Luke 18:3

And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. AND THERE WAS A WIDOW IN THAT CITY - weak, desolate, defenseless. Compare 1 Timothy 5:5, a verse evidently alluding to what is here said, "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day." AND SHE CAME, [ eercheto (G2064)] - rather, 'kept coming,' as the imperfect tense implies. Indeed it was to get rid of this "continual coming" that the judge at length gave her redress. SAYING, AVENGE ME [ Ekdikeeson (G1556 ) me...

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 18:3. _AVENGE ME OF MINE ADVERSARY._] The original, εκδικησον με απο του αντιδικου μου, had better be translated, _Do me justice_ _against_, or _vindicate me from, my adversary_. If the woman had come to get _revenge_, as our common translation intimates, I think our blessed Lord would never have permitted her to have the honour of a place in the sacred records. She desired to have _justice_, and that only; and by her _importunity_ she got that which the unrighteous judge had no _inclination_ to give, but merely for his _own ease_....

A WIDOW - This is a circumstance that gives increasing interest to the parable. Judges were bound to show special attention to widows, Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 22:3. The reason of this was that they were defenseless, were commonly poor, and were liable to be oppressed by those in power. AVENGE ME - This would have been better translated, “Do me justice against my adversary, or vindicate me from him.” It does not denote vengeance or revenge, but simply that she wished to have “justice” done her - a thing which this judge was “bound” to do, but which it seems he had no disposition to do. ADVERSARY - One opposed in law. In this case it seems that the judge was unwilling to do justice, and probably t

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

AND THERE WAS A WIDOW IN THAT CITY,.... Poor and helpless, and none among men to counsel, direct, and assist her, and take her part: now as in the accommodation of this parable, the elect of God answer to this widow; such an one is rather pitched upon to represent the helpless, desolate, and forlorn condition they are in among men in this world, though they are espoused to one husband, Christ; and especially to signify the state and condition of God's elect among the Jews in those sad times, before the destruction of Jerusalem, this parable has respect unto. Christ is the bridegroom of his church and people; he is their husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and they are espoused as a chaste virgin to him; and whilst he was here on earth, his disciples, who were the children of the bridegroom, could not fast and mourn, for which they had no reason; but upon the death of Christ, when he...

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...