Text -- Luke 18:1-5 (NET)

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 18:2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 18:3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For a while he refused, refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 18:1

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

⁴ sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).

NET Notes: Luk 18:2

¹ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

² tn Or “town.”

³ sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

⁴ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

NET Notes: Luk 18:3

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.

NET Notes: Luk 18:4

¹ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Grk “after these things.”

³ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

NET Notes: Luk 18:5

¹ tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).

² tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).