Luke 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the teachings and a miracle of Jesus Christ. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. Text The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 43 verses. Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Papyrus 75 (AD 175–225) Codex Vaticanus (325–350) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Washingtonianus (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400–440) Parable of the persistent widow (18:1–8) This parable is also known as the Parable of the Unjust Judge or the Parable of the Importunate Widow. It appears only in the Gospel of Luke and is intended to show Jesus' disciples "that they should always pray and not give up" or "not lose heart". It tells of a judge who "did not fear God and did not respect man", who is repeatedly approached by a poor widow, seeking justice. Initially rejecting her demands, he eventually honors her request to avoid being worn out by her persistence. This parable is found immediately prior to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (also on prayer) and is similar to the parable of the Friend at Night. Methodist commentator Joseph Benson notes that the separation of chapter 18 from chapter 17 "improperly interrupts" Jesus' discourse regarding the "coming of the kingdom", arguing that the forthcoming persecution "would render the duties of prayer, patience, and perseverance peculiarly seasonable". Anglican churchman Henry Alford argues that while it is "not perhaps spoken in immediate unbroken sequence after the last discourse", it probably "arose out of it: perhaps [it] was the fruit of a conversation with the disciples about the day of His coming and the mind with which they must expect it". In modern translations, the widow's request is for "justice". Traditionally her plea for εκδικησον με (endikeson me) has been translated as "avenge me". The Revised Standard Version sees her requesting "vindication". Benson states that "the word properly signifies 'to judge a cause', and defend the injured judicially from the injurious person. The English word avenge, therefore, does not exactly hit the sense here intended, although, as Dr. Campbell observes, in the application of the parable, : And shall not God