the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

authoritative teacher. The adjective here appears in the same form in Luke’s portrait
of the unjust steward in 16:8, in which case the reason for naming is a
suitable description of the judge’s character in v. 2 and v. 4, and underlines his selfish reasons
for giving the widow vindication: Getting rid of her constant pestering, not a concern for
justice.
By means of a fortiori argument, Jesus emphasizes that if an unjust judge will finally
grant justice 48 to a widow, how much more will God grant justice to his people who cry to
him day and night. The double analogy he develops exists in an argument from the lesser to
the greater, in which case the unjust judge and the widow correspond to God and God’s elect,
respectively. 49
V. 7b is a crux interpretum. Scholars read it in many ways: As a question, a statement, a
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concessive clause and a relative clause. Moreover, does the word mean “to
be patient or longsuffering”, or “to delay or tarry”, or both? Most of scholars view v. 7b as a
concessive clause, seeing as the sense of delay, in that case, this presents the
time that God takes in answering the crying out of his elect. 51 To put it another way, will not
God vindicate his elect, even if he keeps them waiting for him?, or the elect cry out to God
night and day, but he puts their patience to the test by not answering them immediately. 52
Another alternative is to take v. 7b as a question expecting a negative answer, with
48. The use of or in the legal judgment carries the thought of “vindicate” or “procure justice”
rather than “avenge” in both the Hellenistic world for administrative justice, and the papyri and the LXX, since
there is no mention of the opponents of the elect. See Marshall, Luke, 673-74; Green, Luke, 641 n. 97; Forbes,
The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 205; Snodgrass, Stories with
Intent, 458.
49. Even though Green claims that only the analogy between the judge and God appears in an argument from
lesser to greater, the analogy between the widow and God’s elect occurs at the same time in a fortiori argument.
Green, Luke, 643.
50. See a comparison of translations:
KJV: “though he bear long with them?”
RSV: “and delay long over them?”
NEB: “while he listens patiently to them?”
NAB: “Will he delay long over them?”
NIV: “Will he keep putting them off?”
NRSV: “Will he delay long in helping them?”
51. Jeremias, Parables, 154-55; Marshall, Luke, 675; C.F. Evans, Saint Luke, 639; Hicks, “The Parable of the
Persistent Widow,” 219-21; Stein, Luke, 446, n. 270; Hultgran, The Parables of Jesus, 256, in that case, have
two different answers, namely, yes, God will vindicate his elect, and no, God will delay over them. In the similar
vein, Fitzmyer also reads v. 7b in the sense of “delay,” but he makes it a separate sentence with a question.
Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, 1180. See also, Freed, “The Parable of the Judge and the Widow,” 53-
54; Hendriksen, Luke, 817-19.
52. Marshall, Luke, 675; Jeremias, Parables, 155.
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