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Luke 18 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Luke 18:6-8 should be seen as an explanation of the parable in 18:1-5.
Special concepts in this chapter
Unjust judge
Judges were supposed to administer justice without conditions, but this judge was not just to the woman. Instead, she had to beg many times for the judge to do the right thing. Therefore, the judge is referred to as "unjust." (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/justice and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/unjust)
Pharisees and tax collectors
Luke occasionally contrasts these two groups of people in his gospel. These two figures are the epitome of righteousness and unrighteousness (according to the Pharisees). The Pharisees believed that they were very righteous and they believed that the tax collectors were very sinful. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/righteous, rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/unrighteous and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin)
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
Son of Man
Jesus refers to himself as the "Son of Man." Every language may not have the ability to have a person refer to himself in the third person.
"Prayed these things about himself"
The Pharisee did not really "pray" because his prayer was not truly directed at God. His prayer was for himself and for other people to hear.
General and Specific Instructions
There are times that the New Testament gives specific instructions or commands that always apply to all Christians. At other times, its instructions are more general and should only be taken as "good ideas." For example, "sell your possessions" is not meant to be instructive to all Christians.