Persistent Widow Parable

Luke 18:1-8
(Huck 185; Aland 236; Crook 289)^[101]

Updated: 4 December 2024

וַיִּמְשׁוֹל לָהֶם מָשָׁל לֵאמֹר דַּיָּן הָיָה בְּעִיר פְּלוֹנִית שֶׁלֹּא יָרֵא שָׁמַיִם וְאָדָם לֹא כִּבֵּד וְאַלְמָנָה הָיְתָה בְּאֹתָהּ הָעִיר וְהָיְתָה בָּאָה אֵלָיו לוֹמַר שָׁפְטֵנִי מִיַּד בַּעַל דִּינִי וְהָיָה מְמָאֵן זְמַן הַרְבֵּה וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן אָמַר בְּלִבּוֹ אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינִי יָרֵא שָׁמַיִם וְאָדָם אֵינִי מְכַבֵּד מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמֵּבִיאָה עָלַי צָרָה אַלְמָנָה זוֹ אֶשְׁפוֹט אוֹתָה שֶׁמָּא תָּבוֹא וְתִפְגַּע בִּי לְעוֹלָם וַיֹּאמֶר הָאָדוֹן שִׁמְעוּ מַה דַּיַּן הָרֶשַׁע אוֹמֵר וְהֲלֹא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁמַיִם מִשְׁפַּט בְּחִירָיו הַצּוֹעֲקִים לוֹ בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה הֲמִתְאַפֵּק עֲלֵיהֶם אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לָכֶם יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּטָם בִּמְהֵרָה

Then Yeshua told them this parable: “There was a judge in a certain town who was not a God-fearing man, neither was he concerned about human welfare. Nevertheless, there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him demanding, ‘Rescue me from my legal opponent’s power!’ But the judge kept refusing her for a long time.

Some time later, however, the judge thought to himself, ‘Although I am not a God-fearing man, and although I have no concern for human welfare, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will rescue her, or else she’ll keep on coming to pester me forever!’”

And the Lord said, “Consider what the wicked judge did. And will not God all the more work justice on behalf of his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night to be rescued? Do you think he holds himself back from helping them? I can assure you that he will swiftly bring them justice.”^[102]

Reconstruction

To view the reconstructed text of the Persistent Widow parable, click on the link below:

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• ^[1] Cf. Knox, 2:110. ↩
• ^[2] See Manson, Sayings, 305; Beare, Earliest, 188 §185. ↩
• ^[3] See Snodgrass, 454; Notley-Safrai, 138. ↩
• ^[4] See Nolland, Luke, 2:870. ↩
• ^[5] See Robert L. Lindsey, “Jesus’ Twin Parables,” under the subheading “The ‘How to Pray’ Story.” Cf. Cadbury, Making, 233; Bundy, 391-392. ↩
• ^[6] On the reasons behind Luke’s preference for the FR version of the Lord’s Prayer, see the discussion in Lord’s Prayer, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[7] On the standards by which we determine whether two illustrations are twins, see David N. Bivin and Joshua N. Tilton, "LOY Excursus: Criteria for Identifying Separated Twin Parables and Similes in the Synoptic Gospels." ↩
• ^[8] See Friend in Need, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[9] Note that Martin (Syntax 1, 108 no. 53) classified Luke’s Persistent Widow parable as transltion-style Greek, a style of Greek we would expect for a pericope copied from Anth. ↩
• ^[10] See Notley-Safrai, 6-7. ↩
• ^[11] See Young, Parables, 56 n. 31. The πρὸς τὸ δεῖν + infinitive construction is un-Hebraic and never occurs in LXX. Likewise, the verb ἐγκακεῖν (enkakein, “to be discouraged”) never occurs in LXX, and finding a Hebrew equivalent is difficult. ↩
• ^[12] So Jeremias, Parables, 93 n. 13. The verb δεῖν occurs 8xx in Matt. and 6xx in Mark, compared to 18xx in Luke and 22xx in Acts. ↩
• ^[13] Montefiore (RLGT, 368) has shown that Strack and Billerbeck’s oft-repeated claim that unceasing prayer was un-Jewish is in error (Strack-Billerbeck, 2:237-238; cf. Marshall, 671; Edwards, 497 n. 101). Nevertheless, we concur with those who suggest that continual (i.e., frequent) rather than continuous (i.e., non-stop) prayer is what Luke 18:1 recommends. See Marshall, 671; Fitzmyer, 2:1178; Nolland, Luke, 867. ↩
• ^[14] The parables in which judges appear are, however, admittedly from post-tannaic sources:
  

  מָשָׁל לְדַיָּן שֶׁבָּא דִין יְתוֹמָה לְפָנָיו וְזִכָּה אוֹתָהּ

  A parable: [It may be compared] to a judge who tried the case of an orphan girl and he cleared her.... (Exod. Rab. 30:19 [ed. Merkin, 6:53])

  לאשת אלמנה שהיתה קובלת על בנה לדיין

  [A parable: It may be compared] to a widow-woman who kept bringing charges against her son to a judge.... (Lev. Rab. 27:6 [ed. Marguiles, 2:635])

  משל לשנים שנכנסו אצל הדיין

  A parable: [It may be compared] to two people who appeared before the judge.... (Lev. Rab. 30:2 [ed. Marguiles, 2:794])

  Pesikta de-Rav Khana 15:9 (ed. Mandelbaum, 1:260-261) preserves several accounts of individuals, some of them widows, who were forced to contend with corrupt judges. In these stories the term for judge is דַּיָּן and the term for widow is אַלְמָנָה, just as in our reconstruction. ↩

• ^[15] The following is an example of אֱלֹהִים interpreted as דַּיָּן:

  אלהים לא תקלל...רבי ישמעאל אומר בדיינין הכותב מדבר שנאמר עד אלהים יבא דבר שניהם

  You must not curse ’^elohim [Exod. 22:27]. Rabbi Ishmael says, “This scripture speaks about judges, as it is said, to ’^elohim must come the matter of the two of them [Exod. 22:8]." (Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Kaspa chpt. 1 [ed. Lauterbach, 2:461])

  Cf. Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Kaspa chpt. 2 (ed. Lauterbach, 2:467). ↩

• ^[16] Rabbinic examples in which God is styled as a judge (דַּיָּן) include:

  שֶׁהוּא הַיּוֹצר וְהוּא הַבּוֹרֵא הוּא הַמֵּבִין וְהוּא הַדַּיָּין הוּא עֵד הוּא בַעַל דִּין וְהוּא עָתִיד לָדוֹן שֶׁאֵין לְפָנָיו לֹא עַוְלָה וְלֹא שִׁכְחָה וְלֹא מַשּׂוֹא פָנִים וְלֹא מַקַּח שֹׁחַד

  ...for he is the maker and he is the creator and he is the understanding one and he is the judge. He is witness, he is opposing litigant and in the future he will judge, for there is no iniquity before him, nor is there forgetfulness or partiality or taking of bribes.... (m. Avot 4:22)

  ומה יוסף הצדיק שהוא בשר ודם כשהוכיח את אחיו לא יכלו לעמוד בתוכחתו, הקב″ה שהוא דיין ובעל דין ויושב על כסא דין ודן כל אחד ואחד על אחת כמה וכמה שאין כל בשר ודם יכול לעמוד בתוכחתו

  And if in the case of Joseph the righteous, who was only flesh and blood, when he rebuked his brothers they were unable to withstand his rebuke, how much more in the case of the Holy one, blessed be he, who is judge and opponent in the suit and sits on the seat of judgment and judges each and every person, will flesh and blood be unable to withstand his rebuke? (Gen. Rab. 93:11 [ed. Theodor-Albeck, 3:1170])

  ↩

• ^[17] Note the following examples of עִיר אַחַת from rabbinic sources:

  בני טבריא ובני חמתה חזרו להיות עיר אחת

  The residents of Tiberias and the residents of Hammata determined to become a single city [עיר אחת]. (t. Eruv. 5:2; Vienna MS)

  למה הדבר דומה לשנים שעשו משתה בעיר אחת אחד קרא את בני העיר ואת המלך לא קרא ואחד לא קרא לא המלך ולא את בני העיר

  To what may the matter be compared? To two people who made a banquet in a single city [עיר אחת]. One invited the residents of the city, but the king he did not invite, and one did not invite the king or the residents of the city.... (t. Bab. Kam. 7:2; Vienna MS)

  עיר אחת מביאה ואין שתי עיירות מביאות שתי עגלות

  A single city [עיר אחת] brings it, and two cities do not bring two heifers. (Sifre Deut. §206 [ed. Finkelstein, 241])

  ↩

• ^[18] Examples of עִיר פְּלוֹנִית are found in t. Peah 1:13; t. Bab. Kam. 11:3; t. Bab. Bat. 9:11. Cf. עִיר פְּלוֹנִי in t. Yev. 14:8; Sifra, VaYikra perek 22 (ed. Weiss, 27c). ↩
• ^[19] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1433-1435. ↩
• ^[20] See Dos Santos, 85. ↩
• ^[21] Bovon noted the similarity between “neither fearing God nor respecting people” in the Persistent Widow parable and “I have sinned toward heaven and before you” in the Prodigal Son parable. See François Bovon, “Apocalyptic Traditions in the Lukan Special Material: Reading Luke 18:1-8,” Harvard Theological Review 90.4 (1997): 383-391, esp. 386. ↩
• ^[22] For examples of יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם in rabbinic literature, see inter alia, Mechilita de-Rabbi Ishmael, Nezikin chpt. 18 [ed. Lauterbach, 454]; Gen. Rab. 28:5 [ed. Theodor-Albeck, 1:264]). ↩
• ^[23] On the phenomenon of God fearers in the first century C.E. and their fluid relationship to Judaism, see Paula Fredriksen, “‘If It Looks like a Duck, and It Quacks like a Duck...’: On Not Giving Up the Godfearers,” in A Most Reliable Witness: Essays in Honor of Ross Shepard Kraemer (ed. Susan Asbrook Harvey, et al.; Providence: Brown University, 2015), 25-33. ↩
• ^[24] See Plummer, Luke, 411. Derrett suggested that the widow was at fault for appealing to a Gentile instead of a Jewish judge. See J. Duncan M. Derrett, “Law in the New Testament: The Parable of the Unjust Judge,” New Testament Studies 18 (1972): 178-191. We do not find this suggestion to be convincing. ↩
• ^[25] See Notley-Safrai, 44-47. The Pharisee and the Toll Collector parable (Luke 18:9-14) would have been an exception to this rule. ↩
• ^[26] See Snodgrass, 454. Cf. Nolland, Luke, 2:867. ↩
• ^[27] See Young, Parables, 57. ↩
• ^[28] In the Hebrew Scriptures leaders are constantly exhorted not to fear fellow human beings. Cf. Num. 14:9; 21:34; Deut. 3:2; Ezek. 3:9. Conversely, Gideon (Judg. 6:27) and Saul (1 Sam. 15:24) were criticized for their fear of their fellow human beings. ↩
• ^[29] See Derrett, “Law in the New Testament: The Parable of the Unjust Judge,” 191. ↩
• ^[30] In LXX הִכִּיר פָּנִים is variously rendered as ἐπιγνώσκειν πρόσωπον (“to recognize a face”; Deut. 1:17; 16:19), αἰδεῖσθαι πρόσωπον (“to respect a face”; Prov. 24:23) and αἰσχύνειν πρόσωπον (“to feel shame [before] a face”; Prov. 28:21). ↩
• ^[31] In LXX נָשָׂא פָּנִים is variously rendered as θαυμάζειν πρόσωπον (“to marvel at a face”; Gen. 19:21; Deut. 10:17; 28:50; 4 Kgdms. 5:1; Prov. 18:5; Job 22:8; Isa. 9:14), προσδέχεσθαι πρόσωπον (“to receive a face”; Gen. 32:21), λαμβάνειν πρόσωπον (“to receive a face”; Lev. 19:15; Mal. 1:8; 2:9), αἴρειν πρόσωπον (“to lift a face”; 2 Kgdms. 2:22), ἐπαίρειν πρόσωπον (“to lift up a face”; 4 Kgdms. 9:32), αἱρετίζειν πρόσωπον (“to choose a face”; 1 Kgdms. 25:35), πρόσωπον ἀναλάμπειν (“a face to shine”; Job 11:15), αἰσχύνειν (“to feel shame”; Job 32:21), ἐπαισχύνεσθαι πρόσωπον (“to be ashamed [before] a face”; Job 34:19) and ἀνταλλάσσειν (“to take compensation”; Prov. 6:35). ↩
• ^[32] On the qualifications for judges in the Hebrew Bible and in ancient Near Eastern texts, see Moshe Weinfeld, “Judge and Officer in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East,” Israel Oriental Studies 7 (1977): 65-88. Scholars often cite examples such as the following to demonstrate that Greek authors regarded fear of God (or the gods) and respect for human beings as requisite qualities for leaders:

  ἐτύγχανε δ᾿ ὢν τὴν φύσιν ἄδικος καὶ κακοῦργος καὶ μήτε πρὸς θεὸν ὅσιος μήτε πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιεικής

  He proved to be unjust and wicked by nature, and was neither reverent toward God nor kind to man. (Jos., Ant. 10:83; Loeb)

  ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἅ βεβούλευνται ὑπὸ σκότους καὶ μέλλουσι δρᾶν, ὧ βουλή, δεινὰ καὶ ἀνόσια ἔργα, οὔτε θεῖον φοβηθέντες χόλον οὔτε ἀνθρωπίνην ἐντραπέντες νέμεσιν.

  These are the dreadful and wicked plans, senators, which they have concocted under cover of darkness and intend to carry out without either fearing the anger of the gods or heeding the indignation of men. (Dionysius of Halicarnassus [ca. 60 B.C.E.-7 C.E.], Ant. rom. 10:10 §7; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[33] See David R. Catchpole, “The Son of Man’s Search for Faith (Luke XVIII 8b),” Novum Testamentum 19.2 (1977): 81-104, esp. 88. ↩
• ^[34] Cf. m. Avot 2:10; 4:12. ↩
• ^[35] In LXX ἡ πόλις ἐκείνη is the translation of הָעִיר הַהִיא in Deut. 21:3, 4, 6; 22:18; 2 Kgdms. 17:13. In Deut. 13:16 ἡ πόλις ἐκείνη renders הָעִיר הַהוּא. ↩
• ^[36] On this grammatical shift, see Chanan Ariel, “The Shift from the Biblical Hebrew Far Demonstrative ההוא to the Mishnaic Hebrew אותו,” in New Perspectives in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew (ed. Aaron D. Hornkohl and Geoffrey Khan; University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2021), 167-195. ↩
• ^[37] See Marshall, 672. ↩
• ^[38] See Segal, 156 §324. ↩
• ^[39] See Segal, 141 §301. ↩
• ^[40] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:422. In LXX ἐκδικεῖν is the translation of שָׁפַט in 1 Kgdms. 3:13; Obad. 21; Ezek. 7:7[3], 27; 16:38; 20:4; 23:24, 45. ↩
• ^[41] The imperative שָׁפְטֵנִי is found in Ps. 7:9; 26:1; 35:24; 43:1. ↩
• ^[42] In LXX מִיַּד is translated with ἀπό in Exod. 2:19; Num. 21:26; 35:25; Ps. 140[141]:9; Dan. 8:7. See Raija Sollamo, Renderings of Hebrew Semiprepositions in the Septuagint (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1979), 199. ↩
• ^[43] In LXX ἀντίδικος is the translation of רִיב in 1 Kgdms. 2:10; Isa. 41:11; Jer. 27[50]:34; 28[51]:36. ↩
• ^[44] See Jastrow, 301. ↩
• ^[45] In LXX οὐ + θέλειν is the translation of מֵאֵן in Gen. 37:35; 39:8; 48:19; Num. 20:21; 22:14; Deut. 25:7; 2 Kgdms. 13:9; 3 Kgdms. 21[20]:35; Ps. 77[78]:10; Hos. 11:5; Jer. 5:3 (2xx); 8:5; 9:5; 11:10; 27[50]:33; 38[31]:15; μή + θέλειν translates מֵאֵן in Exod. 10:4; Isa. 1:20; Jer. 45[38]:21. ↩
• ^[46] Compare ἐπὶ χρόνον in Luke 18:4 to ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον (“for much time”; Acts 18:20), ἐφ᾿ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ (“for as much time as he lives”; Rom. 7:1; 1 Cor. 7:39), ἐφ᾿ ὅσον χρόνον ὁ κληρονόμος νήπιός ἐστιν (“for as much time as the heir is a minor”; Gal. 4:1), ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτου τῶν χρόνων (“in the last times”; 1 Pet. 1:20), and ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτου χρόνου (“in the last time”; Jude 18). ↩
• ^[47] See Hurvitz, 112-114. ↩
• ^[48] Cf. Black, 237. ↩
• ^[49] In LXX אָמַר בְּלֵב/לֵבָב is rendered λέγειν/εἰπεῖν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ in, e.g., Deut. 8:17; 9:4; 18:21; 3 Kgdms. 12:26; Ps. 4:5; 9[10]:27[6], 32[11], 34[13]; 13[14]:1; 34[35]:25; 52[53]:2; 73[74]:8; Eccl. 2:1, 15; 3:17, 18; Obad. 3; Zeph. 1:12; 2:15; Isa. 47:8; 49:21; Jer. 5:24; 13:22. ↩
• ^[50] In LXX אָמַר בְּלֵב/לֵבָב is rendered λέγειν/εἰπεῖν ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ in Gen. 17:17; 27:41; Deut. 7:17; Isa. 14:13. ↩
• ^[51] Another example in which LXX rendered בְּלִבּוֹ as ἐν ἑαυτῷ is found in Exod. 4:14. ↩
• ^[52] According to Plummer (Luke, 412), εἰ καί implies that what the judge concedes is actual fact, whereas καὶ εἰ would express a hypothetical concession. ↩
• ^[53] On MH concessive clauses, see Segal, 232 §494. ↩
• ^[54] The only other instance of διά γε in the Gospels occurs in Friend in Need, L18 (Luke 11:8). The phrase μή μοι κόπους πάρεχε (“Do not present me troubles!”) is found on the lips of the boorish friend in Friend in Need, L10 (Luke 11:7). Luke 11:7 and Luke 18:5 account for the only two instances of παρέχειν κόπον in the writings of Luke. Two additional instances are found in the Synoptic Gospels in parallel verses (Mark 14:6 // Matt. 26:10). ↩
• ^[55] See Lindsey, “Jesus’ Twin Parables”; Bivin and Tilton, “LOY Excursus: Criteria for Identifying Separated Twin Parables and Similes in the Synoptic Gospels.” ↩
• ^[56] On זוֹ as the MH equivalent of BH זֹאת, see Segal, 41 §72; Kutscher, 124 §203. ↩
• ^[57] See Konrad Weiss, “ὑπωπιάζω,” TDNT, 8:590-591. ↩
• ^[58] See Derrett, “Law in the New Testament: The Parable of the Unjust Judge,” 190. ↩
• ^[59] On the idiom הִשְׁחִיר פָּנִים, see Jastrow, 551. Examples include:

  דברים שאדם עושה בילדותו משחירים פניו לעת זקנתו

  Things that a person does in his youth blacken his face [i.e., humiliate him] in the time of his old age. (b. Shab. 152a)

  דרש רבי יהודה ברבי סימון כל המשחיר פניו על דברי תורה בעולם הזה הקדוש ברוך הוא מבהיק זיויו לעולם הבא שנאמר מראהו כלבנון בחור כארזים

  Rabbi Yehudah expounded in the name of Rabbi Simon: “Everyone who blackens his face [i.e., humiliates himself] on account of the words of Torah in this world, the Holy one, blessed is he, will his luster shine in the world to come, as it is said, His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as cedars [Song 5:15].” (b. Sanh. 100a)

  The idiom הִשְׁחִיר פָּנִים might more plausibly stand behind ἀφανίζειν τὸ πρόσωπον in Matt. 6:16. ↩

• ^[60] See Young, Parables, 59. ↩
• ^[61] Additional examples of פָּגַע in the sense of “entreat” are found in Gen. 23:8; Jer. 7:16; 27:18; Job 21:15. ↩
• ^[62] See Bovon, 2:534 n. 43. In LXX לָנֶצַח is rendered εἰς τέλος in Ps. 9:7, 19, 32[10:11]; 43[44]:24; 48[49]:10; 51[52]:7; 67[68]:17; 73[74]:1, 10, 19; 76[77]:9; 78[79]:5; 88[89]:47; 102[103]:9; Job 14:20; 20:7; 23:7; Hab. 1:4. ↩
• ^[63] A rabbinic comment on Job 14:20 furnishes an example where לָנֶצַח in the biblical text is glossed as לְעוֹלָם:

  ר′ סימון פתח תתקפהו לנצח וגו′ תוקף שנתן הקב″ה לאדם הראשון לנצח לעולם היה

  Rabbi Simon opened [his homily with the verse] You made him strong forever etc. [Job 14:20]. The strength that the Holy one, blessed be he, gave to the first man was lānetzaḥ, that is, it was forever [לְעוֹלָם]. (Gen. Rab. 16:1 [ed. Theodor-Albeck, 1:142])

  ↩

• ^[64] See Boring-Berger-Colpe, 230. ↩
• ^[65] Text and translation according to Frank Cole Babbit et al., trans., Plutarch’s Moralia (16 vols.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1927-2004), 3:52-53. ↩
• ^[66] For a variety of opinions see Bultmann, 175; Jeremias, Parables, 156-157; Marshall, 670-671; Fitzmyer, 2:1176-1177; Nolland, Luke, 2:869; Bovon, “Apocalyptic Traditions in the Lukan Special Material: Reading Luke 18:1-8,” 383-391. ↩
• ^[67] See Marshall, 673; Fitzmyer, 2:1179. ↩
• ^[68] Cf. Lord’s Prayer, L5; Return of the Twelve, L9. ↩
• ^[69] Cf. Not Everyone Can Be Yeshua’s Disciple, L19, L30. ↩
• ^[70] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:45-49. ↩
• ^[71] The code name הכוהן הרשע occurs in 1QpHab I, 13; VIII, 8; IX, 9; XI, 4; XII, 2, 8. ↩
• ^[72] The title כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל always lacks the definite article. See Segal, 184 §378. ↩
• ^[73] This assertion and what follows appears to be based on a passage in Exodus that reads:

  כָּל־אַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם לֹא תְעַנּוּן׃ אִם־עַנֵּה תְעַנֶּה אֹתוֹ כִּי אִם־צָעֹק יִצְעַק אֵלַי שָׁמֹעַ אֶשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתוֹ

  You must not oppress any widow or orphan. If you do oppress him, then if he surely cries out to me, I will surely hear his cry. (Exod. 22:21-22)

  πᾶσαν χήραν καὶ ὀρφανὸν οὐ κακώσετε· ἐὰν δὲ κακίᾳ κακώσητε αὐτοὺς καὶ κεκράξαντες καταβοήσωσι πρός με, ἀκοῇ εἰσακούσομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῶν

  You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. (Exod. 22:21-22)

  ↩

• ^[74] See Patrick W. Skehan and Alexander A. Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira (AB 39; New York: Doubleday, 1987), 420. If the reading of MS B is original, then an allusion to Abraham’s protest הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל הָאָרֶץ לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט (“Will not the judge of all the earth do justice?”; Gen. 18:25) is likely. ↩
• ^[75] See Marshall, 673. ↩
• ^[76] In LXX ποιεῖν ἐκδίκησιν translates עָשָׂה נְקָמָה in Ps. 149:7; ποιεῖν ἐν ἐκδικήσει translates עָשָׂה בִּנְקָמָה in Ezek. 25:15; and ποιεῖν ἐκδικήσεις (plur.) translates עָשָׂה נְקָמוֹת (plur.) in Judg. 11:36; Ezek. 25:17. ↩
• ^[77] In LXX ποιεῖν ἐκδίκησιν translates עָשָׂה שְׁפָטִים in Exod. 12:12; Num. 33:4; Ezek. 16:41; 25:11; 30:14. ↩
• ^[78] On the other hand, in the Ben Sira passage discussed above in Comment to L20, parallel to the noun ἐκδίκησις the medieval Hebrew MS B reads נקם (Sir. 35:20 [ET 35:23]). To what extent MS B reflects readings that were current in the first century C.E., and how heavily the Persistent Widow parable was influenced by the Ben Sira passage, however, are open questions. ↩
• ^[79] In the Hebrew Bible שְׁפָטִים generally refers to God’s saving acts of deliverance, especially those he wrought for Israel when redeeming them from Egypt. The following example demonstrates that שְׁפָטִים continued to be used in MH:

  מי כמוכה באלים יי כיון שראו ישראל שאבד פרעה וחילו בים סוף ובטלה מלכותן של מצריים ושפטים נעשו בעבודה זרה שלהן פתחו כולם פיהם ואמרו מי כמוכה באלים יי ולא ישראל בלבד אמרו שירה אלא אף אומות העולם אמרו שירה כיון ששמעו אומות העולם שאבד פרעה וחילו בים ובטלה מלכותן של מצריים ושפטים נעשו בעבודה זרה שלהן כפרו כולן בעבודה זרה שלהן ופתחו כולן פיהם והודו במקום ואמרו מי כמוכה באלים יי

  Who is like you among the gods, O LORD? [Exod. 15:11]. As soon as Israel saw that Pharaoh and his army had perished in the Red Sea and that the reign of the Egyptians was abolished and that judgments [שפטים] were carried out against their idols, everyone opened their mouths and said, “Who is like you among the gods, O LORD?” And not only Israel recited this song, but even the nations of the world recited this song. When the nations of the world heard that Pharaoh and his army had perished in the sea and that the reign of the Egyptians was abolished and that judgments [שפטים] were carried out against their idols, everyone renounced their idols and opened their mouths and praised the Omnipresent one and said, “Who is like you among the gods, O LORD?” (Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata chpt. 8 [ed. Lauterbach, 1:206-207]; cf. Shirata chpt. 9 [ed. Lauterbach, 1:214])

  Presuming that the chosen ones who called out day and night were petitioning God for the redemption of Israel (cf. Luke 2:25, 38), Jesus’ assurance that God will work saving judgments (שְׁפָטִים) on their behalf would be entirely apt. ↩

• ^[80] In LXX ἐκδίκησις translates מִשְׁפָּט in Ezek. 16:38; 23:45 (2xx). ↩
• ^[81] The only instance in MT where שְׁפָטִים does not occur in the absolute state is in Ezek. 14:21, which reads: כִּי אַרְבַּעַת שְׁפָטַי הָרָעִים חֶרֶב וְרָעָב וְחַיָּה רָעָה וָדֶבֶר שִׁלַּחְתִּי אֶל יְרוּשָׁלִָם (“For my four evil judgments—sword and hunger and savage beast and plague—I sent against Jerusalem”). Here, the first person singular pronominal suffix is attached to שְׁפָטִים. ↩
• ^[82] Cf. 2 Chr. 6:39; 1 Kgs. 8:45 // 2 Chr. 6:35. ↩
• ^[83] In addition to the examples of עָשָׂה מִשְׁפָּט we have already cited (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 10:18; 1 Kgs. 8:45, 49), further examples include:

  וַיְהִי דָוִד עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה לְכָל עַמּוֹ

  And David did justice and righteousness for all his people. (2 Sam. 8:15)

  כִּי חָכְמַת אֱלֹהִים בְּקִרְבּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט

  For the wisdom of God was within him to do justice. (1 Kgs. 3:28)

  הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים נְאֻם יי וַהֲקִמֹתִי לְדָוִד צֶמַח צַדִּיק וּמָלַךְ מֶלֶךְ וְהִשְׂכִּיל וְעָשָׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה בָּאָרֶץ

  Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and a king will reign, and be wise and do justice and righteousness in the land. (Jer. 23:5)

  הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טּוֹב וּמָה יי דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם אֱלֹהֶיךָ

  He told you, O human being, what is good and what the LORD demands from you: nothing else but doing justice, and loving kindness, and walking humbly with your God. (Mic. 6:8)

  עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט לָעֲשׁוּקִים נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לָרְעֵבִים יי מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים

  He does justice for the oppressed, he gives bread to the hungry, the LORD releases the bound. (Ps. 146:7)

  יְהִי יי אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ בְּךָ לְתִתְּךָ עַל כִּסְאוֹ לְמֶלֶךְ לַיי אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּאַהֲבַת אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַעֲמִידוֹ לְעוֹלָם וַיִּתֶּנְךָ עֲלֵיהֶם לְמֶלֶךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה

  May the LORD your God be blessed, because he delighted in you to set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God on account of the love of your God for Israel, to establish him forever and to make you king over them to do justice and righteousness. (2 Chr. 9:8)

  On the technical sense of the phrase מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה (“justice and righteousness”), see Moshe Weinfeld, Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East (Jerusalem: Magnes; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995), 25-39. ↩

• ^[84] In LXX ἐκλεκτός is the translation of בָּחִיר in 2 Kgdms. 21:6; 1 Chr. 16:13; Ps. 88[89]:4; 104[105]:6, 43; 105[106]:5, 23; Isa. 42:1; 43:20; 45:4; 65:9, 15. ↩
• ^[85] See David Flusser, “The Times of the Gentiles and the Redemption of Jerusalem,” under the subheading “Mark’s Sectarian Redaction.” ↩
• ^[86] See Flusser, Jesus, 246 n. 25. ↩
• ^[87] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:222. ↩
• ^[88] In MS B the noun צְעָקָה (tz^e‘āqāh, “cry,” “shout”), from the same root as צָעַק, occurs in Sir. 35:14 (ET 35:17) and Sir. 35:16 (ET 35:20). ↩
• ^[89] On reconstructing ἡμέρα (hēmera, “day”) as יוֹם (yōm, “day”), see Choosing the Twelve, Comment to L1. In LXX ἡμέρα καὶ νύξ is the translation of יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה in Lev. 8:35; Josh. 1:8; 3 Kgdms. 8:59; 1 Chr. 9:33; 2 Chr. 6:20; 2 Esd. 11:6; 14:3; Ps. 1:2; 31[32]:4; 41[42]:4; 54[55]:11; Isa. 60:11; Jer. 8:23; Lam. 2:18. ↩
• ^[90] Examples of יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה in DSS are found in 1QS VI, 6; 1QM XIV, 13; 1QH^a XVI, 29; XVIII, 15; 11QT^a [11Q19] LVII, 10. ↩
• ^[91] See Segal, 134 §294. There are three examples of בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה in MT (Gen. 1:18; Isa. 28:19; Eccl. 8:16). The instance in Gen. 1:18 is not really applicable, since it refers to ruling over the day and the night, not about an action taking place day and night. ↩
• ^[92] See Jeremias, Parables, 154. ↩
• ^[93] See Nolland, Luke, 2:870. ↩
• ^[94] See the discussion under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[95] Cf. David Flusser, Die rabbinischen Gleichnisse und der Gleichniserzähler Jesus (Bern: Peter Lang, 1981), 88. ↩
• ^[96] Cf. Nolland (Luke, 2:870), who entertains the possibility that the question is an authentic saying of Jesus. ↩
• ^[97]

  Persistent Widow parable
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἔλεγεν δὲ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ ἐγκακεῖν λέγων κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει τὸν θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος χήρα δὲ ἦν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγουσα ἐκδίκησόν με ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου μου καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἐπὶ χρόνον μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ εἶπεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰ καὶ τὸν θεὸν οὐ φοβοῦμαι οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπον ἐντρέπομαι διά γε τὸ παρέχειν μοι κόπον τὴν χήραν ταύτην ἐκδικήσω αὐτήν ἵνα μὴ εἰς τέλος ἐρχομένη ὑπωπιάζῃ με εἶπεν δὲ ὁ κύριος ἀκούσατε τί ὁ κριτὴς τῆς ἀδικίας λέγει ὁ δὲ θεὸς οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν βοώντων αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν ἐν τάχει πλὴν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐλθὼν ἆρα εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς		εἶπεν δὲ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς λέγων κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει τὸν θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος χήρα δὲ ἦν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγουσα ἐκδίκησόν με ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου μου καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἐπὶ χρόνον μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα εἶπεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰ καὶ τὸν θεὸν οὐ φοβοῦμαι οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπον ἐντρέπομαι διά γε τὸ παρέχειν μοι κόπον τὴν χήραν ταύτην ἐκδικήσω αὐτήν ἵνα μὴ εἰς τέλος ἐρχομένη ὑπωπιάζῃ με εἶπεν δὲ ὁ κύριος ἀκούσατε τί ὁ κριτὴς τῆς ἀδικίας λέγει ὁ δὲ θεὸς οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν βοώντων αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν ἐν τάχει
  Total Words:	138	Total Words:	116
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	115	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	115
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	84.06%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	99.14%

  ↩

• ^[98] Note that Martin classified the Persistent Widow parable as of the “translation Greek” type. See Raymond A. Martin, Syntax Criticism of the Synoptic Gospels (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1987), 108. ↩
• ^[99] Reid argues that the Persistent Widow parable compares God to the widow, not the judge. See Barbara E. Reid, “A Godly Widow Persistently Pursuing Justice: Luke 18:1-8,” Biblical Research 45 (2000): 25-33. The impetus for this interpretation is the assumption that there is something in the parable that “a disciple of Jesus [is] supposed to emulate” (26). The assumption that parables are intended to teach conduct, however, is unfounded. The purpose of the parable was to give insight into God’s character by drawing a shocking and humorous contrast between the wicked judge and the true and faithful judge of the universe. ↩
• ^[100] See Menahem Kister, “Parables and Proverbs in the Jesus-Tradition and Rabbinic Literature,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 41.1 (2018): 5-28, esp. 15-20. ↩
• ^[101] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[102] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