Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 18:12
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
12. Ifast twice in the week ] This practice had no divine sanction. The Law appointed only a single fast-day in the year, the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29). By the time of Zechariah there seem to have been four yearly fasts (Zec 8:19). The bi-weekly fast of the Pharisees was a mere burden imposed by the oral Law. The days chosen were Thursday and Monday, because on those days Moses was believed to have ascended and descended from Sinai, Babha Kama, f. 82, 1. The man boasts of his empty ceremonialism.
I give tithes of all that I possess ] Rather, of all that I acquire. As though he were another Jacob! (Gen 28:22; comp. Tob 1:7-8 ). Here too he exceeds the Written Law, which only commanded tithes of corn, wine, oil, and cattle (Deu 14:22-23), and not of mint, anise, and cummin (Mat 23:23). The fact that he does not say a word about his sins shews how low was his standard. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,” Pro 28:13. He was clothed with phylacteries and fringes, not with humility, 1Pe 5:5. A Talmudic treatise, the Berachoth (Schwab, p. 336), furnishes us with a close analogy to the prayer of the Pharisee in that of Rabbi Nechounia Ben Hakana, who on leaving his school used to say, ‘I thank thee, O Eternal, my God, for having given me part with those who attend this school instead of running through the shops. I rise early like them, but it is to study the Law, not for futile ends. I take trouble as they do, but I shall be rewarded, and they will not; we run alike, but I for the future life, while they will only arrive at the pit of destruction.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I fast twice … – This was probably the Jewish custom. The Pharisees are said to have fasted regularly on the second and fifth days of every week in private. This was in addition to the public days of fasting required in the law of Moses, and they, therefore, made more a matter of merit of it because it was voluntary.
I give tithes – A tithe means the tenth part of a thing. A tenth part of the possessions of the Jews was required for the support of the Levites, Num 18:21. In addition to the tithes required strictly by law, the Pharisees had tithed everything which they possessed even the smallest matters – as mint, anise, cummin, etc., Luk 11:42. It was this, probably, on which he so particularly prided himself. As this could not be proved to be strictly required in the law, it had more the appearance of great piety, and, therefore, he particularly dwelt on it.
I possess – This may mean either all which I have, or all which I gain or acquire. It is not material which meaning be considered the true one.
The religion of the Pharisee, therefore, consisted in:
1.Abstaining from injustice to others; in pretending to live a harmless, innocent, and upright life; and,
2.A regular observance of all the external duties of religion.
His fault consisted in relying on this kind of righteousness; in not feeling and acknowledging that he was a sinner; in not seeking a religion that should dwell in the heart and regulate the feelings; and in making public and ostentatious professions of his own goodness. Most of all was this abominable in the sight of God, who looks into the heart, and who sees wickedness there when the external actions may be blameless. We may learn from the case of the Pharisee:
- That it is not the man who has the most orthodox belief that has, of course, the most piety;
- That people may be externally moral, and not be righteous in the sight of God;
- That they may be very exact in the external duties of religion, and even go beyond the strict letter of the law; that they may assume a great appearance of sanctity, and still be strangers to true piety; and,
- That ostentation in religion, or a boasting before God of what we are and of what we have done, is abominable in his sight. This spoils everything, even if the life should be tolerably blameless, and if there should be real piety.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. I give tithes of all that I possess.] Or, of all I acquire, . Raphelius has well observed, that this verb, in the present tense, signifies to acquire – in the preter, to possess: the Pharisee’s meaning seems to be, “As fast as I gain any thing, I give the tenth part of it to the house of God and to the poor.” Those who dedicate a certain part of their earnings to the Lord should never let it rest with themselves, lest possession should produce covetousness. This was the Pharisee’s righteousness, and the ground on which he builded his hope of final salvation. That the Pharisees had a strong opinion of their own righteousness, the following history will prove:-
