Luke 17:10

17:10 So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; ¹  we have only done what was our duty.’” ² 

Luke 18:9

The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector

18:9 Jesus ³  also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down ⁴  on everyone else.

Luke 18:11-12

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ⁵  ‘God, I thank ⁶  you that I am not like other people: ⁷  extortionists, ⁸  unrighteous people, ⁹  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ¹⁰  18:12 I fast twice ¹¹  a week; I give a tenth ¹²  of everything I get.’

Luke 18:20-21

18:20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” ¹³  18:21 The man ¹⁴  replied, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed ¹⁵  all these laws ¹⁶  since my youth.” ¹⁷ 

Luke 18:1

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then ¹⁸  Jesus ¹⁹  told them a parable to show them they should always ²⁰  pray and not lose heart. ²¹ 

Luke 15:13-14

15:13 After ²²  a few days, ²³  the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered ²⁴  his wealth ²⁵  with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then ²⁶  after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need.

Isaiah 58:2-3

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ²⁷ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

58:3 They lament, ²⁸  ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?

Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’

Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, ²⁹ 

you oppress your workers. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 65:5

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Zechariah 7:3

7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple ³¹  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ³²  fasting as we have done over the years?”

Matthew 20:12

20:12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’

Romans 3:20

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ³³  by the works of the law, ³⁴  for through the law comes ³⁵  the knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:27

3:27 Where, then, is boasting? ³⁶  It is excluded! By what principle? ³⁷  Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!

Romans 7:9

7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive

Romans 10:3

10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Philippians 3:4-6

3:4 – though mine too are significant. ³⁸  If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, ³⁹  I have more: 3:5 I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. ⁴⁰  3:6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

Philippians 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ⁴¹  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Philippians 1:8-10

1:8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 1:9 And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight 1:10 so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ,

Revelation 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ⁴²  and need nothing,” but ⁴³  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ⁴⁴  poor, blind, and naked,

[17:10]  ¹ tn Some translations describe the slaves as “worthless” (NRSV) or “unworthy” (NASB, NIV) but that is not Jesus’ point. These disciples have not done anything deserving special commendation or praise (L&N 33.361), but only what would normally be expected of a slave in such a situation (thus the translation “we have only done what was our duty”).

[17:10]  ² tn Or “we have only done what we were supposed to do.”

[18:9]  ³ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “and despised.” This is a second parable with an explanatory introduction.

[18:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

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

[18:11]  ¹⁰ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:12]  ¹¹ 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.

[18:12]  ¹² tn Or “I tithe.”

[18:20]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16 and Deut 5:16-20. Jesus cited the parts of the ten commandments that relate to how others should be treated.

[18:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “kept.” The implication of this verb is that the man has obeyed the commandments without fail throughout his life, so the adverb “wholeheartedly” has been added to the translation to bring out this nuance.

[18:21]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “these things.” The referent of the pronoun (the laws mentioned by Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ¹⁷ sn Since my youth. Judaism regarded the age of thirteen as the age when a man would have become responsible to live by God’s commands.

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

[18:1]  ²¹ sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).

[15:13]  ²² tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:13]  ²³ tn Grk “after not many days.”

[15:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “wasted.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[15:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “estate” (the same word has been translated “estate” in v. 12).

[15:14]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the sequence of events in the parable. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[58:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[58:3]  ²⁸ tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

[58:3]  ³⁰ tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.

[7:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[7:3]  ³² sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8).

[3:20]  ³³ sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

[3:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

[3:20]  ³⁵ tn Grk “is.”

[3:27]  ³⁶ tn Although a number of interpreters understand the “boasting” here to refer to Jewish boasting, others (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, “‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 96) take the phrase to refer to all human boasting before God.

[3:27]  ³⁷ tn Grk “By what sort of law?”

[3:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “though I have reason for confidence even in the flesh.”

[3:4]  ³⁹ tn Grk “flesh.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁰ sn A Pharisee was a member of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[3:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

[3:17]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:17]  ⁴⁴ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.