Matthew 7:10 (WEB)

Passage

Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?

Nearby Context

Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:9 Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?

Matthew 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?

Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "asks", "fish", "give", and "serpent". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "asks" and "fish", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Or who is there among you who..." into verse 11's "If you then being evil know how...", so "asks" and "fish" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "asks" and "fish" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.