“Rabbi Simeon, the son of Jochai, said: The whole world is not worth thirty righteous persons, such as our father Abraham. If there were only thirty righteous persons in the world, I and my son should make two of them; but if there were but twenty, I and my son would be of the number; and if there were but ten, I and my son would be of the number: and if there were but five, I and my son would be of the five; and if there were but two, I and my son would be those two; and if there were but one, myself should be that one.” Bereshith Rabba, s. 35, fol. 34. This is a genuine specimen of Pharisaic pride. No wonder that our Lord accused these of pride and vain glory: they were far from humility, and consequently far from righteousness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Twice in the sabbath, saith the Greek, but that is ordinary, to denominate the days of the week from the sabbath; the meaning is, twice between sabbath and sabbath. Those learned in the Jewish Rabbins tell us, that the Jews were wont to fast twice in a week, that is, the Pharisees and the more devout sort of them; once on the second, another time on the fifth day (which are those days which we call Monday and Thursday). From whence some tell us that Wednesday and Friday come to be with us fasting days or fish days. The Christians in former times, thinking it beneath them to be less in these exercises than the Jews, would have also two fasting days each week; and those not the same with the Jews, that they might not be thought to Judaize. If that custom had any true antiquity, I doubt not but they fasted after another rate than the papists or others now do, who pretend a religion to those days. But neither was the Pharisees practice, nor the practice of Christians, in this thing to be much admired or applauded. For fasting was always used in extraordinary cases; and the bringing extraordinary duties into ordinary practice usually ends in a mere formality. It is a good rule, neither to make ordinary duties extraordinary or rare, nor yet extraordinary duties ordinary: the doing of the first ordinarily issues in the loss of them, and quite leaving them off; the latter, in a formal lifeless performance of them.
I give tithes of all that I possess. The emphasis lieth in the word all. Others paid tithe of apples, and some fruits of the earth (of which alone tithe was due); but the Pharisees would pay tithes of those things, as to which it was generally held that the law did not strictly require them, such as pot herbs, eggs milk, cheese. Our Saviour bare them this testimony, that they paid tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, Mat 23:23; rue, and all manner of herbs, Luk 11:42. This Pharisee boasteth of his exactness in two things, neither of which were required particularly by the law of God. Nor did he amiss in them, if he had not omitted the weightier things of the law, as our Saviour charges them to have done in both the texts before mentioned. But how came these things to make him a plea for his justification before God? Will he plead his righteousness, because he did things which God did not command him, while in the mean time he omitted those things which God had commanded? Or, what did these things signify; if they were not done out of a root of love? The law is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and how could they be performed out of love, when love was one of the things which our Saviour charges them to have omitted? Of the same nature are other works, such as building of churches, and hospitals, and alms houses: the fruit is good, if the root be good; but if they be done out of ostentation, or opinion of meriting at Gods hands, mens money (notwithstanding these things) will perish with them, for heaven is not to be purchased by our money.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
I fast twice in the week,…. Not “on the sabbath”, as the words may be literally rendered, and as they are in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; for the sabbath was not a fasting, but a feasting day with the Jews; for they were obliged to eat three meals, or feasts, on a sabbath day, one in the morning, another at evening, and another at the time of the meat offering: even the poorest man in Israel, who was maintained by alms, was obliged to keep these three feasts f. It was forbidden a man to fast, until the sixth hour, on a sabbath day; that is, till noon g: wherefore, it is a great mistake in Justin h and Suetonius i, that the sabbath was kept by the Jews as a fast. But the word is rightly rendered, “in the week”; the whole seven days, or week, were by the Jews commonly called the sabbath; hence, , “the first of the sabbath”, and the second of the sabbath, and the third of the sabbath k; that is, the first, second, and third days of the week. Now the two days in the week on which they fasted were Monday and Thursday, the second and fifth days; on which days the law of Moses, and the book of Esther were read, by the order of Ezra l; and fasts for the congregation were appointed on those days m; and so a private person, or a single man, as in this instance, took upon him, or chose to fast on the same n: the reason of this is, by some, said to be, because Moses went up to Mount Sinai on a Thursday, and came down on a Monday o. But though these men fasted so often, they took care not to hurt themselves; for they allowed themselves to eat in the night till break of day. It is asked p,
“how long may a man eat and drink, i.e. on a fast day? until the pillar of the morning ascends (day breaks); these are the words of Rabbi (Judah): R. Eliezer ben Simeon says, until cock crowing.”
