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Luke 18 · a question people ask

Jesus says, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says" (18:6). Is God like that judge?

In the text

Luke tells of no word of Jesus saying that the judge stands for God. Here are Jesus's words in their order. The judge is one "who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man" (18:2), and he says it of himself: "Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her" (18:4-5). Then "The Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says." (18:6), and "Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?" (18:7), and "I tell you that he will avenge them quickly." (18:8). Luke gives the reason for the parable before it begins: "that they must always pray and not give up" (18:1). These notes don't say what the judge pictures, and add nothing to his words.

From Favor's study of Luke 18

Luke 18: Always pray and not give up

Luke says why before the first story begins, "that they must always pray and not give up" (18:1), and to whom before the second, "certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness" (18:9). And words of one Greek family, as Strong's traces them, stand in both, from the widow's "Defend me" (18:3) to the man who "went down to his house justified" (18:14).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions