Add parallel Print Page Options

12 I fast twice[a] a week; I give a tenth[b] of everything I get.’ 13 The tax collector, however, stood[c] far off and would not even look up[d] to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful[e] to me, sinner that I am!’[f] 14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified[g] rather than the Pharisee.[h] For everyone who exalts[i] himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Luke 18:12 sn The law only required fasting on the Day of Atonement. Such voluntary fasting as this practiced twice a week by the Pharisee normally took place on Monday and Thursday.
  2. Luke 18:12 tn Or “I tithe.”
  3. Luke 18:13 tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.
  4. Luke 18:13 tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).
  5. Luke 18:13 tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, hilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Pss 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).
  6. Luke 18:13 tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.
  7. Luke 18:14 sn The prayer that was heard and honored was the one given with humility; in a surprising reversal it was the tax collector who went down to his home justified.
  8. Luke 18:14 tn Grk “the other”; the referent (the Pharisee, v. 10) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Luke 18:14 sn Everyone who exalts himself. See Luke 14:11. Jesus often called for humility and condemned those who sought honor.