So that they had not so much reason to boast of these performances: he adds,
I give tithes of all that I possess; not only of what was tithable by the law of Moses, as the produce of his ground; and by the traditions of the elders, as the herbs in his garden,
Mt 23:23 but of every thing he had, which was not required by either of them; upon which he thought himself a very righteous person, and more than a common man: it is asked q,
“who is a plebeian? (one of the people of the earth, or the common people) whoever does not eat his common food with purity with hands washed; these are the words of R. Meir; but the wise men say, whoever does not tithe his fruit.”
This man would not be thought to be such an one.
f Maimon. Hilch. Sabbat, c. 30. sect. 9. g T. Hieros. Nedarim, fol. 40. 4. h L. 36. c. 2. i Octav. Aug. c. 76. k Maimon. Hilch. Mechosre Caphara, c. 2. sect, 8. l T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 82. 1. Megilla, 31. 1, 2. m Maimon. Hilchot Taaniot, c. 1. sect. 5. n T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 12. 1. o Godwin Moses & Aaron, l. 1. c. 10. Vid. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 88. 1. p T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 12. 1. q T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 61. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Twice in the week ( ). One fast a year was required by the law (Lev 16:29; Num 29:7). The Pharisees added others, twice a week between passover and pentecost, and between tabernacles and dedication of the temple.
I get (). Present middle indicative, not perfect middle (I possess). He gave a tithe of his income, not of his property.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Twice in the week. The law required only one fast in the year, that on the great day of Atonement (Lev 16:29; Num 29:7); though public memorial fasts were added, during the Captivity, on the anniversaries of national calamities. The Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday during the weeks between the Passover and Pentecost, and again between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of the Dedication of the Temple.
I give tithes [] . See on Mt 23:23.
Possess [] . Wrong. The Israelite did not pay tithes of his possessions, but only of his gains – his annual increase. See Gen 28:22; Deu 14:22. Besides, the verb, in the present tense, does not mean to possess, but to acquire; the meaning possess being confined to the perfect and pluperfect. Rev., get. Compare Mt 10:9 (Rev.); Act 22:28; Luk 21:19 (on which see note); 1Th 4:4 (Rev.).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “I fast twice In the week,” (nesteou dis tou sabbatou) “I fast two times (of) in the week,” in each week. While the law prescribed only one day of fasting, on the Great Day of atonement, not every week, Lev 16:29. The oral law, invented by men, prescribed two fasts, on Monday and Thursday of each week, in commemoration of Moses ascending and descending Mt Sinai.
