18:10a

Two men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men is literally “people.” The context shows that they were men. In some languages it may be natural to use a more general term such as “people” here.

went up to the temple: Jewish people spoke of going up when they went to the temple because the temple was on a hill. It may be more natural in some languages to say:

went to the Temple (New Living Translation (2004))

temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple refers to the temple building and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. The temple was in Jerusalem and was the most important place where Jews worshiped God.

Some ways to translate the word temple are:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

house/building of God
-or-
house/place of sacrifice
-or-
house/place of worship
-or-
holy/sacred house

• If your language has a word for temple, consider using it. But you may need to modify it by saying:

temple of God

Be sure to use a different term from the one you have chosen for “synagogue.” There was only one temple, but there were many synagogues throughout the land of Israel where the Jews met regularly for worship.

See temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information about the temple and how to translate it.

In this context the men prayed in the courtyard around the temple, not inside the temple building. In some languages it may be helpful to specify this. For example:

the temple courtyard

to pray: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pray was also used in 18:1. It is a general word that can refer to different kinds of prayer. In this context two men went to the temple to pray to God. One of the men thanked God that he was better than other people. He did not request anything from God. The other man asked God for mercy. Use a word for prayer that fits this context.

In some languages you may need to say explicitly that they were going to pray to God. For example:

to pray ⌊to God⌋

18:10b

One was a Pharisee: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as One was a Pharisee is literally “one a Pharisee.” This phrase indicates that one of the two men who went to the temple to pray was a Pharisee. In some languages it is necessary to supply a verb here, as the Berean Standard Bible does. Another way to translate this is:

One of the men was a Pharisee

Pharisee: The word Pharisee refers to a member of a certain Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to the Pharisees to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and in detail. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisee according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to people. For example:

Farisi member
-or-
Parise adherent
-or-
member of the Farisi people/group

• Transliterate the word Pharisee and indicate that it refers to a person who belonged to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

person who belonged to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
member of the religious group called the Farasi

This word occurred in the plural form in 17:20.

and the other a tax collector: The term and the other refers to the other person who went up to the temple to pray. This person was a tax collector.

tax collector: In the New Testament, the term tax collector refers to a Jewish person who received taxes from his own people to give to the government that ruled them. If you do not have a word in your language for tax collector, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

person who collected taxes for the/another government
-or-
person who gathered money from people to pay to a ruler/king

You may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of this word. You may also want to explain it in a glossary note. Here is an example of such a note:

The Jewish people hated the tax collectors because they were Jewish people who worked for the foreign government that ruled them. These tax collectors often cheated their own people by overcharging them.

This word also occurs in 5:27.

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