Luke 18:2-3

Jesus pictured this judge as failing to do what the Mosaic Law required of Israel’s judges. In the Old Testament fear of God was primarily fear of Him as judge. This judge was a man of the world (cf. Luke 16:8). Luke’s Gentile readers undoubtedly knew of judges who were similar to him. [Note: Danker, p. 184.] Whether this judge was a Jewish or a Roman judge is unclear and irrelevant. In view of the access that the widow enjoyed to his presence he seems to have been a lower official rather than a judge in Israel’s supreme court. [Note: See J. D. M. Derrett, "Law in the New Testament: The Unjust Judge," New Testament Studies 18 (1971-72):178-91.] In first-century Palestine a single judge often handled the type of monetary case that this widow presented to this judge. [Note: Jeremias, The Parables . . ., p. 153.] Jesus contrasted God with him rather than comparing God to him (cf. Luke 11:5-8).

Widows were the personification of dependence, helplessness, and vulnerability in Israel (cf. Exodus 22:22-24; Psalms 68:5; Lamentations 1:1; James 1:27). This widow kept asking the judge repeatedly for protection from those who opposed her, not for their punishment. [Note: Plummer, p. 412.] In the parable she represents the disciples who were equally dependent on God for protection from the non-disciples who opposed them for their allegiance to Jesus.