erōtaō

This verb covers two everyday kinds of asking, and the New Testament uses it freely for both. The first is asking for information, putting a question to a person to learn something. The second is asking a person to act, making a request of them. The same verb does the work in English when we say someone "asked" whether it was a question or a favor, and Greek lets the setting decide which is meant.

The two senses sit close together because both are a person turning to another person and waiting on their answer. A question seeks words back; a request seeks an action back. Over time the word leaned more and more toward the second sense, so that by the time of the New Testament it is a common, gentle way to say "please do this," especially in the Gospel of John and in Paul's letters.

Readers should not press this word into a technical meaning. It does not by itself signal a humble petition to God as opposed to a casual question. The tone comes from who is speaking, to whom, and about what, not from the verb alone.