Luke 18:2

Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: SAYING, THERE WAS IN A [CERTAIN] CITY [ en (G1722 ) tini (G5100 ) polei (G4172 )] A JUDGE, WHICH FEARED NOT GOD, NEITHER REGARDED MAN - regardless alike of divine and human judgment; void of all principle....

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 set him more against her; but our earnest prayer is pleasing to our God. Even to the end there will still be ground for the same complaint of weakness of faith....

Verse Luke 18:2. _A JUDGE, WHICH FEARED NOT GOD, NEITHER REGARDED MAN_] It is no wonder that our Lord calls this person an _unrighteous judge_, Luke 18:6. No person is worthy to be put in the sacred office of a _judge_ who does not deeply fear God, and tenderly respect his fellow creatures. Because this person _feared not God_, he paid no attention to the calls of _justice_; and because he _respected not_ _man_, he was unmoved at the complaint of the _widow_. Even among the heathens this was the character of a man totally abandoned to all evil. So Dion Cassius says of Vitellius, that _he neither regarded_ _gods nor men_ - ουτε των ανθρωπων, ουτε των θεων εφροντιζεν....

A JUDGE WHICH FEARED NOT GOD - One appointed by law to determine causes brought before him. This judge had no reverence for God, and consequently no regard for the rights of man. These two things go together. He that has no regard for God can be expected to have none for man; and our Lord has here indirectly taught us what ought to be the character of a judge that he “should” fear God and regard the rights of man. Compare Deuteronomy 1:16. REGARDED MAN - cared not for man. Had no respect for the opinions or the rights of man....

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 ALWAYS TO PRAY, AND NOT TO FAINT. The formnla ἕλεγε δὲ καί, literally, "and he spake also," calls attention to the fact that the parable-teaching immediately to follow was a continuation of what had preceded. Indeed, the connection between the first of the two parables, which urges restless continued prayer, and the picture which the Lord had just drawn of men's state of utter forgetfulness of God, is obvious. "The Son of man has been rejected; he has gone from view; the masses are plunged in gross worldliness; men of God are

SAYING, THERE WAS IN A CITY A JUDGE,.... In every city in the land of Israel, there was a sanhedrim, or court of judicature; in Jerusalem was the great sanhedrim, consisting of seventy one; and in every city where there were an hundred and twenty men, or more, there was a lesser sanhedrim, consisting of twenty three; and in a city in which there were not an hundred and twenty men, were three judges; for there was no sanhedrim, or court of judicature, that consisted of less than three l: but "although there is no judicature less than three, לאחד לרון מותר, "it is lawful for one to judge", according to the law, as it is said, Leviticus 19:15 "In righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour"; but according to the words of the Scribes, (only,) when there are three, and two that judge, their judgment is no judgment: one who is publicly approved or authorized, or who

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 up prayer; but to persevere in presenting their petitions at the throne of grace, because prayer is never lost labour. There may be a time during which God does not appear to answer prayer, but he will ultimately answer it; therefore, «men ought always to pray, and not to faint» in prayer. If they do not pray, they will faint in many ways. Their courage will faint. All their hope as to the future will faint, and fall into a dead swoon as it were. So, dear friends, you have your choice between praying and fainting. The doctrine our Saviour laid down was «that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;» and this is the parable which he related in illustration of that truth:...

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 18:15) 4. The Rich Young Ruler. (Luke 18:18) 5. Rewards Promised. (Luke 18:28) 6. The Renewed Prediction of His Suffering, Death and Resurrection. (Luke 18:31) 7. The Blind Man near Jericho Healed. ...

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 parable has a specific point, it is not simply an exhortation to prayer like Luke 11:5. There is a striking parallel with Sir_35:12-19, even to the idea of vengeance on enemies of the community and the faith. The parable is constructed on the _a fortiori_ principle. God is not compared to but contrasted with an unjust judge. If the one yields to the persistency of an unknown widow, how much more will the other hear and answer His own chosen people, though it is not merely because they pray that He will punish the persecutor. Note the use of the Lord for Jesus in Luke 18:6, as in...

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 the same town who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But afterwards he said to himself, 'Even though I neither fear God nor respect man, because she bothers me, I will vindicate this widow, lest by her constant coming she exhausts me.'" The Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And shall God not vindicate his own chosen ones who cry to him day and night, even though he seem to wait for long? But when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?" This parable tells of the kind of thing which could, and often did, happen. There are two characters in it. (i) The judge was clearly not a Jewish judge. All ordinary Jewis...