the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

much out of too little evidence. On the other hand, some scholars believe that the Pharisee’s
prayer is typical of the Pharisaical attitude, mentioning Jewish literature as parallels to the
prayer, 1QH 15:34, t. Ber. 6.18, b. Ber. 28b. 53 From this view, they point out that Jesus here
is openly reproaching the Pharisaical idea of religious piety. 54 As for this, as opposed to the
above contention, there is another proposal offered by Downing and Dorn that view the
Pharisee’s prayer as a caricature, not as straightforward assessments, thereby bringing a smile
at his own overconfidence about his righteous behaviour. 55 However, such views, as have
been discussed above, are intensely at issue. 56
Even though some scholars, in some way, seek to salvage the Pharisee from attempting to
57
be morally superior, viewing his prayer as a pure expression of thanks, it never conceals
the fact that he is comparing others according to his standards, and he, in fact, despises those
who did not achieve the law’s demands, in particular the tax collector here. 58
On the contrary, the tax collector is praying “standing far off,” “not even lifting up his
61.
53. “[I give you thanks,] Lord, because you did not make my lot () fall in the congregation of deceit, nor
have you placed my allotted territory () in the council of hypocrites, but you have called me to your kindness
(), to your forgiveness () you have brought me, and in the abundance of your compassion.”
(1QH 15:34); “R. Judah say, “A man must recite three benedictions every day: ‘Blessed be You, Lord, who did
not make me a gentile,’ ‘Blessed be You, Lord, who did not make me uneducated.’ ‘Blessed be You, Lord, who
did not make me a woman.’” (t. Ber. 6:18); On his leaving [the Beth ha-Midrash], what does he say? “I give
thanks to You, Lord my God, that You set my portion () with those who sit in the Beth ha-Midrash and You
have not set my portion with those who sit in street corners, for I rise early and they rise early, but I rise early for
words of Torah and they rise early for frivolous talk; I labor and they labor, but I labor and receive a reward and
they labor and do not receive a reward; I run and they run, but I run to the life of the future world and they run to
the pit of destruction.” (b. Ber. 28b). Florentino García Martínez and Eiberg J.C. Tigchelaar, (eds.), The Dead
Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Leiden: Brill, 1997-98), 1. 181.
54. Marshall, Luke, 677-79; Hendriksen, Luke, 818-20; Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 150-52; Fitzmyer, The
Gospel According to Luke, 1184-85; Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of
Luke’s Gospel, 215. Doran, “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: An Agonistic Story,” 266-68, objects that these
parallels are really comparable, since their focus is not on a moral achievement like the Pharisee, but a moral
luck or a situation where God has placed them.
55. Doran, “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: An Agonistic Story,” 267, 270; Downing, “The Ambiguity of
The Pharisee and the Toll collector (Luke 18:9-14) in the Greco-Roman World of Late Antiquity,” 84. Schottroff
also makes it clear that the Pharisee’s prayer is, in fact, a deliberate caricature, confronting the listening
community with the power of sin. See Schottroff, The Parables of Jesus, 11, 13.
56. See Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 471-72.
57. See Borsch, Many Things, 26-27; Scott, Hear Then the Parables, 95-96; Hedrick, Parables as Poetic
Fictions: The Creative Voice of Jesus, 231.
58. Jeremias, Parables, 142-43; Creed, Luke, 224; Linnemann, Parables, 58-60; J.W. Holleran, “The Saint and
the Scoundrel,” BibTod 25 (1987), 375-79; C.F. Evans, Saint Luke, 643; Nolland, Luke, 876-77; Kilgallen, “The
Importance of the Redactor in Luke 18:9-14,” 69-75; idem, “The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14): The
Point?,” 159; idem, The Twenty Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, 152-53; Forbes, The God of Old: The
Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 216; Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 471-72.
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