Luke 18:5

Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. YET (I HAVE SOME REGARD TO MY OWN COMFORT: SO) BECAUSE THIS WIDOW TROUBLETH ME, I WILL AVENGE HER, LEST BY HER CONTINUAL COMING, [ eis (G1519) telos (G5056) erchomenee (G2064)] - 'her incessant coming.' In 1 Thessalonians 2:16 the same expression is rendered 'to the uttermost.' SHE WEARY - or 'annoy' me [ hupoopiazee (G5299) me (G3165)]....

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 18:5. _SHE WEARY ME._] υπωπιαζη με, _Stun me_. A metaphor taken from boxers, who _bruise_ each other, and by beating each other about the face _blacken the eyes_. See 1 Corinthians 9:27....

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. THOUGH I FEAR NOT ... - This contains the reason why he attended to the case at all. It was not from any regard to justice, or to the duties of his office. It was simply to avoid “trouble.” And yet his conduct in this case might have appeared very upright, and possibly might have been strictly according to law and to justice. How many actions are performed that “appear well,” when the doers of those actions know that they are mere hypocrisy! and how many actions are performed from the basest and lowest motives of “selfishness,” that have the appearance of external propriety and even of goodness! SHE WEARY ME - The word used he

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

YET BECAUSE THIS WIDOW TROUBLETH ME,.... By often knocking at his door, by loud cries and earnest entreaties, with strong arguments, and floods of tears, and could not easily be removed from his presence, or got out of his house: I WILL AVENGE HER; I will hear her cause, do her justice, and deliver her from her troublesome adversary: LEST BY HER CONTINUAL COMING SHE WEARY ME: so that it was not from a conscience of duty in him, as a judge, or from a commiseration of the poor widow's case; but from a selfish end, for his own ease, in perfect agreement to his character, that his house might not be disturbed, and his ears stunned with her noise and cry, and he was pestered with her company day after day. The character of this judge, his reasoning with himself upon it, his principles from which he acted, and the ends he had in view, are wholly to be left out in the accommodation of this pa...

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...