# Luke 18.13

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-05-31 | updated: 2026-05-31 -->

**Book:** [Luke](/codex/luke-the-evangelist/) · ASV

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.</span> 15. And they were bringing unto him also their babes, that he should touch them: but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. (Luke 18:11-15, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”</span> 15. They were also bringing their babies to him, that he might touch them. But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. (Luke 18:11-15, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.</span> 15. And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. (Luke 18:11-15, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">the Pharisee having stood by himself, thus prayed: God, I thank Thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer;</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all things, as many as I possess.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">'And the tax-gatherer, having stood afar off, would not even the eyes lift up to the heaven, but was smiting on his breast, saying, God be propitious to me, the sinner!</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">I say to you, this one went down declared righteous, to his house, rather than that one: for every one who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he who is humbling himself shall be exalted.'</span> 15. And they were bringing near also the babes, that he may touch them, and the disciples having seen did rebuke them, (Luke 18:11-15, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** Jesus, narrating the parable; the tax collector, voicing the prayer-line
- **Audience:** *"certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others"* (Luke 18:9)
- **Location:** the Jerusalem temple (the parable's setting, *"two men went up into the temple to pray"*, v. 10); narrated en route to Jerusalem (Luke 17:11 - 19:27 travel narrative)
- **Time period:** the final Jerusalem ascent, c. AD 30 or AD 33

## Theological reading

Luke 18:13 is the **only NT use of [*hilaskomai*](/codex/g2433-hilaskomai/) (G2433) in personal-prayer form**: *ho theos, hilasthēti moi tō hamartōlō* ("God, be propitiated [be merciful, atone] toward me, the sinner"). The verb is **aorist passive imperative**, *hilasthēti*, and the worshipper requests that the divine wrath-aversion of the atonement-cultus be applied **to himself, the sinner** (note the article: *tō hamartōlō*, "*the* sinner", the tax collector implicates himself as the paradigmatic offender, not as one offender among many).

Critically: the prayer is offered **in the temple, during the hour of incense** (Luke 18:10), which Luke's first-century audience would recognize as the very hour the priest performs the daily atoning offering on behalf of the people (Exod 30:7-8; Lk 1:9-10, the same scene at Zacharias's vision). The tax collector's *hilasthēti* is asking for the **personal application of the Day-of-Atonement coverage** that the cultus mediates. He stands *makrothen* ("afar off"), refusing to lift his eyes, beating his breast in mourning posture, the entire bodily semiotics is **sinner-at-the-mercy-seat**.

The verdict that follows is decisive: *"this man went down to his house justified rather than the other"* (*katebē houtos dedikaiōmenos*, perfect passive participle of *dikaioō*, "having been declared righteous, in a settled state"). The grammar is **forensic-declarative**: the tax collector left the temple in a new legal-covenantal status, declared righteous by God's verdict, on the strength of his prayer for propitiation-application. The verse is the **load-bearing Synoptic anchor for forensic-justification** and for the imputation-by-propitiation pattern Paul develops at [Rom 3:21-26](/codex/romans-3-25-26/) (the *hilastērion* passage).

The contrast with the Pharisee, who prayed *pros heauton* ("with himself" or "to himself", v. 11), thanking God for his moral distinctness from "the rest of men" including *this tax collector*, exposes self-righteousness as the **structural opposite** of justification-by-propitiation. The Pharisee's posture appeals to merit; the tax collector's appeals to atonement. Only the second is heard. The pericope is foundational for [Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/) and for the Reformation's *simul iustus et peccator* ("at once righteous and a sinner") formulation.

## Key words

- [G2433 - hilaskomai](/codex/g2433-hilaskomai/), *hilaskomai*, the verb (aorist passive imperative *hilasthēti*); the load-bearing lexeme. Asks for the atonement-cultus's propitiation-coverage to be applied personally.
- *dikaioō* (G1344), "to declare righteous, justify", the verdict-verb that names the result; perfect passive participle *dedikaiōmenos* signals settled, declarative-forensic status.
- *hamartōlos* (G268), "sinner", with definite article *tō hamartōlō*, "*the* sinner"; self-implication as paradigmatic offender.

## See also

- [Hebrews 2.17](/codex/hebrews-2-17/), the NT's only other use of *hilaskomai* (active, of Christ's priestly act)
- [Romans 3.25-26](/codex/romans-3-25-26/), *hilastērion*, the central Pauline propitiation text; develops the justification-by-propitiation logic
- [1 John 2.2](/codex/1-john-2-2/) / [1 John 4.10](/codex/1-john-4-10/), *hilasmos*, the noun cognates
- [G2433 - hilaskomai](/codex/g2433-hilaskomai/), the lexicon entry
- [G2435 - hilasterion](/codex/g2435-hilasterion/), the place-noun cognate
- [Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/), the doctrinal hub
- [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the atonement framework
- [Day of Atonement](/codex/leviticus-16/), the OT typology
- Parallel structural inverse: Luke 7:47-49 (the sinful woman / Simon the Pharisee; same forgiveness-vs-self-righteousness contrast)

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Argument from Forgiveness](/codex/argument-from-forgiveness/)
- [Paul Invented Christianity Objection Defeater](/codex/paul-invented-christianity-objection-defeater/), via [Luke 18.9-14](/codex/luke-18-9-14/)

**Concepts:**

- [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/), via [Luke 18.1-14](/codex/luke-18-1-14/)

**Lexicon:**

- [G2433 - hilaskomai](/codex/g2433-hilaskomai/)
- [G2434 - hilasmos](/codex/g2434-hilasmos/)

**Passages:**

- [1 John 4.10](/codex/1-john-4-10/)

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## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.