Luke 18:12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Luke 18:9-14

The scope of this parable likewise is prefixed to it, and we are told (Luke 18:9) who they were whom it was levelled at, and for whom it was calculated. He designed it for the conviction of some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. They were such as had, 1. A great conceit of themselves, and of their own goodness; they thought themselves as holy as they needed to be, and holier than all their neighbours, and such as might serve for examples to them all. But... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Luke 18:9-14

18:9-14 Jesus spoke this parable to some who were self-confidently sure that they were righteous and who despised others. "Two men went up to the Temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'O God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all that I get.' The tax-collector stood afar off, and would not lift even his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Luke 18:12

I fast twice in the week ,.... Not "on the sabbath", as the words may be literally rendered, and as they are in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; for the sabbath was not a fasting, but a feasting day with the Jews; for they were obliged to eat three meals, or feasts, on a sabbath day, one in the morning, another at evening, and another at the time of the meat offering: even the poorest man in Israel, who was maintained by alms, was obliged to keep these three feasts F6 Maimon.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 18:12

I give tithes of all that I possess - Or, of all I acquire, κτωμαι . Raphelius has well observed, that this verb, in the present tense, signifies to acquire - in the preter, to possess: the Pharisee's meaning seems to be, "As fast as I gain any thing, I give the tenth part of it to the house of God and to the poor." Those who dedicate a certain part of their earnings to the Lord should never let it rest with themselves, lest possession should produce covetousness. This was the Pharisee's... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 18:12

Verse 12 12.I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. This is equivalent to saying that he performed more than the law required; just as the Popish monks talk loftily of their works of supererogation, as if they found no great difficulty in fulfilling the law of God. It must be admitted that each of us, according to the measure of the virtues which God has bestowed upon him, is the more strongly bound to thank the Author of them; and that it is an exercise of holy... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 18:1-14

The Lord speaks the two parables on prayer — the importunate widow, and the Pharisee and publican. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 18:1-14

Lessons in prayer. Our Lord, in the two parables composing the present passage, gives the disciples encouragement to pray. The one brings out the need of perseverance and importunity in prayer; the other brings out the spirit of self-abasement which should be cultivated in prayer. They are thus linked together as twin lessons in the art of prayer. I. LET US NOTICE THE NEEDFUL IMPORTUNITY OF GOD 'S ELECT AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW . ( Luke... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 18:9-14

The Pharisee and the publican. The lesson as to prayer is continued. The parable which follows exhibits the spirit and conditions of effectual prayer. Mark the two features of the audience specially addressed. He speaks to certain He spoke in the previous parable of "God's own elect." Now, the Pharisees accounted themselves the elect of God. They were puffed up by this confidence. They regarded themselves as the righteous, who kept the Law, beth oral and written. And, indeed, they were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 18:9-14

The Pharisee and the publican. The scene indicated by our Lord's opening sentences is easily realized. We readily picture to our minds the place and the two persons in whom we are interested—the haughty Pharisee and the humble-minded publican. We readily imagine their demeanor as they enter, their posture as they pray, their reception as they pass through the courts going and returning. But we ask how and why was it that the Pharisee was rejected and the publican accepted. And in reply we... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 18:12

I fast twice in the week . There was no such precept in the Law of Moses. There only a single fast-day in the year was enjoined, the Day of Atonement (Le Luke 16:29 ). By the time of Zechariah the prophet (viii. 19) the one fast-day had grown into four. But this fasting twice every week was a burthensome observance imposed in the later oral Law. Thursday and Monday were the appointed fasting-days, because tradition related how, on those days, Moses ascended and descended from Sinai.... read more

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