And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
Parallel translations
- WEB A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’
- KJV And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
- NKJV Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
- NASB Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’
- NLT A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’
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
A vulnerable widow repeatedly comes to the judge pleading for justice against her adversary. Her persistence is the heart of the parable.
Overview
Widows in that culture were defenseless and easily exploited, dependent on others for justice. Her repeated coming embodies the persevering prayer Jesus commends. She has no leverage but persistence, modeling how God's people are to keep crying out to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 1:17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
- Deut 27:19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Jer 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Job 22:9You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
- Luke 18:7–8Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Job 29:13The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
- Rom 13:3–4For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.
- 2 Sam 14:5–24“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
- Isa 1:21–23See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 18:3 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
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