Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
Parallel Translations
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Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
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And shall not god avenge his electe which crye daye and nyght vnto him ye though he differre them.
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Now shall not God auenge his elect, which cry day and night vnto him, yea, though he suffer long for them?
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Luke 18:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 10:35-37 Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. “In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.
- 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
- Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
- 1 Timothy 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day.
- Jeremiah 20:11-13 But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten. But Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you. Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6 Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
- Luke 2:37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
- Revelation 6:10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
- Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
- Psalms 13:1-2 How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
- Psalms 88:1 Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
- 1 Samuel 26:10-11 David said, “As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish. Yahweh forbid that I should stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let’s go.”
- Psalms 54:1-7 Save me, God, by your name. Vindicate me in your might. Hear my prayer, God. Listen to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me. Violent men have sought after my soul. They haven’t set God before them. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the one who sustains my soul. He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth. With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good. For he has delivered me out of all trouble. My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.
- Romans 8:33 Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies.
- Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- 1 Samuel 24:12-15 May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you. As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness;’ but my hand will not be on you. Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
- Psalms 9:8 He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
- Psalms 10:15-18 Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none. Yahweh is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land. Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
- Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
- 1 Thessalonians 3:10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face, and may perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
- 2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day
- Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
- Revelation 7:15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Though he seems slow in revenging the injury done…
Though he seems slow in revenging the injury done to his.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect,…
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Ver. 7. Though he bear long with them] When they are at the utmost under. When their enemies are above fear, and they below hope; when there is not faith in earth to believe, then are there bowels in heaven to relieve and restore them.
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 And shall not God avenge his own elect,.... Who…
And shall not God avenge his own elect,.... Who are a select number, a special people, whom he has loved with an everlasting love, so as of his own sovereign good will and pleasure to choose in his Son Jesus Christ unto everlasting life and salvation, through certain ways and means of his own appointing, hence they are peculiarly his: and these he will avenge and vindicate, right their wrongs, do them justice, and deliver them from their adversaries, and take vengeance on them; as may be concluded from his hatred of sin, his justice, and his holiness, from his promises, and from his power, and from the efficacy of prayer, and the regard he has to it: for it follows,
which cry unto him day and night; whose prayers he always hears; whose tears he puts up in his bottle; and whose importunity must surely be thought to have more regard with him, than that of the poor widow with the unjust judge:
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though he bear long with them? either with their adversaries, their oppressors, and persecutors, who are vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction, whom he endures with much longsuffering, till the sufferings of his people are accomplished, and the iniquities of these men are full; or rather with the elect, for the words may be rendered, "and is longsuffering towards them": delays his coming, and the execution of vengeance, as on the Jewish nation, so upon the whole world of the ungodly, till his elect are gathered in from among them; see Pe2 3:9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And shall not God - The most just Judge,…
And shall not God - The most just Judge, vindicate his own elect - Preserve the Christians from all their adversaries, and in particular save them out of the general destruction, and avenge them of the Jews? Though he bear long with them - Though he does not immediately put an end, either to the wrongs of the wicked, or the sufferings of good men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. And shall not God avenge his own…
Verse 7. And shall not God avenge his own elect] And will not God the righteous Judge do justice for his chosen? Probably this may refer to the cruel usage which his disciples had met with, and were still receiving, from the disobedient and unbelieving Jews; and which should be finally visited upon them in the destruction of their city, and the calamities which should follow. But we may consider the text as having a more extensive meaning. As God has graciously promised to give salvation to every soul that comes unto him through his Son, and has put his Spirit in their hearts, inducing them to cry unto him incessantly for it; the goodness of his nature and the promise of his grace bind him to hear the prayers they offer unto him, and to grant them all that salvation which he has led them by his promise and Spirit to request.
Which cry day and night unto him, c.] This is a genuine characteristic of the true elect or disciples of Christ. They feel they have neither light, power, nor goodness, but as they receive them from him and, as he is the desire of their soul, they incessantly seek that they may be upheld and saved by him.
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Though he bear long with them?] Rather, and HE is compassionate towards THEM, and consequently not at all like to the unrighteous judge. Instead of μακροθυμων, and be long-suffering, as in our translation, I read μακροθυμει, he is compassionate, which reading is supported by ABDLQ, and several others. The reason which our Lord gives for the success of his chosen, is,
1. They cry unto him day and night.
2. HE is compassionate towards THEM.
In consequence of the first, they might expect justice even from an unrighteous judge; and, in consequence of the second, they are sure of salvation, because they ask it from that God who is towards them a Father of eternal love and compassion. There was little reason to expect justice from the unrighteous judge.
1. Because he was unrighteous; and
2. Because he had no respect for man: no, not even for a poor desolate widow.
But there is all the reason under heaven to expect mercy from God:
1. Because he is righteous, and he has promised it; and
2. Because he is compassionate towards his creatures; being ever prone to give more than the most enlarged heart can request of him.
