OET interlinear LUKE 18:5

18:5a

18:5a–b

yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice: The Greek conjunction that the BSB 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

this widow bothers me by frequently asking me to help her, so…

keeps pestering me: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as keeps pestering me is more literally “causes me trouble/labor.” Some other ways to translate this are:

disturbs me

causes me a lot of trouble

is a great nuisance/annoyance to me

In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. For example:

is driving me crazy (NLT)

18:5b

I will give her justice: The Greek clause that the BSB 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 (NIV)

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

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. (NCV)

If I do not give her justice, she will keep coming until she wears me out.

…so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. (ESV)

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, translate this phrase literally. Another way to translate it is:

eventually (NIV)

The BSB 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 BSB 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:In discussing the meaning of this word, BDAG, p. 1043, specifically mentions this text in 2 of the 3 senses. It says:“To blacken an eye…strike in the face….of a woman, who is driven to desperation and who the judge in the story thinks might in the end express herself physically…. ‘so that she might not finally come and blacken my eye’ Luke 18:5. Hyperbole is stock-in-trade of popular storytelling.”Of the other sense, it says, “To bring someone to submission by constant annoyance, wear down, figurative extension of 1…. In this interpretation hupōpiazō in Luke 18:5 has its meaning determined by eis telos. But in such case the denouement lacks punch, for the judge has already been worn down and wants nothing added to the kopos that he has already endured. A more appropriate rendering for a figurative sense would be browbeat; a figurative expression (common throughout Asia), blacken my face=slander, besmirch underlies hupōpiazō here.”

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 (GW) (BSB, NIV, GNT, RSV, CEV, REB, GW, NASB, NET, NLT, NCV, KJV, ESV)

2. It refers literally to slapping a person’s face or hitting him under the eye, causing the skin to become black/dark.The NASB note suggests that a more literal meaning for this Greek word would be “hit me under the eye.” Here is another way to translate this:

   she will come and slap me in the face (NJB) (NIV11, NJB)

3. It refers figuratively to shaming a person.Hultgren (p. 255) says, “The verb is accompanied by the adverbial modifier eis telos. This can mean ‘in the end, finally’….the verb could refer to some future action that the woman is capable of doing (rather than simply the conclusion of what she has been doing). She will give the judge a black eye; metaphorically, she will make him look bad in public. She will defame (so hupōpiazō might be translated) him for not responding to her continual coming for vindication.” The Rheims of 1582 reads: “lest at last she come and defame me” (cited in Derrett, pp. 190–191). 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.However, interpretation (3) is based on a figurative expression (“blacken my face”) that is common in the Middle East. It is also similar to the interpretation that the Notes preferred in Luke 11:8c.

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 (ESV)

her continual visits will be the death of me (JBP)

she will keep coming until I am too annoyed to endure it