The Greek that is translated as “knock (on a door)” in English is translated as “call” (Zanaki, Yanesha’) “speak” (Tzeltal), or “clap” (Zarma).
This is sometimes due to the fact that doors are not being used in the respective cultures (as, for instance, in Yanesha’) or, as Nida (p. 45f.) explains, other cultural differences:
“One cannot say to the Zanaki people along the winding shores of sprawling Lake Victoria, ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock’ (Revelation 3:20). This would mean that Christ was declaring Himself to be a thief, for in Zanaki land thieves generally make it a practice to knock on the door of a hut which they hope to burglarize; and if they hear any movement or noise inside, they dash off into the dark. An honest man will come to a house and call the name of the person inside, and in this way identify himself by his voice. Accordingly, in the Zanaki translation it is necessary to say, ‘Behold I stand at the door and call.’ This wording might be slightly strange to us, but the meaning is the same. In each case Christ is asking people to open the door. He is no thief and He will not force an entrance; He knocks — and in Zanaki “He calls.” If anything the Zanaki expression is a little more personal than our own.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:9:
Noongar: “‘And so, I say to you: Ask, and you will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘So, I say to you: request to God, he will give to us. Search for our needs to God, we will receive/find. Let us not give-up/stop asking-to-be-opened the door, God will open the door for us.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore I say to you: Ask and you will certainly be given. Search/look-for and you will find. Ask to be let in and it will be opened to you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And it’s true what I say to you, that you should keep on begging God, and you will certainly receive what you’re asking for. Keep on looking and he will cause you to find what you are looking for. Keep on calling-at-the-door, and he will open it for you,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘I tell you (pl.) then, you should always be-requesting God and he will give you what you are requesting. Continue also to search and you will find what you are searching for. You should moreover persist in knocking and the door (lit. doorway) will be opened so you can enter.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore this is what I say to you. Keep on requesting from God, for it’s certain that he will give to you. Keep on searching for what you need from him, for he will help you to find. Plead to be allowed to enter his presence, for he really will respond-favorably.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
kagō humin legō ‘and I tell you’ (cf. on 3.8), indicating that the inferences will be drawn from vv. 5-8, cf. 16.9.
aiteite, kai dothēsetai humin ‘ask and (it) will be given to you.’ aiteite is best understood as referring to prayer. The object of aiteite is not indicated, nor the subject of dothēsetai. The agent of dothēsetai is God, and the nature of what is sought and given is indicated by pneuma hagion in v. 13.
zēteite, kai heurēsete ‘seek and you shall find,’ again without indication of the object.
krouete, kai anoigēsetai humin ‘knock and (the door) will be opened to you.’ For this picture cf. 13.24f, where the entrance into the kingdom of God is referred to.
krouō ‘to knock at the door.’
Translation:
Ask. If an object has to be added, one may use, ‘what you need.’
It will be given you, or, ‘you will receive it,’ ‘God will give you what you ask.’
Seek. For an object, if required again, see above.
You will find, cf. on 2.12. Add, if necessary, ‘it,’ or, ‘what you seek.’
Knock and it will be opened to you, or, ‘knock at the door and it will be opened to you,’ or, ‘knock and the door will open to you, or, God will open the door for you.’ Where it is not customary to ask admittance by knocking, one may have to use ‘call’ (some Mexican languages, and Zanaki), ‘speak’ (Tzeltal), ‘clap’ (Zarma), the normal terms for announcing one’s arrival. The use of ‘entrance/doorway’ for ‘door’ may entail the use of ‘to allow to enter’ instead of to open. Cf. also on 12.36.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
In this paragraph, Jesus told his disciples what he wanted them to conclude from his story in the previous paragraph. They should conclude: “We should ask God for the things we need, and he will give them to us.” Jesus restated this in three ways.
Luke 11:9–10 has almost the same words as Matthew 7:7–8, and they mean the same thing.
11:9a
So: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So here introduces the application or conclusion of the story in the previous paragraph. Some ways to show this are:
That is why -or-
Therefore
In other languages, no conjunction is necessary.
I tell you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as I tell you is almost the same Greek phrase as “I tell you” in 11:8a. The only difference is that here Jesus emphasized the word I. Jesus often used this phrase in order to emphasize what he was about to say.
11:9b
Ask: In the New Testament, the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Ask frequently refers to prayer. Here, it also refers to asking God for something when praying. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit.
It may also be necessary to say what we should ask for. The context of 11:1–13 implies that a disciple of Jesus should ask God for the things he needs. So if you need to supply this information you could say:
Ask ⌊God⌋ ⌊for whatever you need⌋
Jesus was speaking to his disciples, so this verb is plural.
and it will be given to you: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be given is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:
• As a passive verb. For example:
and you will be given what you ask for (New Living Translation (1996))
• As an active verb. If it is necessary to say who will give, the implied subject is God. For example:
and you(plur) will receive what you ask for (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
and ⌊God⌋ will give it to you
Translate this verb in a way that is most natural in your language.
11:9c
This is the second way to say that when we ask God for the things we need, he will give them to us.
seek, and you will find: The verb seek means to “search” or “look” for something. This is a figure of speech. It compares “asking God for something” to “searching for it.” It also compares “God answering the prayer” to “the person finding/receiving” what he was searching for.
If the meaning of this figure of speech will not be clear in your language, you may need to supply some information. For example:
seek ⌊from God⌋ ⌊what you need⌋, and you will get/obtain it -or-
seek ⌊from God⌋ ⌊whatever you need⌋, and he will provide it for you
11:9d
knock, and the door will be opened to you: This is also a figure of speech. It compares asking God for something to knocking on a door. The image of God opening the door means that he responds favorably to the person’s request. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit where a person should knock, and who would open it. For example:
knock ⌊on the door⌋, and ⌊God⌋ will open the door ⌊to let you enter⌋
To knock is a cultural gesture. In the Jewish culture, someone arriving at someone else’s home would knock on the door to announce that he was there. But in some cultures, people do not knock on the door. They call or cough or announce in some other way that they have arrived. If the custom of knocking on a door is not understood in your area, you may:
• Make explicit the meaning of the gesture. For example:
Knock on the door ⌊to ask for God’s help⌋, and he will open the door ⌊so that you can enter and receive his help⌋.
• Use a gesture that has the right meaning in your area. For example:
Call out to God, and he will cause you to enter and help you.
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