Luke 18:3-7

18:3 There was also a widow ¹  in that city ²  who kept coming ³  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For ⁴  a while he refused, but later on ⁵  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ⁶  18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ⁷  by her unending pleas.’” ⁸  18:6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! ⁹  18:7 Won’t ¹⁰  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹¹  to him day and night? ¹²  Will he delay ¹³  long to help them?

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¹ sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.

² tn Or “town.”

³ tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.

⁴ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵ tn Grk “after these things.”

⁶ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

⁷ tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).

⁸ tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).

⁹ sn Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! The point of the parable is that the judge’s lack of compassion was overcome by the widow’s persistence.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹¹ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

¹² tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

¹³ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.