Matthew 7:10 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 7:10 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?”

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? The second paired image — fish/serpent — reinforces the first: no good father gives a dangerous substitute for what is asked. The fish-and-serpent pair also connects to the baptism scene (the dove and the threat from below) and to the disciples who are fishers of men. The point is the same: the Father's responsiveness is not indifferent or malicious; he does not give harmful substitutes for genuine needs. The quality of the gift is guaranteed by the quality of the giver.

Church Fathers on Matthew 7:10

As above He had cited the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, that our hopes may rise from the less to the greater; so also does He in this place, when He says, 'Or what man among you?'
Augustine · 4th century · Serm. in Mont., ii, 21

Lest perchance any one considering how great is the difference between God and man, and weighing his own sins should despair of obtaining, and so never take in hand to ask; therefore He proposes a comparison of the relation between father and son; that should we despair because of our sins, we may hope because of God’s fatherly goodness.
Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

There are two things behoveful for one that prays; that he ask earnestly; and that he ask such things as he ought to ask. And those are spiritual things; as Solomon, because he asked such things as were right, received speedily.
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 16 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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