Exegesis:

anthrōpoi duo anebēsan eis to hieron proseuxasthai ‘two men went up to the temple to pray.’ anebēsan ‘went up’ from the lower city to the temple mount. For to hieron cf. on 2.27. proseuxasthai final infinitive in the aorist tense, pointing to a punctiliar event.

ho heis Pharisaios kai ho heteros telōnēs ‘one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector,’ apposition to anthrōpoi duo. For Pharisaios cf. on 5.17; for telōnēs on 3.12.

Translation:

The verse must be given the form used to mark the beginning of a narrative, e.g. ‘(once) there were two men who….’

Went up, see on 2.4. Though in this situation a word expressing ‘ascent’ can often be used, some versions are somewhat more generic, e.g. ‘went,’ ‘entered’ (cf. Low Malay, Sranan Tongo).

One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, or, since the number has already been limited to two, simply a ‘Pharisee and a tax collector.’ The appositional phrase sometimes can better be rendered as a clause, ‘one was … the other/second (was) ….’ For tax collector see on 3.12.

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.