks (or declares that he will ask) anything of the Father, because he always uses eroto or eroteso, an asking on equal terms (Joh 14:16; Joh 16:26; Joh 17:9; Joh 17:15; Joh 17:20), and never aiteo or aiteso. Martha, on the contrary, by ascribing aiteisthai to Jesus, recognized him as no more than a prophet and thus revealed her poor conception of him.
Erotan, the term of authority, is proper for Christ but not for his creatures to use. In fact, in the New Testament erotan is never used to refer to a man’s prayer to God. The only passage that seems to contradict this assertion is 1Jn 5:16, a difficult verse. Whatever solution is accepted will not be a true exception to the rule, and perhaps, in the substitution of erotese for the aitesei of the earlier clause of the verse, will rather confirm it.
Fuente: Synonyms of the New Testament
Ask
“to ask,” is to be distinguished from No. 2. Aiteo more frequently suggests the attitude of a suppliant, the petition of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made; e.g., in the case of men in asking something from God, Mat 7:7; a child from a parent, Mat 7:9-10; a subject from a king, Act 12:20; priests and people from Pilate, Luk 23:23 (RV, “asking” for AV, “requiring”); a beggar from a passer by, Act 3:2. With reference to petitioning God, this verb is found in Paul’s epistles in Eph 3:20; Col 1:9; in James four times, Jam 1:5-6; Jam 4:2-3; in 1 John, five times, 1Jo 3:22; 1Jo 5:14-15 (twice) , 1Jo 5:16. See BEG, CALL FOR, CRAVE, DESIRE, REQUIRE.
more frequently suggests that the petitioner is on a footing of equality or familiarity with the person whom he requests. It is used of a king in making request from another king, Luk 14:32; of the Pharisee who “desired” Christ that He would eat with him, an indication of the inferior conception he had of Christ, Luk 7:36; cp. Luk 11:37; Joh 9:15; Joh 18:19.
In this respect it is significant that the Lord Jesus never used aiteo in the matter of making request to the Father. “The consciousness of His equal dignity, of His potent and prevailing intercession, speaks out in this, that as often as He asks, or declares that He will ask anything of the Father, it is always erotao, an asking, that is, upon equal terms, Joh 14:16; Joh 16:26; Joh 17:9, Joh 17:15, Joh 17:20, never aiteo, that He uses. Martha, on the contrary, plainly reveals her poor unworthy conception of His person, that … she ascribes that aiteo to Him which He never ascribes to Himself, Joh 11:22” (Trench, Syn. xl).
In passages where both words are used, the distinction should be noticed, even if it cannot be adequately represented in English. In Joh 16:23, “in that day ye shall ask Me nothing,” the verb is erotao, whereas in the latter part of the verse, in the sentence, “If ye shall ask anything of the Father,” the verb is aiteo. The distinction is brought out in the RV margin, which renders the former clause “Ye shall ask Me no question,” and this meaning is confirmed by the fact that the disciples had been desirous of “asking” Him a question (arotao, Joh 16:19). If the Holy Spirit had been given, the time for “asking” questions from the Lord would have ceased. In Joh 14:14, where, not a question, but a request is made by the disciples, aiteo, is used.
Both verbs are found in 1Jo 5:16, in the sentence “he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death,” the verb is aiteo, but with regard to the sin unto death, in the sentence “not concerning this do I say that he shall make request,” the verb is erotao.
Later, the tendency was for erotao to approximate to aiteo. See BESEECH, DESIRE, INTREAT, PRAY, REQUEST.
Note: In Mat 19:17, the RV, following the most authentic mss., has “Why askest (erotao) thou Me concerning that which is good?”
a strengthened form of No. 2 (epi, “in addition”), is frequently used in the synoptic Gospels, but only twice in the Gospel of John, Joh 18:7, Joh 18:21. In Rom 10:20 it is rendered “asked of” (AV, “asked after”). The more intensive character of the “asking” may be observed in Luk 2:46; Luk 3:14; Luk 6:9; Luk 17:20; Luk 20:21, Luk 20:27, Luk 20:40; Luk 22:64; Luk 23:3, Luk 23:6, Luk 23:9. In Mat 16:1, it virtually signifies to demand (its meaning in later Greek). See DEMAND, DESIRE, QUESTION.
Note: For the corresponding noun eperotema, see ANSWER.
to ask by way of enquiry, not by way of making a request for something, is found in the Gospels and the Acts, five times in the former, seven in the latter; in Mat 2:4, AV, “demanded,” RV, “enquired,” so Act 21:33. See DEMAND, INQUIRE, UNDERSTAND.
“to search out” (ek, “out,” intensive, etazo, “to examine”), is translated “ask,” in Joh 21:12, AV (RV, “inquire”); in Mat 2:8, AV, “search;” RV, “search out,” expressing the intensive force of the verb, so Mat 10:11 (AV, “inquire”). See INQUIRE, SEARCH.
“to say,” occasionally signifies “to ask,” as of an inquiry, the reason being that lego is used for every variety of speaking, e.g., Act 25:20, “I asked whether he would come to Jerusalem.” See BID, BOAST, CALL, DESCRIBE, GIVE, NAME, PUT, Note (2), SAY, SPEAK, TELL, UTTER.
“to judge,” sometimes has the meaning to ask a question; e.g., 1Co 10:25, 1Co 10:27. See DISCERN, EXAMINE, JUDGE, SEARCH.
Notes: (1) For apaiteo, Luk 6:30, see REQUIRE, No. 3 (2) In Luk 22:31, RV, exaiteomai is rendered “hath asked to have.”
akin to No. 1, lit., “that which has been asked for,” is used in Luk 23:24, RV, “what they asked for” (AV, “required”); Phi 4:6, “requests;” 1Jo 5:15, “petitions.” See PETITION, REQUEST, REQUIRE.