part on the use of the cogate verb ἐπερωτάω (especially its use as “request” in Matt 16:1; so RSV, ESV, NRSV, BDAG, 362.2; Michaels, 216; Schreiner, 196–97); or (b) “pledge” or “promise” (so NIV, NET, TEV). On the basis of a contractual use of this term in the papyri, many commentators adopt the latter usage (e.g., Dalton 1989, 206–10). Dalton (1989, 207) further comments, “there is no example anywhere in the whole range of Greek writing where it [i.e., ἐπερώτημα] means ‘request.’ ” The parallel
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