2) I give tithes of all that I possess.” (apokekaetou panta hosa ktomai) I tithe of things that I get,” one tenth of his income, not his property from which his income was produced, a thing that even unbelieving Jews did, which was no merit for obtaining salvation, Tit 3:5; Rom 11:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. This is equivalent to saying that he performed more than the law required; just as the Popish monks talk loftily of their works of supererogation, as if they found no great difficulty in fulfilling the law of God. It must be admitted that each of us, according to the measure of the virtues which God has bestowed upon him, is the more strongly bound to thank the Author of them; and that it is an exercise of holy meditation for each of us to ponder on the benefits which he has received, so as not to bury in ingratitude the kindness of God. But there are two things here that must be observed: we must not swell with confidence, as if we had satisfied God; and, next, we must not look down with disdainful contempt upon our brethren. In both respects the Pharisee erred; for, by falsely claiming righteousness for himself, he left nothing to the mercy of God; and, next, he despised all others in comparison of himself. And, indeed, that thanksgiving would not have been disapproved by Christ, if it had not labored under these two defects; (328) but as the proud hypocrite, by winking at his sins, met the justice of God with a pretense of complete and perfect righteousness, his wicked and detestable hardihood could not but make him fall. For the only hope of the godly, so long as they labor under the weakness of the flesh, is, after acknowledging what is good in them, (329) to betake themselves to the mercy of God alone, and to rest their salvation on prayer for forgiveness. (330)
But it may be asked, how did this man, who was blinded by wicked pride, maintain such sanctity of life; for such integrity proceeds only from the Spirit of God, who, we are certain, does not reign in hypocrites? I reply: he trusted only to outward appearance, as if the hidden and inward uncleanness of the heart would not be taken into the account. Though he was full of wicked desires within, yet as he looks only at the appearance, he boldly maintains his innocence.
Our Lord does not, indeed, accuse him of vanity, in falsely claiming for himself what he does not possess; but it ought to be believed that no man is pure from extortion, injustice, uncleanness, and other vices, unless he is governed by the Spirit of God.
The word Sabbath ( σάββατον) denotes in this passage, as in many others, a week But God never enjoined in the Law that his servants should fast every week; so that this fasting and the tithes were voluntary exercises beyond the prescriptions of the Law. (331)
(328) “ Si ces deux vices n’y estoyent, qui gastent tout;” — “if those two faults had not been in it, which spoil the whole.”
(329) “ Apres avoir recognu le bien qui est en eux par la grace de Dieu;” — “after having acknowledged the good that is in them by the grace of God.”
(330) “ Et mettre leur salut en la confession de leurs pechez, et remission d’iceux;” — “and to place their salvation in the confession of their sins, and forgiveness of them.”
(331) “ Estoyent des exercises volontaires, et inventez a plaisir;” — “were voluntary exercises, and invented at pleasure.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) I fast twice in the week.From the negative side of his self-analysis the Pharisee passes to the positive. The Stoic Emperor is a little less systematic, or rather groups his thanksgiving after a different plan, and, it must be owned, with a higher ethical standard. On the fasts of the Pharisees on the third and fifth days of the week, see Note on Mat. 6:16.
I give tithes of all that I possess.Better, of all that I acquire, as in Mat. 10:9; Act. 1:18. Tithe was a tax on produce, not on property. The boast of the Pharisee is, that he paid the lesser tithes, as well as the greaterof mint, anise, and cummin (Mat. 23:23), as well as of corn and wine and oil. There is something obviously intended to be significant in the mans selection of the good deeds on which he plumes himself. He does not think, as Job did in his boasting mood, that he had been a father to the poor, and had made the widows heart to sing for joy (Job. 29:13; Job. 29:16), nor look back, as Nehemiah looked, upon good deeds done for his country (Neh. 13:14; Neh. 13:22; Neh. 13:31) in the work of reformation. For him fasting and tithes have come to supersede the weightier matters of the Law (Mat. 23:23).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. I fast From his mere virtues, the Pharisee proceeds to his pieties. He has works of supererogation to tell.
Twice in the week By the Mosaic law, required but once a year. So that these two fasts a week were extra and voluntary holiness and merit to spare.
Tithes The tenth parts.
All I possess This translation scarcely does credit to the Pharisee’s piety. It should be rendered all that I acquire. He gave tithes both of property and income.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get.”
It was customary among the Pharisees to tithe even the smallest thing that they received ‘from God’, even when it was not required by the Law (Luk 11:42; Mat 23:23). Furthermore they fasted every Monday and Thursday, as well as on special days. The purpose of this latter was in order to make them humble, but always the danger was, as in this example, that it could make them inordinately proud (compare Mat 6:1; Mat 6:16-18). Not all prayer is holy.