Every reader must perceive that the common translation is so embarrassed as to be almost unintelligible; while that in this note, from the above authorities, is as plain as possible, and shows this beautiful parable to be one of the most invaluable pieces in the word of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Shall not God avenge ... - We are not…
Shall not God avenge ... - We are not to suppose that the character of God is at all represented by this judge, or that “his” principles of conduct are at all like those of the judge. This parable shows us conclusively that many “circumstances” of a parable are not to be interpreted closely: they are mere appendages to the narrative. The great truth which our Saviour “designed” to teach is what we ought to endeavor to find. In this case there can be no doubt what that truth is. He has himself told us that it is, that “men ought always to pray and not to faint.” This he teaches by the example in the parable; and the argument which it implies is this:
A poor widow, by her perseverance only, obtained from an unjust man what otherwise she would “not” have obtained. God is not unjust. He is good, and disposed to do justice and to bestow mercy.
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If, therefore, this “wicked man” by persevering prayer was induced to do justice, how much more shall “God,” who is good, and who is not actuated by any such selfish and base principles, do justice to them who apply to him!
Avenge - Do justice to or vindicate them. This may have a twofold reference.
1. To the disciples in the time of Jesus, who were about to be oppressed and persecuted, and over whom calamities were about to come, “as if” God did not regard their cries and had forsaken them. To them Jesus gives the assurance that God “would” hear their petitions and come forth to vindicate them; and that, notwithstanding all these calamities, he would yet appear for their deliverance.
2. It may have a more “general” meaning. The people of God are often oppressed, calumniated, persecuted. They are few in number and feeble. They seem to be almost forsaken and cast down, and their enemies triumph. Yet in due time God will hear their prayers, and will come forth for their vindication. And even if it should not be “in this life,” yet he will do it in the day of judgment, when he will pronounce them blessed, and receive them forever to himself.
His own elect - People of God, saints, Christians; so called because God has “chosen” them to be his. The term is usually given in the Scriptures to the true followers of God, and is a term of affection, denoting his great and special love in choosing them out of a world of sinners, and conferring on them grace, and mercy, and eternal life. See 1Th 1:4; Col 3:12; 1Pe 1:2; Eph 1:4. It signifies here that they are especially dear to him; that he feels a deep interest in their welfare, and that he will, therefore, be ready to come forth to their aid. The judge felt no special interest in that widow, yet he heard her; God feels a particular regard, a tender love for his elect, and, therefore, he will hear and save.
Which cry day and night - This expresses one striking characteristic of the elect of God; they pray, and pray constantly. No one can have evidence that he is chosen of God who is not a man of prayer. One of the best marks by which the electing love of God is known is that it disposes us to pray. This passage supposes that when the elect of God are in trouble and pressed down with calamities, they “will” cry unto him; and it affirms that if they do, he will hear their cries and answer their requests.
Though he bear long with them - This passage has been variously interpreted, and there is some variety of reading in the manuscripts. Some read, “Will not God avenge his elect? Will he linger in their cause?” But the most natural meaning is, “Although he defers long to avenge them, and greatly tries their patience, yet he will avenge them.” He tries their faith; he suffers their persecutions and trials to continue a long time; and it almost “appears” as if he would not interpose. Yet he will do it, and will save them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain shall not God--not unjust, but the infinitely righteous Judge.
shall not God--not unjust, but the infinitely righteous Judge.
avenge--redeem from oppression.
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his own elect--not like this widow, the object of indifference and contempt, but dear to Him as the apple of the eye (Zac 2:8).
cry day and night--whose every cry enters into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (Jam 5:4), and how much more their incessant and persevering cries!
bear long with them--rather, "in their case," or "on their account" (as) Jam 5:7, "for it"), [GROTIUS, DE WETTE, &c.].
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 7. His own elect—They are all this while his…
7. His own elect—They are all this while his own and elect. That is, they are chosen; a choice; for so the word elect means. They are chosen according to God’s eternal purpose in Christ, and according to his foreknowledge of their meeting the conditions of election, namely, of faith, repentance, and perseverance.
Cry day and night—Their prayer is earnest; for it is not an imprecation, nor a murmur, but a Godward ascending cry. That prayer mounts to his throne, for it arises day and night.
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 7. And shall not God] The argument is simply…
7. And shall not God] The argument is simply a fortiori. Even an unjust and abandoned judge grants a just petition at last out of base motives when it is often urged, to a defenceless person for whom he cares nothing; how much more shall a just and merciful God hear the cry and avenge the Cause of those whom He loves?
avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him] The best comment is furnished by Rev_6:9-11. But the ‘avenging’ is rather the ‘vindication,’ i.e. the deliverance from the oppressor.
