Luke 18:11

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Ματταθίας
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Joined: August 18th, 2021, 12:03 pm

Luke 18:11

Post by Ματταθίας »

Greetings!

Luke 18:11 reads, " ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο Ὁ θεός εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἅρπαγες ἄδικοι μοιχοί ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης."

I wondering if "πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο" just means he was praying silently or in a low voice?



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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Luke 18:11

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Ματταθίας wrote: February 12th, 2022, 3:16 pm Luke 18:11 reads, " ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο Ὁ θεός εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἅρπαγες ἄδικοι μοιχοί ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης."

I wondering if "πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο" just means he was praying silently or in a low voice?
I think this is ambiguous - it could mean either that he was standing by himself ("σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν") or that he was standing and speaking to himself as he prayed ( σταθεὶς ... πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο). If it means the latter, we probably don't know exactly what that means - were his lips moving? was his voice audible but only to himself? was he merely thinking these prayers without moving his lips? I don't think we can infer any of these directly from what the text tells us.

Commentaries offer various understandings of this. Here's Exegetical Summaries, which outlines the various ways this has been interpreted in reliable older commentaries:
QUESTION—What is meant by the Pharisee σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν standing by/to/about himself?
Standing was the regular posture for prayer [ICC, NAC, NIGTC, NTC, Rb, TNTC]. This position also allowed the Pharisee to be seen in his devotions by others [Rb, TH]. He would be standing up in front by the stone barrier that divided the priests’ court from the court of the men [Lns].
1. The phrase πρὸς ἑαυτὸν means ‘by himself’ and it is connected to ‘having stood’, indicating that the Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed [Bai, NICNT, NIGTC; CEV, NCV, NLT, NRSV, TEV]. The Pharisee despised the others and therefore stood apart by himself [Bai, NICNT]. It may be implied that his prayer was spoken aloud to preach to the less fortunate around him [Bai].
2. The phrase πρὸς ἑαυτὸν means ‘to himself’ and it is connected to ‘was praying’, indicating that the Pharisee stood up and then prayed to himself [Alf, Arn, Crd, Gdt, ICC, My, NIC, NTC, Rb, Su, TH; HCSB, KJV, NASB].
2.1 This means that he prayed silently [Alf, Arn, ICC, My, NIC, TH]. Perhaps his lips moved and only he could hear the words of his prayer [Arn]. He would not want others to hear his boastful and critical prayer [ICC].
2.2 This means that in effect he was only talking to himself [Gdt, NTC, Rb, Su]. Instead of speaking to God, he was actually congratulating himself [Gdt]. The prayer was outwardly addressed to God, but inwardly he was talking to himself about himself and the prayer never reached God [NTC].
3. The phrase πρὸς ἑαυτὸν means ‘about himself’ and it is connected to ‘was praying’, indicating that the Pharisee stood up and then prayed to God about himself [AB, Lns, NAC, WBC; NET, NIV]. That he was praying to God is clear from the beginning of his prayer [WBC]. Probably he was praying out loud [NET]. His praying was ‘for himself’, that is, in favor of himself and amounted to boasting about himself [Lns].


Richard C. Blight, An Exegetical Summary of Luke 12–24, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 248.
Most modern translation seem to follow the first interpretation:
New International Version
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

New Living Translation
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!

English Standard Version
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Some translations follow the second interpretation:
Douay-Rheims Bible
The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican.

NASB 1995
“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

New American Bible
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.
That third interpretation is interesting and fits the context well. Here are two translations that interpret it that way:
New American Standard Bible
The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

Christian Standard Bible
The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Also, there are some interesting textual variants here. See www.greekcntr.org:

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So ... you aren't the first person to wonder precisely what was meant here.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Luke 18:11

Post by Stephen Carlson »

A more interesting or at least more foundational issue is whether πρὸς ἑαυτόν modifies σταθείς (per NIV) or προσηύχετο (per KJV).

ETA: which is what Jonathan's post is mostly about.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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