Luke 18 · Verse 2

Luke 18:2

Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luke 18:2, King James Version

Luke 18:2 in other translations

BSB“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
WEBsaying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man.
ASVsaying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man:
YLTsaying, ‘A certain judge was in a certain city--God he is not fearing, and man he is not regarding--
DARBYsaying, There was a judge in a city, not fearing God and not respecting man:
BBESaying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man:
WebsterSaying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man.

What does Luke 18:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 18:1-5

Lu 18:1-8. Parable of the Importunate Widow. 1-5. always--Compare Lu 18:7, "night and day." faint--lose heart, or slacken.

Read the full comment on Luke 18:1-5 →

Barnes' Notes
Verse 2. A judge which feared not God. One appointed by law to determine causes brought before him. This judge had no reverence for God, and consequently no regard for the rights of man. These two things go together. He that has no regard for God can be expected to have none for man; and our Lord has here indirectly taught us what ought to be the character of a judge--that he should fear God and regard the rights of man. Comp. De 1:16,17.

Regarded man. Cared not for man. Had no respect for the opinions or the rights of man.

(1) "city" = "in a certain city"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 A judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man - It is no wonder that our Lord calls this person an unrighteous judge, Luk 18:6. No person is worthy to be put in the sacred office of a judge who does not deeply fear God, and tenderly respect his fellow creatures. Because this person feared not God, he paid no attention to the calls of justice; and because he respected not man, he was unmoved at the complaint of the widow. Even among the heathens this was the character of a man totally abandoned to all evil. So Dion Cassius says of Vitellius, that he neither regarded gods nor men - ουτε των ανθρωπων, ουτε των θεων εφροντιζεν.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 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.

Read the full comment on Luke 18:1-8 →

Luke 18:2 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

λέγων·legōnsaying;G3004
κριτήςkritēsA judgeG2923
τιςtiscertainG5100
ἦνēnthere wasG1510
ἔνeninG1722
τινιtinia certainG5100
πόλειpoleicityG4172
τὸνton<the>G3588
θεὸνtheonGodG2316
μὴmēnotG3361
φοβούμενοςphoboumenosfearingG5399
καὶkaiandG2532
ἄνθρωπονanthrōponmanG444
μὴmēnotG3361
ἐντρεπόμενος.entrepomenosrespecting.G1788

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 18:2

  • Psalms 8:1-4

    To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

  • Luke 18:4

    And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

  • Proverbs 29:7

    The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

  • Ezekiel 22:6-8

    Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

  • Jeremiah 22:16-17

    He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

  • 2 Chronicles 19:3-9

    Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer–sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. …

  • Micah 3:1-3

    And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

  • Romans 3:14-18

    Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: …

  • Job 29:7-17

    When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. …

  • Exodus 18:21-22

    Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

  • Isaiah 33:8

    The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
city. Gr. certain city. which.
4; Ex 18:21,22; 2Ch 19:3-9; Job 29:7-17; Ps 8:1-4; Jer 22:16,17
Eze 22:6-8; Mic 3:1-3; Ro 3:14-18
regarded.
Pr 29:7; Isa 33:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Luke 18:1

    And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

  • Luke 18:2

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

  • Luke 18:3

    And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

Read all of Luke 18

Luke 18:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Diciendo: Había un juez en una ciudad, el cual ni temía á Dios, ni respetaba á hombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		disant: Il y avait dans une ville un certain juge qui ne craignait pas Dieu et qui ne respectait pas les hommes;
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sprach: Es war ein gewisser Richter in einer Stadt, der Gott nicht fürchtete und vor keinem Menschen sich scheute.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		dicens: Judex quidam erat in quadam civitate, qui Deum non timebat, et hominem non reverebatur.