Lukas 18:11

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ¹  ‘God, I thank ²  you that I am not like other people: ³  extortionists, ⁴  unrighteous people, ⁵  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ⁶ 

Lukas 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ⁷  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ⁸  he would know who and what kind of woman ⁹  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

Lukas 15:2

15:2 But ¹⁰  the Pharisees ¹¹  and the experts in the law ¹²  were complaining, ¹³  “This man welcomes ¹⁴  sinners and eats with them.”

Lukas 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ¹⁵  came back, who has devoured ¹⁶  your assets with prostitutes, ¹⁷  you killed the fattened calf ¹⁸  for him!’

Lukas 19:7

19:7 And when the people ¹⁹  saw it, they all complained, ²⁰  “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ²¹ 

[18:11]  ¹ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ² sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ³ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ⁴ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ⁵ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ⁶ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[7:39]  ⁷ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[7:39]  ⁸ tn This is a good example of a second class (contrary to fact) Greek conditional sentence. The Pharisee said, in effect, “If this man were a prophet (but he is not)…”

[7:39]  ⁹ sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.

[15:2]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:2]  ¹¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[15:2]  ¹² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[15:2]  ¹³ tn Or “grumbling”; Grk “were complaining, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “accepts,” “receives.” This is not the first time this issue has been raised: Luke 5:27-32; 7:37-50.

[15:30]  ¹⁵ sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  ¹⁶ sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

[15:30]  ¹⁷ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

[15:30]  ¹⁸ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.

[19:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent is unspecified but is probably the crowd in general, who would have no great love for a man like Zacchaeus who had enriched himself many times over at their expense.

[19:7]  ²⁰ tn This term is used only twice in the NT, both times in Luke (here and 15:2) and has negative connotations both times (BDAG 227 s.v. διαγογγύζω). The participle λέγοντες (legonte") is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:7]  ²¹ sn Being the guest of a man who is a sinner was a common complaint about Jesus: Luke 5:31-32; 7:37-50; 15:1-2.