The Probability of Luke 11:9 in English
Part of the Gospel lesson (Luke 11:1-13) for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost – Year C – common lectionary
“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”
Luke 11:9, also Matthew 7:7
Likely you recall that the first letters of Ask, Seek, and Knock compose an acronym (ASK) that is a mnemonic device for helping us remember the elements of the verse, and remarkably, the same as the first element in the acronym. Have you ever considered how improbable it is for the words Ask, Search (or seek), and Knock to form the work ASK as an acronym of the key words? Obviously, it only works in English, however the choice of words is apparently not a work of translation trickery.[1, 2]
For sophomoric analysis, the likelihood of any three words together starting with A, S, and K appears to be (11.7% x 6.7% x .86%) [3] which calculates to about 1 in 15,000, not an overly staggering number; but to have the three words appear in A-S-K order, the chances become about 1 in 100,000 (there are 31,102 verses in the Bible, for reference).
Here is a picture of 1 in 100,000. Can you find the red dot?
As for the acronym (ASK) being the same word as the first element in the three word expression, we really will require the services of a real lexicographer-mathematician.
Might this be a case of Divine design? Just asking the question…
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- [1] https://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/11-9.htm
- [2] https://www.transcripture.com/english-francais-luke-11.html
- [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency
