Luke encourages us to pray always. We should not become practical atheists who cease to hope in God. If we stop praying, it is because we are beginning to think that God is not faithful, that he does not care, that he will not really help us out. But the real issue is not whether God is faithful but whether we are faithful.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
—Luke 18:1–8

Is God Like an Unjust Judge?

In Luke 18 Jesus tells of a judge who does not fear God or respect human beings. Judges have authority and power and social status. The Torah calls upon them to rule justly: “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor” (Lev. 19:15). In addition, the fundamental requirement for all in Israel was to fear the Lord (Deut. 6:13, 24; 10:12, 20; 1 Sam. 12:24; Eccles. 12:13; Job 28:28; Prov. 1:7), for those who fear him worship him alone. Because he feared God, Nehemiah did not oppress the people financially (Neh. 5:15); in contrast, those who speak against the deaf or mistreat the blind do so because they do not fear the Lord (Lev. 19:14).

Since the judge does not fear God, he does not respect people, especially those who, like the widow, are poor and disadvantaged. As we read in Exodus 22:22, “You shall not mistreat any widow.” Indeed, the Lord “executes justice for…the widow” (Deut. 10:18). Deuteronomy 27:19 calls a curse upon those who pervert the justice that widows deserve (cf. Isa. 1:17, 23; 10:2; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Zech. 7:10). The judge, however, since he does not fear God or respect people, does not care about what the Torah requires. The widow, however, is indefatigable, and she repeatedly petitions him for justice.

The judge, however, continues to refuse her request. He acknowledges what we saw in Luke 18:2: he neither fears God nor respects people. He does not care, therefore, about the widow’s rights or the justice of her case. Still, he eventually decides the case rightly on her behalf because the widow will not leave him alone; she keeps bothering him about the case until he gives her justice. Why does the judge finally do so (cf. Luke 11:8)? Because the widow will “beat [him] down” if she keeps coming to him. The verb translated “beat down” (Gk. hypōpiazō) is translated various ways: “wear me out” (CSB, NASB, NET, NRSV, RSV, ASV); “weary me” (KJV); “attack me” (NIV). Some understand the verb literally (the ESV and NIV could be taken this way); the judge fears that the widow will give him a black eye, that she will end up punching him in the face or resorting to some other physical violence. It seems unlikely, however, that the judge would fear physical violence from a widow. The verb, then, should be taken metaphorically—but metaphorically of what? Others say that the judge fears getting a “black eye” in the eyes of the community, of being shamed for his behavior. The problem with this reading is that we have already been told that the judge does not respect people; he does not care what they think of him. The best option, then, is represented by most translations: the judge is growing weary of his encounters with the widow. Her persistence day after day is wearing him out, and it is easier on him to grant her request than to keep dealing with her.¹ He is tired of being bothered day after day.

Jesus proceeds to apply the parable to his hearers. He argues from lesser to greater: if the unrighteous judge who despised God and mistreated people granted justice when petitioned, then God will certainly grant justice to his elect who voice their concerns to him day and night (cf. Rev. 6:10). The reference to “day and night” fits with Luke 18:1 and the behavior of the widow. It fits with verse 1 because those who do not lose heart continue to pray “day and night”; it fits with the widow because she was not deterred despite the reluctance of the judge to grant her request.

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