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George Haydock's Catholic Commentary

Luke 18:4

And he would not for a long time. The Almighty does not always hear us as soon as we could wish, nor in the manner that seems best to us; but if we are not always heard according to our desires, we always are as far as is conducive to our salvation. He sometimes delays, in order to exercise our patience, and increase our ardour: sometimes he grants, in his anger, what, in him mercy, he would refuse. Let us then pray always, desire always, love always. Desire always, and you pray always. This is the continual voice of prayer, which the Almighty demands of you. You are silent, when you cease to love. The cooling of charity, is the silence of the heart. (St. Augustine, in Psalm xxxvii.) (Witham)

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See also Luke 18:4 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Luke 18:4. _HE SAID WITHIN HIMSELF_] How many actions which appear _good_ have neither the _love of God_, nor _that_ of our _neighbour_, but only _self-love_ of the basest kind, for their princi...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    FOR A WHILE - Probably this means for a “considerable” time. It was his duty to attend to the claims of justice, but this was long delayed. WITHIN HIMSELF - He thought, or came to a conclusion. THOUG...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The Unjust Judge and the Avenging of His Elect. (Luke 18:1)_ 2. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. (Luke 18:9) 3. The Little Children and the Required Lowliness. (Luke 18...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    PARABLE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE (Lk. only). There is a connexion with the preceding sayings; the Advent may be delayed, yet the disciples should incessantly pray for it it will surely come. The parab...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    Jesus spoke a parable to them to show that it is necessary always to pray and not to lose heart. "There was a judge," he said, "in a town who neither feared God nor respected man. There was a widow in...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    UNWEARIED IN PRAYER (Luke 18:1-8)...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    WOULD NOT. did not wish to. App-102. NOT. Greek. _ou._ App-105. afterward after (Greek. _meta._ App-104.) these things. WITHIN. to. Greek. _en._ App-104....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _he said within himself_ The shamelessness with which he acknowledges his own sin renders it still more aggravated. _Though I fear not God_, _nor regard man_ -The creed of a powerful atheist." Bengel...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:31_. Rejected by the Samaritans. A lesson of Tolerance._ This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    Luke 18:1-8. THE DUTY OF URGENT PRAYER. THE UNJUST JUDGE...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    CHAPS. Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:31 This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to the Feast of the...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ΕἾΠΕΝ ἘΝ ἙΑΥΤΩ͂Ι. The shamelessness with which he acknowledges his own sin renders it still more aggravated. ΕἸ ΚΑῚ ΤῸΝ ΘΕῸΝ Κ.Τ.Λ. The οὐ coalesces with the φοβοῦμαι and is unaffected by εἰ as in Lu...

  • Catena Aurea Commentary

    par Ver 1. And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2. Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3. And ther...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΉΘΕΛΕΝ _impf. ind. act. от_ ΘΈΛΩ (G2309) желать, хотеть. _Impf._ изображает его постоянный отказ, ΕΊ ΚΑ (G2532; G1487) если, также, даже если. С этим оборотом условие трактуется как не имеющее значен...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    BUTLER'S COMMENTS SECTION 1 Pessimism (Luke 18:1-8) 18 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2He said, In a certain city there was a judge who...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; AND HE WOULD NOT FOR A WHILE: BUT AFTERWARD HE SAID WITHIN HIMSELF, THOUGH I FEAR NOT GOD...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    22-25 Compare Luk_5:35; Mat_24:23-27; Mar_13:21-23; Joh_13:33. 25 Compare Luk_9:22. 26-27 Compare Mat_24:37-39; Gen. 7. 26 The unexpected suddenness of the coming of the Son of Mankind is further en...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE UNJUST JUDGE. THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. THE RICH RULER 1-8. The Unjust Judge (peculiar to Lk). There is a close connexion with what precedes. The mention of the Second Advent leads Christ to...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    LUKE’S GOOD NEWS LUKE _HILDA BRIGHT_ CHAPTER 18 TWO *PARABLES ABOUT PRAYER 18:1-14 1 THE WIDOW AND THE JUDGE 18:1-8 V1 Jesus told his *disciples a *parable. It showed that they should continue...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    HE WOULD NOT FOR A WHILE. — The judge was callous and dead to pity, even for that extremest wretchedness. The pleadings of the widow were simply an annoyance, which at first he bore with indifference....

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Luke 18:1 CHAPTER 11 CONCERNING PRAYER. WHEN the Greeks called man ό ανθρωπος, or the "uplooking one," they did but crystallize in a word what is a universal fact, the religious instinct of humanit...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    _The parable_. τὸν Θεόν, etc.: a proverbial description for a thoroughly unprincipled man (examples from classics in Wetstein). ἐντρεπόμενος, having respect for, with accusative, as in late Greek; in...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    ἐπὶ χρόνον, for a considerable time. _Per multum tempus_ (Vulgate) may be too strong, but it is in the right direction. The scope of the parable and the use of the word χρόνος in a pregnant sense impl...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    _The unjust judge_, in Lk. only....

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    THE LESSON FOR DARK DAYS Luke 18:1-8 There are three phases in our Lord's teaching about prayer-that of Matthew 6:1-34; Luke 18:1-43, and the words of John 14:1-31; John 15:1-27. In Luke 18:1-8 He e...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Two parables on prayer are here given. The first insists on its necessity as an alternative to fainting. The second reveals the secrets of prevailing prayer, namely, humility and a deep sense of need....

