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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 does not treat the woman justly. Instead, she has 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. The Pharisees considered themselves to be the clearest examples of righteousness and tax collectors to be very sinful, the clearest examples of unrighteousness. (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." Not every language may have the ability to have a person refer to himself in the third person.
"Prayed these things about himself"
The Pharisee's prayer is not truly directed at God, so what he does is not really prayer. He wrongly thinks he is praying, but he is really only speaking so that other people will hear him and think he is holy.
General and Specific Instructions
There are times when the New Testament gives specific instructions or commands that always apply to all Christians. At other times, its instructions are more general or even as hyperbole. For example, when Jesus says, "Sell your possessions," he is not speaking to all Christians in all places at all times, but all Christians should remember that they are only stewards of everything they receive from God, and he may ask them to give them up at any time. (See: hyperbole)