Luke 18:11-12

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  18:12 I fast twice ⁷  a week; I give a tenth ⁸  of everything I get.’

Luke 15:7

15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ⁹  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ¹⁰  who have no need to repent. ¹¹ 

Luke 15:29

15:29 but he answered ¹²  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ¹³  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ¹⁴  you never gave me even a goat ¹⁵  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

Matthew 19:20-21

19:20 The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed ¹⁶  all these laws. ¹⁷  What do I still lack?” 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money ¹⁸  to the poor, and you will have treasure ¹⁹  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 10:20-21

10:20 The man ²⁰  said to him, “Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed ²¹  all these laws ²²  since my youth.” ²³  10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money ²⁴  to the poor, and you will have treasure ²⁵  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Romans 10:2-3

10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, ²⁶  but their zeal is not in line with the truth. ²⁷  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 3:6

3:6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

[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.

[18:12]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “I tithe.”

[15:7]  ⁹ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ¹⁰ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[15:29]  ¹² tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”

[15:29]  ¹³ tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.

[15:29]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.

[15:29]  ¹⁵ sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”

[19:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “kept.” The implication of this verb is that the man has obeyed the commandments without fail, so the adverb “wholeheartedly” has been added to the translation to bring out this nuance.

[19:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “these things.” The referent of the pronoun (the laws mentioned by Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:21]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:21]  ¹⁹ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[10:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the man who asked the question in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:20]  ²¹ 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.

[10:20]  ²² tn Grk “these things.” The referent of the pronoun (the laws mentioned by Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:20]  ²³ 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.

[10:21]  ²⁴ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:21]  ²⁵ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[10:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”

[10:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.”