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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Luke 18:13 - 18:13
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Standing afar off (makrothen hestōs). Second perfect active participle of histēmi, intransitive like statheis above. But no ostentation as with the Pharisee in Luk 18:11. At a distance from the Pharisee, not from the sanctuary.
Would not lift (ouk ēthelen oude epārai). Negatives (double) imperfect of thelō, was not willing even to lift up, refused to lift (epārai, first aorist active infinitive of the liquid compound verb, ep-airō). Smote (etupte). Imperfect active of tuptō, old verb, kept on smiting or beating. Worshippers usually lifted up their closed eyes to God.
Be merciful (hilasthēti). First aorist passive imperative of hilaskomai, an old verb, found also in lxx and inscriptions (exhilaskomai, Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 224).
A sinner (tōi hamartōlōi). The sinner, not a sinner. It is curious how modern scholars ignore this Greek article. The main point in the contrast lies in this article. The Pharisee thought of others as sinners. The publican thinks of himself alone as the sinner, not of others at all.