“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?
Parallel translations
- WEB Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
- KJV Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
- BSB Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
- NKJV Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
- NASB Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No good father gives his son a stone when he asks for bread. Human fathers, flawed as they are, still give good things to their children.
Overview
Jesus appeals to ordinary fatherly love to teach about God. No decent father would mock his child's request for bread with a useless stone. The rhetorical question prepares for the argument from lesser to greater, assuring disciples of the far greater goodness of their heavenly Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Luke 11:11–13“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
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Original language
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