The Friend at Night
Encyclopedia
The Parable of the Friend at Night (or of the Importunate Neighbour), is a parable of Jesus
Parables of Jesus
The parables of Jesus can be found in all the Canonical gospels as well as in some of the non-canonical gospels but are located mainly within the three synoptic gospels. They represent a key part of the teachings of Jesus, forming approximately one third of his recorded teachings...

, which appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

. According to the Luke , a friend eventually agrees to help his neighbor due to his persistent demands.

This parable demonstrates the need to pray
Prayer in Christianity
Prayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship...

 and never give up. It
is similar in to the Parable of the Unjust Judge and is depicted by several artists, including William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt OM was an English painter, and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Biography:...

.

Narrative

The parable is as follows:
The scene described in this parable suggests a single-roomed peasant house, where the whole family sleeps together on a mat on the floor, and a man travelling by night to avoid the heat of the day.

Interpretation

This parable appears in the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

 immediately after Jesus teaches the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...

, and can therefore be viewed as a continuation of Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray, while the verses which follow help to explain the meaning of the parable:

Joel B. Green
Joel B. Green
Joel B. Green, Ph.D. is Associate Dean for the Center for Advanced Theological Studies and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, United States, and the author of numerous books, most of which are related to the New Testament.He is an...

 suggests that the question that opens the parable ("Which of you who has a friend...?" also expressible as "Can you imagine...?") is intended to be answered as an emphatic "No!", since no friend would refuse to help under such circumstances (the opening words in Greek occur elsewhere in Luke, but have no contemporary parallels, and I. Howard Marshall
I. Howard Marshall
Ian Howard Marshall is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis and honorary research professor at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, specifically in the department of Divinity and Religious Studies...

 regards them as probably characteristic of Jesus himself). However, Jesus goes on to point out that even if friendship wasn't a big enough motivation, help would still be forthcoming. As with verses , the parable is therefore an incentive to pray. The parable of the Unjust Judge has a similar meaning.

Depictions

There are a number of depictions of this parable, the most famous being The Importunate Neighbour (1895) by William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt OM was an English painter, and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Biography:...

, held in the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...

, Australia.
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