18:1-8 All God's people are praying people. Here earnest steadiness in prayer for spiritual mercies is taught. The widow's earnestness prevailed even with the unjust judge: she might fear lest it should set him more against her; but our earnest prayer is pleasing to our God. Even to the end there will still be ground for the same complaint of weakness of faith.

And the Lord said,.... The Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered out this parable to his disciples:

hear what the unjust judge saith; and take encouragement from hence to be frequent and importunate in prayer with God; for if such a cruel, merciless, and unjust judge is to be wrought upon by importunity to do justice, who has no principle to influence him, how much more will not God, who is a just judge, the judge of widows, and of the oppressed, a God of great mercy and compassion, who delights in the prayers of his people, knows their cases, and is able to help them, and who has an interest in them, and they in him? how much more will not he regard their importunate requests, and arise, and save them much such like reasoning this is used by the Jews:

"says R. Simeon ben Chelphetha, an impudent man overcomes a good man, or a modest man, (by his importunity,) how much more the goodness of the world itself (q)?''

that is, how much more will a man, by his continual prayer, prevail with God, who is goodness itself? And they have another saying (r), that agrees with this:

"says R. Nachman, impudence (i.e. importunity) even against God is profitable.''

The application of this parable follows:

(q) T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 2.((r) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 105. 1.

6-8. the Lord—a name expressive of the authoritative style in which He interprets His own parable.

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