So all in all God obtained from his prayers a good picture of his pride, his self-conceit and his total self-righteousness. He had justified himself to his own satisfaction, but had revealed all too much to God. For God, who looked at his heart and could only condemn him for the sin that He found within it, would mark him off as another failure.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 18:12. I fast twice, &c. The sins which the Pharisee mentioned, being such as were severally charged on the publicans, and the duties such as that sort of men were supposed to neglect, it shewed to what an intolerable pitch his vanity was grown, and proved that he possessed none of those virtues, for which he so vainly returned God his solemn thanksgiving. Besides, his fasting twice a week was a duty not prescribed by the law, no more than his paying tythes of all, according to the opinion of most casuists at that time, if, as is probable, he meant tythes of mint, anise, and cummin, a preciseness by which men of his sect made themselves remarkable. See ch. Luk 11:42, Wherefore the language of this part of his prayer was, “I not only far excel other men in point of holiness, but I am more righteous than the law requires.” Thus did the proud Pharisee arrogantly insinuate, that he had laid God under an obligation to him. It has been observed by most commentators, that the Jews, especially, the Pharisees, used generally to keep private fasts on Mondays and Thursdays, as the primitive Christians did on Wednesdays and Fridays. But our Lord had formally removed the ostentatious manner of doing it for the direction of Christians. See Mat 6:1
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Ver. 12. I fast twice a week ] Cardinal Bellarmine did more, for he fasted thrice a week, saith he that writes his life. John, Archbishop of Constantinople, he who first affected the style of Universal Bishop, was surnamed Nesteutes, from his frequent fasting. Monday and Thursday were the Pharisees’ fasting days, because Moses went up to the mount on a Thursday, and came down on a Monday, saith Drusius. The Manichees fasted on the sabbath, from whence the whole week here taketh its denomination in the original.
I give tithes ] He braggingly made a gift of that which he was bound to pay.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. . . . ] This was a voluntary fast, on the Mondays and Thursdays; the only prescribed fast in the year being the great day of atonement, see Lev 16:29 ; Num 29:7 . So that he is boasting of his works of supererogation .
. ] Here again, the law perhaps (but cf. Abraham’s practice, Gen 14:20 ; and Jacob’s, Gen 28:22 ) only required tithe of the fruit of the field, and the produce of the cattle: see on Mat 23:23 .
] Not I possess , which would be but I acquire; of all my increase: see Deu 14:22 . His speech shews admirably what his was.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 18:12 . . ., twice in the week: voluntary fasts on Mondays and Thursdays, ultra-legal in his zeal. – (- , W. and H [141] ) = in Greek writers: tithing a typical instance of Pharisaic strictness. , all, great and small, even garden herbs, again ultra-legal. , all I get (R.V [142] ).
[141] Westcott and Hort.
[142] Revised Version.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
twice in the week. The law prescribed only one in the year (Lev 16:29. Num 29:7). By the time of Zec 8:19 there were four yearly fasts. In our Lord’s day they were bi-weekly (Monday and Thursday), between Passover and Pentecost; and between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Dedication.
all. The law only prescribed corn, wine, oil, and cattle (Deu 14:22, Deu 14:23. Compare Mat 23:23).
possess = gain, acquire. Not a word about his sins. See Pro 28:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12. . . .] This was a voluntary fast, on the Mondays and Thursdays; the only prescribed fast in the year being the great day of atonement, see Lev 16:29; Num 29:7. So that he is boasting of his works of supererogation.
. ] Here again, the law perhaps (but cf. Abrahams practice, Gen 14:20; and Jacobs, Gen 28:22) only required tithe of the fruit of the field, and the produce of the cattle: see on Mat 23:23.
