Luke 18:13

Luke 18:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
• New International Version (NIV)“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
• English Standard Version (ESV)But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

Context of Luke 18:13

11The Pharisee stood there by himself. He prayed like this: “Thank you, God, that I am different from all these other people. They are bad people. They rob other people. They have sex with women who are not their wife. Thank you, God, that I am not like this man who takes taxes on behalf of the government. 12I fast for two days of each week. I give to you one tenth of all the things and money that I receive.” But the other man stood far away. He would not even look up towards heaven. He was hitting his body with his hands to show how sorry he was. He prayed like this: “Please, God, be kind to me. I have done many bad things.” ’ 14Jesus then said, ‘Let me tell you about these men when they went home. The man that took taxes from people was now right with God. But the Pharisee was still guilty. Some people lift themselves up to be important. But God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’ 15People were also bringing babies to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on each child's head. But Jesus' disciples did not like this. They told the people that they should not do it.

Luke 18:13 word by word

Ὁ δὲ τελώνης μακρόθεν ἑστὼς οὐκ ἤθελεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπᾶραι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτυπτεν τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ λέγων· ὁ θεός, ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• the publicanτελώνηςtelōnēs · tax collectorG5057
• standingἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
• afar offμακρόθενmakrothen · from afarG3113
• wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• notοὐou · noG3756
• lift upἐπαίρωepairō · to lift upG1869
• so much asοὐδέoude · norG3761
• eyesὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• smoteτύπτωtuptō · to strikeG5180
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• breastστῆθοςstēthos · chestG4738
• sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• be mercifulἱλάσκομαιhilaskomai · to propitiateG2433
• to meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• a sinnerἁμαρτωλόςhamartōlos · sinfulG268

Cross-references for Luke 18:13

• Luke 5:8When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please go away from me.’
• Luke 7:6So Jesus went with them. When he was not very far away from the house, the officer sent some friends to talk to him. He told them to say to Jesus, ‘Sir, I do not want to be a trouble to you. I am not good enough for you to come into my house.
• Luke 17:12When he was going into a village, ten men came towards him. These men had a bad disease of the skin. They stopped and stood a long way away from Jesus.
• Ezra 9:6I said, ‘My God, I am too ashamed to look up at you. Our sins are very great. They are so many that they reach far above us. We are completely guilty.
• Job 42:6So I am ashamed of the things that I said. I sit here in dirt and in ashes to show you that I am very sorry.’
• Psalms 40:12There are many dangerous troubles all around me. They are too many to count! My sins are too strong for me. They are more than all the hairs on my head! So I am weak and I cannot see clearly.
• Isaiah 6:5Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
• Ezekiel 16:63I will forgive you for your sins so that you are no longer guilty. Then you will remember your sins. You will be too ashamed to say anything. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
• Daniel 9:7Our Lord, you always do what is right. Today we are very ashamed. The people of Judah, Jerusalem and all Israel have not been faithful to you. You have sent our people away to many countries. Some are near and some are far away. We are all ashamed because we have turned away from you.
• Acts 2:37The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’
• Luke 23:48A very big crowd had come together to watch the men die. They saw what had happened. Then they began to go home. They were very sad, and they were hitting their own bodies with their hands.
• Jeremiah 31:18‘I have heard Israel's people when they are sad. They say to me, “You punished us, and we accepted it. You taught us to obey you, like a farmer teaches an ox to work for him. So let us come back to serve you. We are ready to return to you, because you are the Lord, our God.
• 2 Corinthians 7:11You became sad in the way that God wanted. And see what good results that has brought! It has made you work hard to do good things. You want to show people that you do what is right. You are angry against sin. You want to obey God. You want to make things right again. You want to please God. You want to punish anyone who does wrong things. In all these ways, you have shown that you are right. You have done everything that was necessary in this matter.
• Psalms 25:7Do not punish me for the sins that I did long ago. When I was young, I turned against you. Please be kind to me, because of your faithful love!
• Psalms 41:4I said, ‘Lord be kind to me and forgive me. I have done wrong things against you, but please make me well again.’
• Psalms 51:1Please forgive me, God, because of your faithful love. Because you are so kind, please clean away my sins.

Commentaries on Luke 18:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13The publican, standing afar off - Not because he was a heathen, and dared not approach the holy place; (for it is likely he was a Jew); but because he was a true penitent, and felt himself utterly unworthy to appear before God. Would not lift up - his eyes - Holding down the head, with the eyes fixed upon the earth, was, A sign of deep distress. Of a consciousness and confession of guilt. And, It was the very posture that the Jewish rabbins required in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Standing afar off - Afar off from the “temple.” The place where prayer was offered in the temple was the court of women. The Pharisee advanced to the side of the court nearest to the temple, or near as he could; the publican stood on the other side of the same court if he was a Jew, or in the court of the Gentiles if he was a pagan, as far as possible from the temple, being conscious of his unworthiness to approach the sacred place where God had his holy…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-14Verses 9-14 This parable was to convince some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. God sees with what disposition and design we come to him in holy ordinances. What the Pharisee said, shows that he trusted to himself that he was righteous. We may suppose he was free from gross and scandalous sins. All this was very well and commendable. Miserable is the condition of those who come short of the righteousness of this…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13he beat his breast: This action showed deep sorrow and repentance (turning away from sin).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. standing afar off--as unworthy to draw near; but that was the way to get near (Psa 34:18; Is 57:15). would not lift up--blushing and ashamed to do so (Ezr 9:6). smote, &c.--kept smiting; for anguish (Lu 23:48), and self-reproach (Jr 31:19). be merciful--"be propitiated," a very unusual word in such a sense, only once else used in the New Testament, in the sense of "making reconciliation" by sacrifice (He 2:17). There may therefore, be some allusion to…Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 18:13

• Bigotry
• Confidence
• Humility
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Penitent
• Prayer
• Publicans
• Repentance
• Self-Righteousness
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Admiration
• Bear
• Elect
• Prayer
• Breast
• Court of the Sanctuary; Tabernacle; Temple
• Eye
• Grace

Commentaries on Luke 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings