Correcting Luke 11: 8's "Importunity": It is God Who is Persistent in His Integrity, not You in Your Asking, Seeking, Knocking
The mistake in translating Luke 11:8 is so severe it deserves its own post. It is completely wrong in the King James Version: "I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." They are all wrong. All versions save one plainly suggest that we be audaciously persistent in making our requests to God.
In the ancient Aramaic, the "neighbor" is your own family member, a kinsman. The "friend on a journey" is also a relative. The one who is persistent is not you in your asking but the inconvenienced kinsman in bed with his kids in his integrity. Here is how it is in Victor Alexander's translation from the ancient Aramaic (http://www.v-a.com/bible/luke.html):
8. "I tell you, that if not out of a sense of kinship he does it, then surely because of his integrity he will rise and give him as much as he wants.*
*11:8 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "I tell you, that if because of kinship he will not not give it to him, he will rise and give him as much as he wants because of his persistent sense of duty.
Regardless of the inconvenience, a kinsman is duty bound to help his relatives. We are more than kinsmen to God; we are members of his body, closer than any brother! If a kinsman will get up in the middle of the night to get you some grub (and the point is that he certainly will!), how much more will Eil the Shaddai provide for you, his own Manifestation? Correction: how much more has Eil the Shaddai provided for you, his very own Manifestation?
You do not need to repeatedly ask the Savior to give you the desires of your heart -- he is the one who gives them to you! He persists! It is his audacity. "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." That is why we ask by believing we receive: He who 'asks,' receives. In your prayer, you have got it. Then by faith you continue in confidence and gratitude and thanksgiving for what has already been granted. Adore God, for he is faithful. 'Ask' by receiving, 'seek' by finding, 'knock' by believing it is opened unto you. And then, in your imagination, do the next thing you would do if it were true over and over and over again until it takes on all the tones of reality, and fall asleep in that state, and Praise God!
In the ancient Aramaic, the "neighbor" is your own family member, a kinsman. The "friend on a journey" is also a relative. The one who is persistent is not you in your asking but the inconvenienced kinsman in bed with his kids in his integrity. Here is how it is in Victor Alexander's translation from the ancient Aramaic (http://www.v-a.com/bible/luke.html):
8. "I tell you, that if not out of a sense of kinship he does it, then surely because of his integrity he will rise and give him as much as he wants.*
*11:8 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "I tell you, that if because of kinship he will not not give it to him, he will rise and give him as much as he wants because of his persistent sense of duty.
Regardless of the inconvenience, a kinsman is duty bound to help his relatives. We are more than kinsmen to God; we are members of his body, closer than any brother! If a kinsman will get up in the middle of the night to get you some grub (and the point is that he certainly will!), how much more will Eil the Shaddai provide for you, his own Manifestation? Correction: how much more has Eil the Shaddai provided for you, his very own Manifestation?
You do not need to repeatedly ask the Savior to give you the desires of your heart -- he is the one who gives them to you! He persists! It is his audacity. "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." That is why we ask by believing we receive: He who 'asks,' receives. In your prayer, you have got it. Then by faith you continue in confidence and gratitude and thanksgiving for what has already been granted. Adore God, for he is faithful. 'Ask' by receiving, 'seek' by finding, 'knock' by believing it is opened unto you. And then, in your imagination, do the next thing you would do if it were true over and over and over again until it takes on all the tones of reality, and fall asleep in that state, and Praise God!
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
6:00 PM
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