The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Greek in Luke 18:5 that is translated as “wear me out by continually coming” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with mir noch ein blaues Auge schlägt or “will end up giving me a black eye.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).
The etymological meaning of the Hebrewalmanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greekchéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the Englishwidow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:5:
Noongar: “but because this widow is always very troublesome, I will help her get everything, all the things she wants. If I don’t do this, she will come every day and I will get tired because of her.”” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “it is better that I just help that widow, because she is very persistent coming to bother me. Because if I do not help her, she will never stop coming here, with the result that I will get tired of it.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “but because this widow is causing me trouble, I will help her. I am tired/fed-up of her always coming here.’ ‘” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I’d better help this woman so she will stop pestering me.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “but because of this widow’s disturbing me, I’ll just give (lit. even-if I give) her what she is requesting lest I get-tired-of her repeated-coming.’ ‘” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “but since I am always being bothered by this woman, I will just give her the straightness/justice she is asking for. For if it’s much longer, I will get fed up with her constant back and forth.”” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
kai ouk ēthelen epi chronon ‘and for a while he was not willing,’ scil. to protect the widow, with ekdikein understood. epi chronon refers to an undefined length of time.
meta de tauta eipen en heautō lit. ‘but after that he said in himself, or, to himself.’ As a rule meta tauta is used with reference to a specific moment or period previously mentioned, but after an indefinite expression such as epi chronon it is to be rendered ‘afterward,’ or ‘in the end.’
ei kai ton theon ou phoboumai ‘even though I do not fear God,’ etc., implying that fear of God and respect for men would have required him to protect the widow.
(V. 5) dia ge to parechein moi kopon tēn chēran tautēn ‘at least because of the fact that this widow gives me trouble,’ articular accusative and infinitive. ge serves to emphasize what follows as contrasted with the fact that he does not fear God or respect man. For kopon parechein cf. on 11.7.
ekdikēsō autēn ‘I will protect her.’
hina mē eis telos erchomenē hupōpiazē me ‘lest by coming here till the end/continually she wears me out.’ hina may denote intention or expected result, preferably the latter. eis telos lit. ‘till the end,’ here ‘continually,’ or ‘again and again,’ goes with erchomenē.
hupōpiazō lit. ‘to strike under the eye’ (in prize fighting), here in a weakened sense, ‘to wear out.’ The present tense here suggests duration.
Translation:
He said to himself, see on 3.8.
Though I neither fear…, yet … The first clause is sometimes better not subordinated, e.g. ‘(true) I neither fear…, yet (or, nevertheless/however) ….’
(V. 5) Because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her may have to be restructured, e.g. ‘this widow so bothers me that I will vindicate her’ (cf. New English Bible), or, ‘I will vindicate her, but (I will do so) only because she bothers me.’ — Bothers me, or, ‘causes me trouble,’ “is so great a nuisance” (New English Bible). I will vindicate her, propositive mood, ‘I had better vindicate her’ (cf. Balinese).
Or, i.e. ‘if not,’ ‘if (I do) otherwise.’
She will wear me out by her continual coming, or, ‘she will come continually (or, again and again) and wear me out (or, till she has worn me out),’ ‘she will tire me by her coming and coming’ (Lomwe, similarly Nyanja, Zarma, Kele). To wear out, i.e. to make tired by persistence.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as yet introduces the clause I will give her justice in 18:5b. This clause expresses the judge’s decision. It contrasts with his attitude in 18:4c: “I neither fear God nor respect men.” In spite of that attitude, the judge would see that the widow got justice. He would do that because the widow was pestering him.
In some languages it may be more natural to place the contrast in 18:5b before the reason clause in 18:5a. See the General Comment on 18:4c–5c at the end of 18:5c for an example.
because this widow keeps pestering me: This clause gives the reason that the judge decided to help the widow. She was pestering him by coming so many times, so he decided to help her (18:5b). In some languages it may be helpful to make explicit in what way the widow was pestering the judge:
because this widow keeps pestering me ⌊with her frequent pleas⌋ -or-
this widow bothers me ⌊by frequently asking me to help her⌋, so…
keeps pestering me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as keeps pestering me is more literally “causes me trouble/labor.” Some other ways to translate this are:
disturbs me -or-
causes me a lot of trouble -or-
is a great nuisance/annoyance to me
In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. For example:
is driving me crazy (New Living Translation (2004))
18:5b
I will give her justice: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I will give her justice is the result of 18:5a. This clause uses the same verb that was used in the widow’s request for justice in 18:3. Here in 18:5b the clause probably implies that the judge would make the widow’s enemy treat her fairly. However, the verb itself has a more general meaning. Some other ways to translate this are:
I will see that she gets justice (New International Version) -or-
I will do what is right/just for her
In some languages there is an idiom to express this. For example:
I will uphold her rights -or-
I will see that she gets her rights
Translate in a way that will show similarity between what the judge will do and what God will do for his people in 18:7.
18:5c
Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests: The phrase she will stop wearing me out introduces the purpose that the judge had for helping the widow. He wanted to cause her to stop coming to him so that she would not eventually wear him out. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
Otherwise, she will continue to bother me until I am worn out. (New Century Version) -or-
If I do not ⌊give her justice⌋, she will keep coming until she wears me out. -or-
…so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. (English Standard Version)
stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests: The phrase with her perpetual requests expresses the way that the widow would eventually wear out the judge. She would keep coming to him with her requests. As a result, she would wear him out. See the examples in the preceding note.
The Greek includes the phrase “in the end.” It refers here to the end or result of a long process. After the widow had come to the judge many times, the judge would be worn out. Some versions, such as the NET Bible, translate this phrase literally. Another way to translate it is:
eventually (New International Version)
The Berean Standard Bible and several other English versions do not translate this phrase. Decide whether you need to represent it explicitly for its meaning to be clear in your translation.
wearing me out: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wearing…out occurs only here and in 1 Corinthians 9:27 in the New Testament. It has several possible meanings in this context:
(1) It refers figuratively to the result of bothering a person in order to cause him to do a particular action. For example:
until she wears me out (God’s Word)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version, King James Version, English Standard Version)
(2) It refers literally to slapping a person’s face or hitting him under the eye, causing the skin to become black/dark. Here is another way to translate this:
she will come and slap me in the face (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New International Version (2011), New Jerusalem Bible)
(3) It refers figuratively to shaming a person. The widow would talk about the unfairness of the judge and cause other people to think that he was bad. For example:
She will defame/shame me.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most English versions.
The phrase wearing…out is an English idiom. It describes the feeling that a person has after someone has bothered him for a long time. He feels that he cannot endure that irritation any longer. In other languages there may also be an idiom to express this idea. For example:
so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming (English Standard Version) -or-
her continual visits will be the death of me (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
she will keep coming until I am too annoyed to endure it
General Comment on 18:4c–5c
In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the clauses in these verses. For example:
5aThis widow is bothering me. 5cShe will keep coming until she annoys me too much. 5bSo 4ceven though I do not respect either God or human beings, 5bI will see that she gets justice.
Notice that this order puts the judge’s decision at the end of the verse.
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