yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ ”
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yet because this wedowe troubleth me I will avenge her lest at the laste she come and hagge on me.
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Yet because this widowe troubleth mee, I will doe her right, lest at the last shee come and make me wearie.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Luke 18:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 11:8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
- Luke 18:39 Those who led the way rebuked him, that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”
- Judges 16:16 When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death.
- Mark 10:47-48 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”
- 2 Samuel 13:24-27 Absalom came to the king, and said, “See now, your servant has sheep shearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” The king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let’s not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him; however he would not go, but blessed him. Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
- Matthew 15:23 But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Word for word, beat me down with her blows,…
Word for word, beat me down with her blows, and it is a metaphor taken of wrestlers, who beat their adversaries with their fists or clubs: so do they that are importunate beat the judge’s ears with their crying out, even as it were with blows.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will…
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Ver. 5. She weary me] Gr. υπωπιαζη, she buffet me, or club me down. God must be pressed in prayer till we put him (as you would say) to the blush, or leave a blot in his face, unless we may be masters of our requests. Vota fundimus, coelos tangimus, Deum tangimus, misericordiam extorquemus. (Tertul. Apol.)
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Yet because this widow troubleth me,.... By often knocking…
Yet because this widow troubleth me,.... By often knocking at his door, by loud cries and earnest entreaties, with strong arguments, and floods of tears, and could not easily be removed from his presence, or got out of his house:
I will avenge her; I will hear her cause, do her justice, and deliver her from her troublesome adversary:
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lest by her continual coming she weary me: so that it was not from a conscience of duty in him, as a judge, or from a commiseration of the poor widow's case; but from a selfish end, for his own ease, in perfect agreement to his character, that his house might not be disturbed, and his ears stunned with her noise and cry, and he was pestered with her company day after day. The character of this judge, his reasoning with himself upon it, his principles from which he acted, and the ends he had in view, are wholly to be left out in the accommodation of this parable; and no farther to be considered than as the argument from the lesser to the greater may be strengthened by them; the intention of the parable being only to show the force, efficacy, and usefulness of importunity in prayer, as appears by the application of it, by our Lord, in the verses following.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. She weary me.] υπωπιαζη με, Stun me.…
Verse 5. She weary me.] υπωπιαζη με, Stun me. A metaphor taken from boxers, who bruise each other, and by beating each other about the face blacken the eyes. See 1Co 9:27.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain She weary me out.[1] This, as much as I…
She weary me out.[1] This, as much as I am able to find out, seems the literal signification both of the Latin and Greek text. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Sugillet me, Greek: upopiaze me. The Greek word literally signifies, lest she give me strokes on the face, that make me appear black and blue; which were called, Greek: upopia. This word, Greek: upopiazein, is only used in one other place in the New Testament, (1 Corinthians ix. 27.) where St. Paul says, castigo, or contundo corpus meum. Now, as we cannot imagine that this judge feared lest the widow should beat him in this shameful manner, the word metaphorically seems to imply, lest she should injuriously upbraid and continually reproach me.
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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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain continual coming--coming for ever.
continual coming--coming for ever.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Troubleth me—She might cry until doomsday before his…
5. Troubleth me—She might cry until doomsday before his sense of justice would be touched; but he is sensitive to the slightest touch of selfish ease.
Weary me—In the original we have here a remarkable term for weary, derived from the boxer’s art. It signifies to strike below the eye, so as to produce a bruise. Hence to fatigue; or, as we might say in English, to beat out.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. troubleth me] Rather, gives me trouble.
5. troubleth me] Rather, gives me trouble.
lest by her continual coming] Literally, “coming to the end,” “coming for ever”—another colloquialism.
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she weary me] The original has the curious word hupopiaze; literally, “should blacken me under the eyes.” Some have supposed that he is afraid lest the widow should be driven by desperation to make an assault on him (ne sugillet me, Vulg.; ne obtundat me, Beza); but undoubtedly the word is a colloquialism (Ar. Pax, 519) retained in Hellenistic Greek, and found also in St Paul in 1Co_9:27, where it is rendered, “I keep tinder my body.” It is like the English colloquialism “to plague a person.” Comp. Mat_15:23.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Lest by her continual coming she weary me.—The…
(5) Lest by her continual coming she weary me.—The latter verb is again one which takes its place in the vocabulary of unusual words common to St. Luke and St. Paul. It meets us in 1Co_9:27, and is there rendered “I keep under my body.” Literally, however, it expresses the act of the pugilist when he strikes a blow which leaves a livid bruise on his opponent’s face, and it would seem to have been transferred, in the natural transition of popular metaphor into the forms of colloquial language, from the arena to common life. So we talk of men “hitting hard” or “giving a knock-down blow” in controversy or debate. What is described here is the continuous shower of blows, each of which is short of a “knock-down,” while their accumulative effect is, in the nearest equivalent of modern English, that the man is so “punished” that he is glad to give over at any price.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:5 driving me crazy: This colorful Greek expression literally…
18:5 driving me crazy: This colorful Greek expression literally means “striking the eye” or “giving me a black eye,” as in boxing. The sense is of wearing someone down through persistence.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.