Luke 18:3

18:3 A widow: God is concerned for widows, orphans, and foreigners—the most vulnerable members of ancient society—and has promised judgment against those who oppress them (Exod 22:22; Deut 10:18; 24:17; 27:19; Ps 68:5; Isa 1:23; 10:2; Jer 22:3; Ezek 22:7; Amos 5:10-13; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5). • Give me justice: The woman was in the right in this dispute—she was not asking for special favors.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 18:3. Χήρα, a widow) one who is easily exposed to injury, and cannot readily find protection among men. Such doth the Church appear to the world.—ἐκδίκησον) Hence the expression used in Luk 18:7 is ἐκδίκησις. Ἀντίδικος and ἀδικία are conjugates.—ἀντιδίκου, adversary) 1Pe 5:8.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 18:3 . χήρα , a widow, such a suppliant tests a man’s character. Her weakness appeals to a generous, noble nature, and is taken advantage of by an ignoble. ἤρχετο , presumably used in a frequentative sense = ventitabat (Grotius), though not necessarily meaning more than “began to come,” with possibility of recurrence. ἐκδίκησόν με , give me redress or satisfaction. “Avenge me” is too strong.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

came--kept coming. See Luk 18:5, "her continual coming."

Avenge me--that is, rid me of the oppression of.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Avenge me of mine adversary.] The original, εκδικησον με απο του αντιδικου μου, had better be translated, Do me justice against, or vindicate me from, my adversary. If the woman had come to get revenge, as our common translation intimates, I think our blessed Lord would never have permitted her to have the honour of a place in the sacred records. She desired to have justice, and that only; and by her importunity she got that which the unrighteous judge had no inclination to give, but merely for his own ease.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) There was a widow in that city.—The neglect of the cause of the widow had always been noted by Lawgiver and Prophet—and it was one of the notes of a high ethical standard in both—as the extremest form of oppressive tyranny (Exo_22:22; Deu_10:18; Deu_27:19; Isa_1:17; Isa_1:23; Eze_22:7). Comp. also the speech of the widow of Tekoah (2Sa_14:2; 2Sa_14:5).

She came unto him.—The tense implies continual coming.

Avenge me of mine adversary.—The term is used in its legal sense. She was plaintiff, and he defendant, or, it may be, vice versâ. The judge put off his decision, and the “law’s delay” was worse to her than the original wrong had been.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. she came unto him] Rather, she kept coming to him. The widow woman is a representative alike of the Christian Church and of the Christian soul.

Avenge me of mine adversary] Rather, Do me justice. The word ‘avenge’ is a little too strong. The technical term ekdikeson implies ‘settle my case (so as to free me) from my adversary.’ The same word is found in Rom_12:19; Rev_6:10. There is again a curious parallel in Sir_35:14-17, “He will not despise ... the widow when she poureth out her complaint. Do not the tears run down the widow’s cheeks? and is not her cry against him that causeth them to fall?...The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds, and ... he will not depart till the Most High shall behold to judge righteously and execute judgment.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was a widow in that city,.... Poor and helpless, and none among men to counsel, direct, and assist her, and take her part: now as in the accommodation of this parable, the elect of God answer to this widow; such an one is rather pitched upon to represent the helpless, desolate, and forlorn condition they are in among men in this world, though they are espoused to one husband, Christ; and especially to signify the state and condition of God's elect among the Jews in those sad times, before the destruction of Jerusalem, this parable has respect unto. Christ is the bridegroom of his church and people; he is their husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and they are espoused as a chaste virgin to him; and whilst he was here on earth, his disciples, who were the children of the bridegroom, could not fast and mourn, for which they had no reason; but upon the death of Christ, when he was removed from them, they had great sorrow of heart; they were left like widows and orphans; hence those words of Christ, Joh 14:18 and were persecuted by the Jews in their own land; and wherever they went, they stirred up the Gentiles against them; and so things continued till near the destruction of Jerusalem; during which time many a request was made to God, the judge of the widows and fatherless, to the following purport:

and she came unto him, saying, avenge me of my adversary; or do me justice in the cause depending between me, and him that has wronged me; hear the cause, and do right; vindicate, and deliver me. Many are the adversaries of God's people, as the sins and corruptions of their own hearts, Satan, and his angels, wicked oppressors, and persecutors; the last seem, in the mystical sense, to be designed here: it is lawful to pray for vengeance on them; it is right to apply to God, and leave it with him, to whom it belongs; and it has been the suit and cry of the best of men; see Rev 6:9. It does not become the people of God to avenge themselves, even when it is in the power of their hands; nor should they desire it for their own sakes, so much as for the glory of God; they should ask it, not to gratify a revengeful spirit in them, but for the honour or divine justice; and this should be always with submission to the will of God, leaving it to his own time and way, to whom vengeance belongs, and who has said it is mine, and I will repay it; as he certainly will sooner or later: the purity of his nature, his abhorrence of sin, and sinful men, and his love to his own people engage him to it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

Ver. 3. Avenge me of mine adversary] A downright request, without either logic or rhetoric to set it forth or enforce it; to teach us that though our prayers be but blunt or broken language, if importunate, they shall prevail nevertheless.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A widow - This is a circumstance that gives increasing interest to the parable. Judges were bound to show special attention to widows, Isa 1:17; Jer 22:3. The reason of this was that they were defenseless, were commonly poor, and were liable to be oppressed by those in power.

Avenge me - This would have been better translated, “Do me justice against my adversary, or vindicate me from him.” It does not denote vengeance or revenge, but simply that she wished to have “justice” done her - a thing which this judge was “bound” to do, but which it seems he had no disposition to do.

Adversary - One opposed in law. In this case it seems that the judge was unwilling to do justice, and probably took advantage of her condition to oppress her.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Avenge me; i.e. do me justice. It is a Hebraism. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

3. A widow—This widow, we find by Luk_18:7, is God’s own elect. It is the Church of the truly justified from Christ’s First Coming to his Second. The Church is the bride of Christ; and to indicate our deprivation during his absence on high she is held

a widow. Avenge me of mine adversary—The Church’s word avenge, according to the Greek, properly signifies justice, not revenge. It is the cry of the oppressed and martyr Church against her persecuter. It is represented by St. John in the Apocalypse with wonderful grandeur as coming up to God from the souls of the martyrs under the altar. “How long, O Lord, dost thou not avenge our blood?”

Rev_6:9-10. But the Church is thus guilty of no unholy passion. This cry is but the utterance of divine justice in her behalf to the divine Ruler.

Mine adversary—The plaintiff or accuser. Here is perhaps an allusion to the name Satan, which signifies accuser, and as the name of him who is called the accuser of the brethren.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. The petitioner was a woman and a widow, the latter being in the East a synonym for helplessness. With no one to defend her or plead her cause, this widow was ever a prey to the covetous. Not once nor twice in the noble generous words of the chivalrous Hebrew prophets we find this readiness on the part of those in power to neglect, if not to oppress these helpless widow-women, sternly commented upon. So in Isaiah we read, (Isa_1:23) "They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them." While Jesus (Mat_23:14) includes this cowardly sin among the evil deeds of the rulers of the Israel of his day: "Ye devour widows" houses, and for a pretence make long prayer." A more desperate situation, as regards any hope of obtaining the object of her earnest prayer, could not well be pictured a careless, corrupt judge of the lawless Herod period for the tribunal in Israel, and a poor helpless widow for the suppliant. The forlorn woman of the parable represents the Church or people of God in dire straits, overborne by an unbelieving world and seemingly forgotten even of their God. The story is a reminder that there is hope even in that extreme situation sketched in the parable, if the petitioner only continues persistent in her prayer. The argument which lies on the surface of the parable, teaching is obvious: if such a judge will in the end listen to the prayer of a suppliant for whom he cares nothing, will not God surely listen to the repeated prayer of a suppliant whom he loves with a deep, enduring love? Such is the argument of the story. Importunity, it seems to say, must inevitably triumph. But underlying this there is much deep teaching, of which, perhaps, the most important item is that it insists upon the urgent necessity for us all to continue in prayer, never fainting in this exercise though no answer seems to come. "The whole limb of the faithful," as Origen once grandly said, "should be one great connected prayer." That is the real moral of the story; but there are a number of minor bits of Divine teaching contained in this curious parable setting, as we shall see. Avenge me of mine adversary. We must not suppose that mere vengeance in the vulgar sense is what the widow prayed for; that would be of no use to her; all she wanted was that the judge should deliver her from the oppression which her adversary exercised over her, no doubt in keeping from her the heritage to which she was lawfully entitled. Of course, the granting her prayer would revolve loss and possibly punishment to her fraudulent oppressor.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now there was a widow

