Section 18:1–8

Jesus told a story to teach his disciples to pray persistently

At the end of chapter 17, Jesus told his disciples about the coming of the Son of Man. In this section, he concluded this teaching by telling them a parable about praying persistently. He used the parable to teach them that they should continue to trust God and pray to him. They should not become discouraged when they suffer unjustly, because Jesus will return, and God will give them justice.

Justice is an important theme in this parable. Phrases about justice occur four times. Each phrase uses a form of the same Greek word, so you will probably want to translate the phrases in a similar way:

Grant me justice (18:3)

see that she gets justice (18:5)

will not God bring about justice (18:7)

he will see that they get justice (18:8)

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some examples of headings for this section are:

The Parable of the Persistent Widow (New International Version)
-or-
Jesus told a parable about a widow coming repeatedly to an unjust judge
-or-
The parable of the unjust judge
-or-
God Will Answer His People (New Century Version)

Luke is the only gospel that has this story. It is similar in some ways to the parable in 11:5–10.

Paragraph 18:1–3

18:1

This verse tells the purpose and meaning of the parable in 18:2–8. In some languages it may be natural to use two sentences to do this. For example:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable. He wanted to teach them that they must continue to pray and not become discouraged.

See the General Comment on 18:1a–c for a suggestion about using direct speech in this verse.

18:1a

Then Jesus told them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then Jesus told them is literally “And he told them.” The Revised Standard Version and several other English versions translate it that way. Jesus continued to speak to the same people that he spoke to in the previous section. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word Jesus to make the meaning clear at the beginning of this new section. Introduce the section in a natural way in your language.

them: Versions such as the Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Good News Translation, New International Version, and New Living Translation (2004) say “his disciples” rather than them. If you decide to say “his disciples” in your translation, for help in translating that term, see the note at 17:1a.

18:1b–c

a parable about their need to: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a parable about their need to is more literally “a parable that it is necessary to.” This phrase introduces the purpose and meaning of the parable. Other ways to introduce it are:

a parable, teaching his disciples so that they would…
-or-
a story to tell them that it is necessary to…
-or-
a story. Its meaning was that they must…
-or-
used this story to teach his followers that they should… (New Century Version)

parable: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as parable is literally “comparison.” A parable teaches a lesson or truth by showing how it is like something that people already know. Jesus used several types of parables including symbolic stories, metaphors, proverbs, illustrations, and wise sayings.

Some ways to translate parable are:

• Use a general term in your language that can be used to describe the different types of parables. Some English examples are:

illustration
-or-
metaphor

• Use a descriptive term. For example:

symbolic saying/word/story
-or-
comparison

See also parable, Type 3, in the Glossary.

to pray at all times and not lose heart: The clause to pray at all times and not lose heart indicates that it is necessary for them to pray often. They must pray until they receive the help that they need from God. It implies that they should not become discouraged and then decide that they will not pray again about their need. Some ways to translate this clause are:

it is necessary to pray persistently and not become discouraged
-or-
they must continue to pray. They must not get tired and quit praying.
-or-
they need to pray many times without despairing

pray at all times: In this context the phrase pray at all times indicates that Jesus’ disciples should pray often and persistently. It probably does not imply that they should literally be praying all the time. In the parable Jesus applied this instruction to making a specific request. They must persist in asking God to do what they need him to do. Some ways to translate this are:

they should keep on praying (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
it is necessary to persist in praying

pray: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pray refers to speaking to God. It is a general word that includes different types of prayer, such as requests, thanks, and praise. If you need to use a more specific expression here, you should use one that refers to making requests.

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate what is prayed for. If that is true in your language, you should use a general word that can apply to most requests. For example:

ask/beg God ⌊for help⌋

Avoid a term that may imply magical or meaningless words.

not lose heart: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as not lose heart means “not become discouraged.” It implies here that they should not be discouraged when God does not quickly do what they ask him to do. They should not stop praying, and they should not stop believing that God will help them. Other ways to translate this are:

never become discouraged (Good News Translation)
-or-
never lose hope (New Century Version)

General Comment on 18:1a–c

In some languages it may be more natural to use direct speech to tell the purpose of the parable. For example:

Then Jesus told them a story to teach them saying, “You must always continue to pray and not give up.”

The words “not lose heart” may also be expressed as direct speech. For example:

Then Jesus told them a parable. He said, “It is necessary to keep on praying. You should never say, ‘I am tired of praying. I will stop.’”

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