Luke 18:14

went down to his house justified rather than the other 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" (hilaskou), and -justified" (dedikaiomenos), 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 our Greek text ἢ ἐκεῖνος is untenable, though it correctly gives the meaning. 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."

every one that exalteth himself See Luke 14:11. In this Parable, as in that of the Prodigal son, we have the contrast between unrighteousness and self-righteousness.