The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (image)

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is illustrated for use in Bible translations in West Africa by Wycliffe Cameroon like this:

Illustration 1999 Mbaji Bawe Ernest, © Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Used with permission.

parable

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The Greek that is usually translated as “parable” in English is translated in other languages in a number of ways:

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “tell-a-story” and “compare.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Parable” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as analogy because “the Greek word has the sense of tossing down something alongside something else. Hence an analogy.”

See also image and figures of speech.

complete verse (Luke 18:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:9:

  • Noongar: “Jesus also told this parable to people who thought highly of themselves and proud because they were better than other people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, Yesus spoke another parable. This parable was directed at people who say that only they are straight/upright, and they disparage others.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa also told a parable to the people who considered/thought of themselves that they were righteous/straight and who put-down the other people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Another day about that time, Jesus told a parable. And as for this parable, it was directed against those people who think they’re the only ones whose works are good, and they make fun of all other people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus also told this parable to those who were very-satisfied with their righteousness and who at-the-same-time looked-down-on their fellows.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was also an illustration which Jesus caused to be heard by people who thought-mistakenly that they were straight/righteous in the sight of God, therefore were belittling others.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

righteous, righteousness

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)

Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:

  • Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
  • Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
  • Kipsigis: “do the truth”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
  • Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
  • Indonesian: “be true”
  • Navajo: “do just so”
  • Anuak: “do as it should be”
  • Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
  • Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
  • Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
  • Carib: “level”
  • Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
  • Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
  • Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
  • Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)

See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), and She is more in the right(eous) than I.

Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“speak”)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, hanas-are-ru (話される) or “speak” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 18:9

Exegesis:

eipen de kai … tēn parabolēn tautēn ‘he also told … this parable.’ kai ‘also’ means ‘in addition to what he had said before.’

pros tinas tous pepoithotas eph’ heautois hoti eisin dikaioi ‘to some people who were confident of themselves to be righteous.’ pros may mean ‘to,’ or ‘with a view/with reference to,’ preferably the former. This implies the presence of a wider audience. eph’ heautois indicates the foundation of the confidence. hoti eisin dikaioi refers to the content of the confidence. For dikaios cf. on 15.7.

kai exouthenountas tous loipous ‘and who despised others,’ still modified by the article tous before pepoithotas. In tous loipous the article is generic, and the phrase means ‘all other people,’ ‘every one else.’

exoutheneō (also 23.11) ‘to despise,’ ‘to look down upon,’ ‘to treat with contempt.’

Translation:

He also told this parable to, or, ‘and here is another parable of his. He told it to…’ (cf. New English Bible).

Trusted in themselves that they were righteous, or, ‘were sure that they themselves were righteous,’ ‘thought of themselves: “We are the upright ones” ’ (Shona 1966), ‘looked on themselves as people who do right’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘thought that their hearts were straight, theirs-only’ (Tzeltal), ‘believed regarding themselves: we meet the measure’ (East Nyanja). For righteous see references on 1.6.

Despised others, or, “thought nothing of others” (An American Translation), “looked down on everyone else” (New English Bible); or, ‘said/thought of every body else, “He is worth nothing (or, is not righteous, or, is inferior to me)” .’

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 18:9

Section 18:9–14

Jesus told a parable about praying in a humble way

In this section Jesus told a parable about how to pray with an attitude that God will approve. Jesus told this parable especially for people who thought that they were already righteous and better than other people. The parable shows that God wants people to come before him humbly and ask for his forgiveness.

Some examples of headings for this section are:

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus told a story about two men who prayed

This parable is only found in Luke.

Paragraph 18:9–14

18:9

The Berean Standard Bible has arranged the phrases in this verse in a different order from the Greek text. Other versions follow the Greek order more closely. For example:

9cJesus also told this parable 9ato some who were confident that they were righteous 9band looked down on everyone else. (NET Bible)

Use a natural order in your language.

18:9a

Scholars are not sure exactly when Jesus told the parable in this section. He probably told it within the same time period as the preceding one in 18:1–8, but maybe not immediately afterwards. Some ways to introduce the parable are:

Jesus also told another parable
-or-
Here is another parable that he told (Revised English Bible)

Introduce the parable in a natural way in your language.

To some who trusted in their own righteousness: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as To some who trusted in their own righteousness refers to some of the people listening to Jesus. In some languages it may be more natural to introduce the people before saying what they thought. For example:

Some people were in the crowd listening to Jesus. These people were sure that they were righteous.

trusted in their own righteousness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as righteousness refers to living according to God’s standards. Righteous people consistently do what is right. They also have right attitudes toward God and other people. The people in this context thought that they were righteous. Some ways to translate this phrase are:

sure that they obeyed God’s law
-or-
had great confidence that they lived in the way that is right
-or-
were sure that God approved of them (God’s Word)

In some languages people use an idiom to express this meaning. For example:

sure that they followed a straight path
-or-
prided themselves on being upright (New Jerusalem Bible)

See the General Comment on 18:9a–b for a suggestion about using direct speech here.

18:9b

and viewed others with contempt: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates with the English idiom viewed others with contempt means “despised others.” These proud people thought that they were more righteous than other people. They disapproved of other people, and they thought of them with contempt. Some other ways to translate this are:

regarded others with contempt (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
despised/scorned everyone else

In some languages there is an idiom to express this. For example:

looked down on everybody else (New International Version)

Another example in English is:

had a low opinion of others

General Comment on 18:9a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to translate this verse as more than one sentence. For example:

There were some people who were confident of their own righteousness. They looked down on everybody else. To them…

In some languages it may be more natural to use direct speech here. For example:

Some people were thinking, “I know that I am righteous and much better than other people.”

Use a natural way in your language to express the attitude of these people.

18:9c

He also told this parable: The phrase this parable refers to the parable that Jesus was about to tell in 18:10–14. In some languages you may need to include another verb of speech here. For example:

Jesus told this parable. He said…

parable: For help in translating the term parable see the note at 18:1b–c.

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