LUKE 18:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge, not fearing God and not respecting man.

UST He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not revere God and did not care about people.

BSB “In a certain town there was a judge [who] neither feared God [nor] respected men.

BLB saying, "In a certain city, there was a certain judge, not fearing God, and not respecting man.

AICNT [saying,][fn] “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.

18:2, saying: Absent from some manuscripts. D(05)

OEB ‘There was,’ he said, ‘in a certain town a judge, who had no reverence for God nor regard for people.

WEBBE saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.

LSV saying, “A certain judge was in a certain city—he is not fearing God, and he is not regarding man—

FBV “Once there was a judge in this particular town who didn't respect God or care about anyone,” Jesus explained.

TCNT He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.

T4T He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not revere God, and did not care about people, either.

LEB saying, “There was a certain judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not respect people.

BBE Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man:

Moff "In a certain town," he said, "there was a judge who had no reverence for God and no respect even for man.

Wymth "In a certain town," He said, "there was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect for man.

ASV saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man:

DRA Saying: There was a judge in a certain city, who feared not God, nor regarded man.

YLT saying, 'A certain judge was in a certain city — God he is not fearing, and man he is not regarding —

Drby saying, There was a judge in a city, not fearing [fn]God and not respecting man:

18.2 Elohim

RV saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, and regarded not man:

SLT Saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city, fearing not God, and not occupied about man:

Wbstr Saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man.

KJB-1769 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

KJB-1611 Saying, There was in a city a Iudge, which feared not God neither regarded man.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Saying: There was in a certayne citie, a iudge, whiche feared not God, neither regarded man.
(Saying: There was in a certain city, a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man.)

Gnva Saying, There was a iudge in a certaine citie, which feared not God, neither reuereced man.
(Saying, There was a judge in a certain city, which feared not God, neither revereced man. )

Cvdl & sayde: There was a iudge in a cite, which feared not God, and stode in awe of no man.
(and said: There was a judge in a city, which feared not God, and stood in awe of no man.)

TNT sayinge: Ther was a Iudge in a certayne cite which feared not god nether regarded man.
(saying: There was a Judge in a certain cite which feared not god neither regarded man. )

Wycl and seide, There was a iuge in a citee, that dredde not God, nether schamede of men.
(and said, There was a judge in a city, that dreaded not God, neither shamede of men.)

Luth und sprach: Es war ein Richter in einer Stadt, der fürchtete sich nicht vor GOtt und scheuete sich vor keinem Menschen.
(and spoke: It what/which a Richter in one/a city, the/of_the feared itself/yourself/themselves not before/in_front_of God and shye itself/yourself/themselves before/in_front_of none people.)

ClVg dicens: Judex quidam erat in quadam civitate, qui Deum non timebat, et hominem non reverebatur.[fn]
(saying: Yudex some was in/into/on quadam city, who/which God not/no timebat, and man not/no reverebatur. )

18.2 Judex quidam. Hæc parabola ad orandum et credendum, et non de nobis, sed de Deo præsumendum hortatur.

18.2 Yudex some. This parable to orandum and to_be_believed, and not/no from/about us, but from/about to_God beforesumendum encourages.

UGNT λέγων, κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει, τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος.
(legōn, kritaʸs tis aʸn en tini polei, ton Theon maʸ foboumenos kai anthrōpon maʸ entrepomenos.)

SBL-GNT λέγων· Κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει τὸν θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος.
(legōn; Kritaʸs tis aʸn en tini polei ton theon maʸ foboumenos kai anthrōpon maʸ entrepomenos.)

RP-GNT λέγων, Κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει, τὸν θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος, καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος·
(legōn, Kritaʸs tis aʸn en tini polei, ton theon maʸ foboumenos, kai anthrōpon maʸ entrepomenos;)

TC-GNT λέγων, Κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει, τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος, καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος·
(legōn, Kritaʸs tis aʸn en tini polei, ton Theon maʸ foboumenos, kai anthrōpon maʸ entrepomenos; )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 18:1–8: Jesus told a story to teach his disciples to pray persistently

At the end of chapter 17, Jesus told his disciples about the coming of the Son of Man. In this section, he concluded this teaching by telling them a parable about praying persistently.Bock (p. 1444) says: “The parable of the nagging widow and the consenting judge is linked to the previous eschatological discourse by the reference in Luke 18:8 to the Son of Man’s return. Its plea that believers ask God for justice looks back to the vindication of the saints described in 17:22–37.” He used the parable to teach them that they should continue to trust God and pray to him. They should not become discouraged when they suffer unjustly, because Jesus will return, and God will give them justice.

