Exegesis:

ho de telōnēs makrothen hestōs ‘but the tax-collector, standing at a distance.’ As contrasted with statheis (v. 9) hestōs is a neutral term. makrothen is used with reference to the Pharisee, or, to those present in the temple in general, preferably the latter.

ouk ēthelen oude tous opthalmous eparai eis ton ouranon ‘would not even raise his eyes to heaven.’ The double negation ouk … oude goes with the clause as a whole. Eyes were raised in the direction of those that were going to be addressed (cf. 6.20; 16.23; Jn. 4.35; 6.5), hence before a prayer they were raised upward.

etupten to stēthos autou ‘he kept beating his breast,’ iterative imperfect. The beating of the breast was a gesture of sorrow or contrition.

hilasthēti moi tō hamartōlō ‘have mercy on me, the sinner, i.e. sinner that I am.’ As contrasted with eleēson ‘have pity on me’ (16.24; 17.13; 18.38f) hilasthēti refers not to some physical need or distress, but to a spiritual predicament, the nature of which is indicated by tō hamartōlō (cf. on 5.8), in apposition to moi, the object of hilasthēti.

hilaskomai, in the passive ‘to be merciful, or gracious,’ ‘to have mercy.’

Translation:

Standing far off, or ‘kept at a distance and,’ ‘did not dare to come near (or, to the front) and.’

Lift up his eyes to heaven, or ‘look towards the sky, or, upwards,’ for which several languages possess a specific verb.

Beat his breast is expressive of sorrow, contrition, or remorse in some languages (e.g. Marathi, Zarma, Uab Meto, Batak Toba) but in several others it indicates something quite different, e.g. delight (Dan), anger (Mezquital Otomi), self-congratulation, or boasting (Sranan Tongo, Tepeuxila Cuicatec of Teutila, Chokwe, Ekari, some European languages); hence, cultural equivalents such as ‘beat his head’ (Dan), ‘got low’ (Ekari), ‘beat his heart’ (Sranan Tongo, which uses an equivalent, but slightly archaic idiom, ‘laid his hand on his head,’ in 23.48), or a literal rendering followed by an indication of its functional meaning, e.g. ‘beat-himself on his chest to show his sorrow’ (Kituba, similarly Chokwe), or again non-symbolic renderings, cf. “with a gesture of despair” (Phillips).

Be merciful to me, or ‘have mercy on me,’ cf. on “mercy” in 1.50. Here the reference is to compassion that is ready to forgive offenses.

Sinner, see references on 5.30.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.