] Not I possess, which would be -but I acquire;-of all my increase: see Deu 14:22. His speech shews admirably what his was.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 18:12. , I fast) The Pharisee boastingly shows that he is righteous towards God by his present prayers; and in relation to himself, by fasting: and towards other men, by paying tithes, etc.-, twice) on the second and fifth days of the week (Monday and Thursday).- , the Sabbath, literally) i.e. the week. Synecdoche [a part of the week put for the whole].- , all things whatsoever) He boasts of his possessions.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
fast: Luk 17:10, Num 23:4, 1Sa 15:13, 2Ki 10:16, Isa 1:15, Isa 58:2, Isa 58:3, Zec 7:5, Zec 7:6, Mat 6:1, Mat 6:5, Mat 6:16, Mat 9:14, Mat 15:7-9, Rom 3:27, Rom 10:1-3, 1Co 1:29, Gal 1:14, Eph 2:9, 1Ti 4:8
I give: Luk 11:42, Lev 27:30-33, Num 18:24, Mal 3:8, Mat 23:23, Mat 23:24
Reciprocal: Gen 14:20 – tithes Deu 12:6 – tithes Pro 21:2 – right Ecc 7:16 – Be not Mat 19:20 – All Mat 20:12 – borne Mar 2:18 – Why Mar 10:20 – General Luk 5:33 – Why Luk 15:29 – Lo Luk 18:21 – General Rev 3:17 – I am
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
[I fast twice in the week.] I. There were fasts of the congregation; and fasts of this or that single person. And both principally upon the account of afflictions or straits. “These are the calamities of the congregation for which they fast. Being besieged by enemies, the sword, pestilence, a hurtful beast, locusts, the caterpillar, mildew, blasting, abortions, diseases, scarcity of bread, drought.” “As the congregation fasts upon the occasion of general calamities, so does this or that person for his particular afflictions. If any that belong to him be sick, or lost in the wilderness, or kept in prison, he is bound to fast in his behalf,” etc.
II. “The fasts appointed by the congregation by reason of general calamities, are not from day to day, because there are few that could hold out in such a fast; but on the second and fifth days of the week.” On those days they assembled in their synagogues to public prayers: and to this I would refer that of Act 13:2; as they ministered before the Lord and fasted; much rather than to the celebration of the mass, which some would be wresting it to.
III. It was very usual for the single person; to devote himself to stated and repeated fasts for religion’s sake, even when there was no affliction or calamity of life to urge them to it. And those that did so chose to themselves those very days which the congregation was wont to do; viz. the second and the fifth days of the week. The single person that taketh upon him to fast on the second and fifth days, and the second day throughout the whole year; etc.
Let me add this one thing further about these fasts; “R. Chasda saith, The fast upon which the sun sets is not to be called a fast.” And yet they take very good care that they be not starved by fasting; for they are allowed to eat and drink the whole night before the fast. “It is a tradition. Rabbi saith, It is lawful to eat till day-light.”
[I give tithes of all that I possess.] This Pharisee in the profession he maketh of himself, imitates the profession which he was to make that offered the firstfruits: “I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house and given them to the Levite and to the stranger, to the fatherless and to the widow,” etc.
But tell me, O thou Pharisee, dost thou thus strictly give tithes of all things out of an honest mind and pure justice, viz., that the priest and Levite and poor may have every one their own? and not rather out of mere fear and dread, because of that rule, “He that eateth of things that are not tithed is worthy of death?”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 18:12. I fast twice in the week. His acts, he affirms, surpass the requirements of Gods law. But one fast was commanded in the law, namely, on the great day of atonement (Lev 16:29; Num 29:7). These were therefore private fasts. Mondays and Thursdays were the usual fast days. Comp. Mat 6:16-18.
I give tithes of all that I get, not of what he possessed, but of what he gained. The law required tithes only of the fruits of the field, flocks, and herds (Lev 27:30; Num 18:21; Deu 14:22; comp., however, Gen 14:20; Gen 28:22). This gain, he felt, was due to his own prudence, and yet, he says, I give God more than He claims in the law. It is easier to see the folly of the Pharisees prayer than to cease offering it ourselves.