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

in the sense of “have patience,” viewing the reference to as
rendering of the oppressors of the elect. 53 The meaning of v. 7 then is that God will not tarry
in punishing the oppressors. In the case of the first option, it is an unsuitable understanding of
v. 7b, since the same meaning appears repeatedly in v. 8a with . In respect to the
second approach, no mark is given to indicate the oppressors in the parable. On the other
hand, Snodgrass argues that v. 7b, as a statement, emphasizes God’s care for his people, with
the assertion that God will indeed have patience. In other words, the intent is “Will not God
surely vindicate his elect who cry to him day and night [given that] he is mercifully patient
with them?” 54 It is, as in Max Rogland’s lexical observation, 55 probably desirable to retain
the sense of “being patient,” rather than that of a temporal “delay” in interpreting v. 7b. 56
Jesus calls the attention of the audience by means of so as to underscore the
fact that God will vindicate his people quickly. What in v. 8a is at stake, seems to be not so
much the meaning of , whether it means quickly or suddenly, as the difference
between a human standpoint and God’s perspective, seen in the apparent contradiction with
reality. Given the foregoing eschatological teaching in 17:26-37, it is also possible to allow
for “suddenly” as the sense of , whereas in comparison with the judge’s delay in
granting justice to the widow, the sense of “quickly” is indeed more appropriate than that of
57
“suddenly.” Depending on the focus of the petition of the elect, it will be determined by
whether the time of the vindication is an historical action or an eschatological one. Bailey
claims that “God will vindicate His Son who also prays to Him day and night, but that
vindication will be seen in resurrection and will come by way of a cross.” 58
There is,
53. Godet, Luke, 2:202; C.E.B. Cranfield, “The Parable of the Unjust Judge and the Eschatology of Luke-Acts,”
SJT 16 (1963), 297-301, here 300.
54. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 459, elicits the meaning of from LXX that carries God’s mercy
in repressing his wrath, when God in particular deals with his people. See also Forbes, The God of Old: The
Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 206. For a similar view, see Catchpole, “The Son
of Man’s Search for Faith,” 92-98; Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 139; Nolland, Luke, 870, argues that God has
patience with his elect by repressing his anger, with the sense of longsuffering on the basis of God’s character,
thereby allowing them to approach him in prayer. On the other hand, Schottroff feels that “God abandons divine
wrath over human injustice; that is God’s patience.” Schottroff, The Parables of Jesus, 194.
55. Max Roglan, “in Ben Sira 35:19 and Luke 18:7: A Lexicographical Note,” NovT 51 (2009),
296-301, after a parallel investigation with Sira 35:19, concludes that in the semantics of the verb itself, the verb
takes “the typical meaning of indicating a disposition of “being patient” or “longsuffering” with someone else,”
not a meaning of “to tarry or delay” which is to be attributed to the literary context.
56. For other options apart from these, see Liefeld, “Parables on Prayer,” 258. He holds that v. 7b is a question
and v. 8 is the answer to the question in v. 7, namely, “Will God delay doing anything for a long time?” (v. 7),
“No, God will act quickly” (v. 8a).
57. Marshall, Luke, 674, has both in view.
58. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 140.
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