A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’
Parallel translations
- KJV And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
- BSB And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my 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 well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
- Deut 27:19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Jer 5:28They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy.
- Job 22:9You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
- Luke 18:7–8Won’t God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
- Job 29:13the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
- Rom 13:3–4For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
- 2 Sam 14:5–24The king said to her, “What ails you?” She answered, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
- Isa 1:21–23How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now 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
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.