  • Godbey's Commentary on the New Testament

    CHAPTER 15 THE UNJUST JUDGE AND THE INDEFATIGABLE WIDOW Luke 18:1-8. This paragraph on the Lord's second coming begins with the twenty-second verse of the seventeenth chapter, and runs through the ei...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    3 _d. Luke 18:1-8_. _The Widow and the Unjust Judge._ This parable is peculiar to Luke. The formula ἔλεγε δὲ καί, “Furthermore, hear this also,” announces it as the conclusion of the whole discourse...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (4) And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man: (5) Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    The last chapter gave in the judgment of present things, another world and eternal things in good and evil, the Lord's instruction for the disciples after the dealings of grace in Luke 15:1-32, and th...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Grace is the spring of the Christian's walk, and furnishes directions for it. He cannot with impunity (chapter 17) despise the weak. He must not be weary of pardoning his brother. If he have faith but...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND HE WOULD NOT FOR A WHILE,.... He would give no ear to her cries, nor take her cause in hand, nor right her wrongs, and clear her of her adversary: BUT AFTERWARD HE SAID WITHIN HIMSELF; as he was...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Ver. 4. _And he would not for awhile_] There is a passive injustice. _Non faciendo nocens, s...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _There was in a city a judge, which feared not God_, &c. This magistrate, being governed by atheistical principles, had no inducement from religion to do justice; at the same time, being very powerful...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    AND HE WOULD NOT FOR A WHILE; BUT AFTERWARD HE SAID WITHIN HIMSELF, THOUGH I FEAR NOT GOD NOR REGARD MAN,...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW. The unjust judge:...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    GRACE PRODUCING PERSISTENT PRAYER (vs.1-8) This section connects with the subjects of chapter 17. We have seen in the four sections of that chapter that the gospel of grace produces in the believer...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-8 All God's people are praying people. Here earnest steadiness in prayer for spiritual mercies is taught. The widow's earnestness prevailed even with the unjust judge: she might fear lest it should...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    SEE POOLE ON "LUKE 18:2...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Luke 18:4 And G2532 would G2309 (G5656) not G3756 for G1909 while G5550 but G1161 afterward G5023...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    “And he would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself,” For a while the judge ignored her pleas, putting off her case and hoping that she would go away. But when she kept coming to him...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE PARABLE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE (18:1-8). As Luke 18:8 b makes clear, this parable looks directly back to Jesus' prophecy which describes Himself as coming as the Son of Man in Luke 17:24. It is...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    CONNECTION. This section belongs to the same period as the preceding one; the first parable has a close connection of thought with the predictions concerning the coming of the Son of man, while the se...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    THIS division of the Gospel of Luke, embracing nearly one third of the whole, contains for the most part matter peculiar to this Evangelist. A number of the incidents probably belong to an earlier per...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    Luke 18:4. FOR A WHILE. Not necessarily, for a long time. HE LAID WITHIN HIMSELF, etc. This soliloquy reveals the utterly abandoned character of the man: he was not ashamed of his own recklessness....

  • Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

    HE WOULD NOT (ουκ ηθελεν). Imperfect tense of continued refusal.THOUGH (ε κα). Concerning sentence, not κα ε (even if)....

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Luke 18:1. _And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;_ Especially, not to faint in prayer, not to become disheartened, or weary, even if their pra...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Luke 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Luke 18:1. _And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;_ An old writer says that many of Christ's parables need a key to unlock them. Here, the key...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Luke 18:1. _And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;_ «Not to faint» in their expectation of answers to their supplications, and therefore give u...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Parable of the unjust judge. Parable of Pharisee and publican. Little children blessed. Rich young ruler. Death and resurrection foretold. Blind man healed near Jericho. CHARACTERS: God, Je...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Luke 18:1. _Men ought always to pray, and not to faint._ We have continual wants, and God is always ready to hear. And as we must always be thinking of good or of evil, it is best to set the Lord alwa...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    FOR A LONG TIME. The judge had no high motives, and she had no money to bribe him. This is important, because it builds up to the "punch line." YET BECAUSE OF ALL THE TROUBLE. She kept on "nagging" hi...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Men ought always to pray, and not to faint_ THE STRANGE WEAPON-ALL-PRAYER While Christian was in the Palace Beautiful, they showed him all the remarkable objects in the armory, from the ox-goad of...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    LUKE—NOTE ON LUKE 18:1 This parable consists of a “lesser to greater” argument (see note on 11:11–13). ⇐...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    CHAPTER 18 VER. 1. _He spake a parable unto them to the end that._ Christ had said, at the end of the last chapter, that the Apostles and the faithful should suffer persecutions, in which they should...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL NOTES_ Luke 18:1 AND HE SPAKE A PARABLE.—This parable is closely connected with the preceding discourse about the second coming of Christ. The widow is the Church; the judge is God, who long...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION LUKE 18:1 _The Lord speaks the two parables on prayer_—_the importunate widow, and the Pharisee and publican._ LUKE 18:1 AND HE SPAKE A PARABLE UNTO THEM TO THIS END, THAT MEN OUGHT ALW...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Shall we turn tonight to Luke, chapter 18. Luke tells us that Jesus now spoke a parable to them to this end (Luke 18:1), In other words, the purpose of the parable was to encourage people to pray an...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Hebrews 4:12; Hebrews 4:13; Luke 12:17; Luke 16:3...

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