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which cry] Literally, shout. It is “strong crying,” comp. Jas_5:4, ‘the shouts of the reapers of your fields.’
though he bear long with them] Literally, “though being longsuffering in their case.” Here the longsuffering of God is shewn not to His elect (though they too need and receive it, 2Pe_3:9), but to their enemies. See Sir_35:17-18—another close parallel, probably an interpolated plagiarism from this Gospel. The elect are far more eager not only for deliverance, but even for vengeance, than God is. They shew too much of the spirit which God reproves in Jonah. But God knows man’s weakness and “therefore is He patient with them and poureth His mercy upon them.” Sir_18:11. But the best supported reading is καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ αὐτοῖς. This would denote that the longsuffering is shewn toward the elect. He is pitiful to them, in the midst of their impatience.
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 (7) And shall not God avenge his own elect?—There…
(7) And shall not God avenge his own elect?—There is at first something which jars on us in this choice of an extreme instance of human unrighteousness as a parable from which we are to learn the nature and the power of prayer. It is not as it was with the Unjust Steward, for there, according to the true interpretation of the parable, the unrighteous man stood for those who were relatively, at least, themselves unrighteous. It is a partial explanation that our Lord presses home upon the disciples an a fortiori argument. If reiterated entreaties prevail with men, whose character and wills are set against them, how much more with God, in whom character and will anticipate the prayer? Even so, however, we have the difficulty that the idea of prayer as prevailing, at last, through manifold repetitions, seems at variance with the teaching that condemns vain repetitions, on the ground that our Father knows our necessities before we ask Him. (See Note on Mat_6:7.) May we not think that here, as elsewhere, there is an intentional assumption by our Lord of a stand-point which was not His own, but that of those whom He sought to teach? Even His disciples were thinking of God, not as their Father, who loved them, but as a far-off King, who needed to be roused to action. They called on Him in their afflictions and persecutions, and their soul fainted within them, and they became weary of their prayers. Might not the parable be meant (1) to teach such as these that from their own point of view their wisdom was to persevere in prayer, and (2) to lead them to reconsider the ground from which they had started? And the one result would in such a case lead on almost necessarily to the other. Prayer hag a marvellous self-purifying power, and the imperfect thoughts of God in which it may have had its beginning become clearer as it continues. It is one of the ever-recurring paradoxes of the spiritual life, that when we are most importunate we feel most strongly how little importunity is needed.
Avenge his own elect.—Literally, work out His vengeance for, the Greek noun having the article. The “vengeance” is not, however, that of retaliation such as human passions seek for, but primarily the “vindication” of God’s elect, the assertion of their rights, and includes retribution upon others only so far as it is involved in this. (Comp. the use of the word in Rom_12:19; 2Co_7:11; Heb_10:30.) This is the first occurrence of the word “elect” in St. Luke’s Gospel, but it begins to be prominent about this time in our Lord’s teaching. (See Notes on Mat_20:16; Mat_24:22.) The “elect” are the disciples who being “called” obey the “call” (Rom_8:30). The further question, What leads them to obey? is not here in view.
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Which cry day and night unto him.—The words look to the coming trials and afflictions of the elect, which as yet the disciples knew not, or knew only in part. To see the world against them, and its rulers crushing them, to fight against overwhelming odds, this would tempt them to think that God was not with them, that He had deceived them. (Comp. the language of Jer_20:7.) In the prayer of the souls beneath the altar (Rev_6:10), we have an echo of the question. In St. Peter’s insistence on the “long-suffering” of God (2Pe_3:9), we have a proof that he had learnt the answer.
Though he bear long with them.—Literally, bearing long with them. The better MSS. give “and bear long with them.” The English, which suggests the thought that God bears with, i.e., tolerates, His elect, is misleading. What is meant is, that He shows Himself slow to anger “over them,” i.e., where they are concerned. They implore that “long-suffering” for themselves. They are tempted to murmur when it is extended to others.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And shall not God avenge his own elect, which…
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? The Master tells us that God permits suffering among his servants, long after they have begun to pray for deliverance. But we are counselled here to cry day and night unto him, and, though there be no signor reply, our prayers shall be treasured up before him, and in his own good time they will be answered. Though he bear long with them. With whom does God bear long? With the wrong-doers, whose works and words oppress and make life heavy and grievous to the servants of God; with these who have no claim to consideration will God bear long. And this announcement gives us some clue to the meaning of the delay we often experience before we get an answer to many of our prayers. The prayer is heard, but God, in the exercise of mercy and forbearance, has dealings with the oppressors. It were easy for the Almighty to grant an immediate answer, but only at the cost often of visiting some of the oppressors with immediate punishment, and this is not his way of working. God bears long before his judgments swift and terrible are sent forth. This has ever been his way of working with individuals as with nations. Was it not thus, for instance, that he acted towards Egypt and her Pharaohs during the long period of the bitter Hebrew bondage? We who would he God"s servants must be content to wait God"s time, and, while waiting, patiently go on pleading, sure that in the end "God will avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:7 God will surely give justice: If persistence resulted…
18:7 God will surely give justice: If persistence resulted in justice from this unjust judge, how much more will God, who loves both people and justice, answer our prayers.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.