The αἰτέω / αἰτέομαι Distinction in the New Testament: A proposal 117 ing a dwelling for the house of Jacob (Acts 7:46); a king (Acts 13:21); that the Ephesians not be discouraged (Eph 3:13); things beyond which the Ephesians can imagine (Eph 3:20); and that the Colossians be filled with knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col 1:9). In the sixth occurrence, the context constrains the typically unspecific “whatever” (ὅσα ἄν, John 11:22) to giving life for the dead Lazarus. In all six occurrences, the Agent or character views the Content as something that only God can give. Thus these occurrences incorporate every NT request to God using αἰτέω that realizes the Content with a specific referent that only God can give. Second, twenty-one of the twenty-five previously considered requests to God appear in statements formulated by a character other than the Agent; and, in the four remaining occurrences (1 John 3:22; 5:14, 15a, 15b), the character formulating the statement includes himself in the Agent. However, in no case does the Agent directly address the request to God. In contrast, five of the six occurrences (Acts 7:46; 13:21; Eph 3:13, 20; Col 1:9) present the Agent directly addressing the request to God and so focus on the perspective of the Agent. This discussion interprets the parallels between the seventeen oc- currences with officials as the referent of the Experiencer and these six occurrences with God as the referent of the Experiencer to indicate that requests for something that only the Experiencer can give automatically incur implicit constraints on the Agent’s action. The parallels also indi- cate that the most straightforward means of introducing implicit con- straints is through direct requests for a specific Content. Here the direct action of the Agent highlights the recognition of implicit constraints, and the specification of what only the Experiencer can give highlights the basis of the implicit constraints. The first example illustrates the five occurrences in which the Agent directly requests something specific from God (Acts 7:46; 13:21; Eph 3:13, 20; Col 1:9), and the second example illustrates the occurrence in which a character formulates the statement requesting “whatever” in relation to the disposition of Lazarus (John 11:22). διὸ αἰτοῦμαι μὴ ἐγκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν (Eph 3:13) Therefore I [with affect] ask [God] that you not become discouraged by my struggles on your behalf. καὶ νῦν οἶδα ὅτι ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν θεὸν δώσει σοι ὁ θεός (John 11:22) Even now I know that, whatever you [with affect] ask God, God will give to you.