Justice is an important theme in this parable. Phrases about justice occur four times. Each phrase uses a form of the same Greek word, so you will probably want to translate the phrases in a similar way:

Grant me justice (18:3)

see that she gets justice (18:5)

will not God bring about justice (18:7)

he will see that they get justice (18:8)

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some examples of headings for this section are:

The Parable of the Persistent Widow (NIV)

Jesus told a parable about a widow coming repeatedly to an unjust judge

The parable of the unjust judge

God Will Answer His People (NCV)

Luke is the only gospel that has this story. It is similar in some ways to the parable in 11:5–10.

18:2a

“In a certain town there was a judge

He said, “There was a judge who lived in a certain town.
He said, “In one town there once lived a man/elder who settled disputes for the people.

This verse begins with a Greek word that versions such as the NASB translate literally as “saying.” In this verse, Jesus began to tell the story that was introduced in 18:1. Introduce this in a natural way in your language. For example:

He said: (NIV)

In a certain town there was a judge: This clause introduces one of the two important people in the parable. Some other ways to introduce him are:

There was a judge in a certain city (NLT)

In a town there was once a judge (CEV)

Introduce the judge in a way that is natural in your language for introducing an important person in a story.

a certain town: The expression a certain town is a general way to refer to a town without mentioning its name. In some languages it may be more natural not to mention the town until 18:3a. See the General Comment on 18:2a–3a at the end of 18:3a for an example.

judge: The Greek word that the BSB translates as judge also occurred in 12:14 and 12:58. See how you translated it there. A judge is a person who listens to court cases and decides who is right and who is wrong. In this parable Jesus probably referred to a person who was appointed to settle disputes and other court cases for the people in his town.

In some languages it is natural to translate judge with a descriptive phrase. For example:

man who settled disputes/cases

elder who decided cases for people

18:2b

who neither feared God nor respected men.

He did not respect/fear God, and he also did not respect people.
This man/elder had no awe of God, and he did not honor/value his fellow human beings.

who neither feared God nor respected men: This negative statement describes two facts about the judge’s attitude: he did not fear God, and he did not care about people. Here is another way to translate this:

who did not fear God and did not respect man (NASB)

This statement does not imply that there were other judges there who did fear God. The story implies that this judge was the only judge in that town, since the widow came to him many times. Translate in a way that makes this clear in your language. Another way to translate it is:

In one city there was a certain judge. He did not fear God or respect people.

neither feared God: In this context the phrase neither feared God indicates that the judge did not have reverence or respect for God. He did not fear that God would punish him for being unjust. When he decided what to do about the people’s court cases, he did not think about God. Other ways to translate this are:

This judge did not respect God.

did not submit to GodUma Back Translation on TW.

absolutely was not afraid of GodKankanaey Back Translation on TW.

was a godless man (NLT96)

nor respected men: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as nor respected men means that the judge did not respect other people. He did not honor them, and he did not care about their opinions. In court, he did not care if people thought that he judged rightly or wrongly. The text implies that this lack of respect was evil. Other ways to translate it are:

did not respect people

did not treat his fellow men according to customYakan Back Translation on TW.

did not honor anyone

The English phrase nor respected men could mean that he was not concerned about their welfare. However, the focus of the Greek term is on lack of respect. It is parallel to the judge’s attitude toward God. He did not show respect to either God or people. Try to use a specific term in your language that will express this focus. In some languages there may be an idiom to express it. For example:

looked-down-on his fellow humansKankanaey Back Translation on TW.

men: The Greek word that the BSB translates as men means “human being.” It refers to any person, not specifically to males. Other ways to translate it here are:

anyone

other people

UTN uW Translation Notes:

λέγων

saying

If it would be helpful in your language, you could begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [He said]

Note 1 topic: writing-participants

κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει

˓a˒_judge (Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων κριτής Τὶς ἦν ἐν τινί πόλει τόν Θεόν μή φοβούμενος καί ἄνθρωπον μή ἐντρεπόμενος)

Jesus uses this phrase to introduce one of the main characters in this parable. Alternate translation: [There once was a judge who lived in a certain city]

Note 2 topic: writing-background

τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγων κριτής Τὶς ἦν ἐν τινί πόλει τόν Θεόν μή φοβούμενος καί ἄνθρωπον μή ἐντρεπόμενος)

Jesus provides this background information about the judge to help his disciples understand what happens in the story. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [He did not make his decisions based on what God wanted or on what other people thought]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

ἄνθρωπον

˱by˲_˓a˒_person

Here, Jesus is using the term man in a generic sense that includes all people. Alternate translation: [other people]

Parallel LUKE 18:2

Section 18:1–8: Jesus told a story to teach his disciples to pray persistently

18:2a

18:2b