Jesus uses this phrase to introduce a new character to the story. (See: Introduction of New and Old Participants)

widow

A widow is a woman whose husband has died and who has not remarried. Jesus' hearers would have thought of her as a person who had no one to protect her from those who wanted to harm her.

she came often to him

The word "him" refers to the judge.

Help me get justice against

"Give me a just ruling against"

my opponent

"my enemy" or "the person who is trying to harm me." This is an opponent in a lawsuit. It is not clear whether the widow is suing the man or the man is suing the widow.

man

This refers here to "people" in general. (See: When Masculine Words Include Women)

causes me trouble

"bothers me"

wear me out

"exhaust me"

by her constant coming

"by continually coming to me"

translationWords

just

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. χήρα. See Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Mal 3:5; 2Sa 14:2; 2Sa 14:5. The necessity for special justice and kindness to widows rose from the fact that in the East they were of all classes the most defenceless and oppressed. Hence the prominent place which they occupy in the arrangements of the early Church (Act 6:1; Act 9:41; 1Ti 5:3, &c.).

ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτόν. ‘She kept coming to him.’ Grotius, ventitabat. The widow woman is a representative alike of the Christian Church and of the Christian soul.

ἐκδίκησόν με. ‘Do me justice.’ The word “avenge” is a little too strong. The technical term ἐκδίκησον implies ‘settle my case (so as to free me) from my adversary.’ The same word is found in Rom 12:19; Rev 6:10. There is again a curious parallel in Sir 35:14-17, “He will not despise … the widow when she poureth out her complaint. Do not the tears run down the widow’s cheeks? and is not her cry against him that causeth them to fall?… The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds, and … he will not depart till the Most High shall behold to judge righteously and execute judgment.”

ἀπό. A constructio praegnans. ‘Avenge (and so deliver) me from. (Comp. Jdg 11:36.)

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ἐκδίκ.] deliver me from—the justice of her cause being presupposed—this adversary being her oppressor on account of her defenceless situation, and she wanting a sentence from the judge to stop his practices.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. χήρα δὲ ἦν. Typical of defencelessness: she had neither a protector to coerce, nor money to bribe the unrighteous magistrate. The O.T. abounds in denunciations of those who oppress widows: Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18, 24:17, 27:19; Job 22:9, Job 22:24:3; Jer 22:3; Eze 22:7, etc. Comp. Non, ita me dii ament, auderet facere hæc viduæ mulieri, quæ in me facit (Ter. Heaut. v. 1:80).

ἤρχετο. “Continued coming, came often,” ventitabat. The imperf. indicates her persistence.

Ἐκδίκησόν με ἀπό. “Give me a sentence of protection from; vindicate my right (and so protect me) from.” Assere me jure dicundo ab injuriâ adversarii mei (Schleusn.). For the ἀπό comp. 12:15, 58, 13:16, 20:46: it does not express the penalty exacted from the adversary, but the protection afforded from him, as in π̔ῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. The meaning is “preserve me against his attacks” rather than “deliver me out of his power,” which wo require ἐκ. For ἀντίδικος comp. 12:58; Mat 5:25.

As often, the ἀπό follows up the idea suggested by the ἐκ in the compound verb: see on ἐξέρχομαι ἀπό (4:35), and comp. also ἐκλέομαι ἀπό (6:13), ἐκζητεῖν ἀπό (11:50, 51), ἐκδιώκω ἀπό (Joe 2:20; Dan 4:22, Dan 4:29, Dan 4:30, Theod.), etc. Here d has devindica me ab.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Avenge [εκδικησον] . The word is too strong. It means do me justice. See on Rom 12:19.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.