DEMAND

de-mand': The peremptory, imperative sense is absent from this word in its occurrences in the King James Version, where it means no more than "ask," "inquire" (compare French, demander) one or the other of which the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes in 2 Samuel 11:7; Matthew 2:4; Luke 3:14; 17:20; Acts 21:33. the Revised Version (British and American) retains "demand" in Exodus 5:14; Job 38:3; 40:7; 42:4; Daniel 2:27; and inserts it (the King James Version "require") in Nehemiah 5:18.

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.