Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Parallel translations
- WEB saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God, and didn’t respect man.
- BSB “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
- NKJV saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
- NASB saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person.
- NLT “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The parable features a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. He is the picture of callous indifference.
Overview
Jesus introduces an unjust judge with no regard for God or man, the very opposite of a righteous arbiter. This negative example sets up an argument from lesser to greater about God's character. The judge's coldness will make God's eagerness to hear his people shine all the brighter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 29:7The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
- Luke 18:4And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
- Ps 8:1–4O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
- Mic 3:1–3And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
- Jer 22:16–17He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
- Ezek 22:6–8Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
- Exod 18:21–22Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
- Rom 3:14–18Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
- Job 29:7–17When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
- 2 Chr 19:3–9Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
- Isa 33:8The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 18:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.