Luke 18:14

παρ' ἐκεῖνον אBL, Copt. Sah[314] μᾶλλον παρ' ἐκ. D. ἢ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος AE, &c. ἢ ἐκ. Elz. If this last reading were right the ἢ must be explained as in Luke 15:7.

[314] Sah. Sahidic Version.

14. δεδικαιωμένος. Of the Pharisee it might be said, “His soul which is lifted up is not upright in him;” but of the Tax-gatherer, “the just shall live by his faith,” Habakkuk 2:4. But the day had not yet come in which the words “be merciful” (ἱλάσκου), and “justified” (δεδικαιωμένος), possessed the deep full meaning which they were soon to acquire (Hebrews 2:17; Romans 3:20). The phrase was not unknown to the Talmud, which says that while the Temple stood, when every Israelite had offered sacrifice, ‘his sin was pardoned and he departed justified.’ The reading of the Received text ἢ ἐκεῖνος is untenable, though it correctly gives the meaning. (See Winer, p. 302.) The best supported reading is ἢ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, but it seems to have originated by mistake from παρ' ἐκεῖνον. Abp Trench quotes Crashaw’s striking epigram:

“Two went to pray: or rather say
One went to brag, the other to pray;
One stands up close, and treads on high,
Where th’ other dares not send his eye.
One nearer to the altar trod,
The other to the altar’s God.”

παρ' ἐκεῖνον. Prae illo. The παρὰ follows the implied comparative. Comp. Luke 13:2. See the critical note.

πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτόν. See Luke 14:11. In this Parable, as in that of the Prodigal son, we have the contrast between unrighteousness and self-righteousness.