Luke 18:14

I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus concludes his parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, addressing his listeners directly ("to you") with the verdict on both men.

The words — δεδικαιωμένος (dedikaiōmenos) is a perfect passive participle: a completed state of having been declared righteous, not a process but a settled fact.

The thread — The exaltation-humbling antithesis recurs in Luke 14:11 and Matthew 23:12; the self-justification contrast echoes Luke 16:15.

Why it lands — The one who named his own sin received the verdict; the one who catalogued his own virtues did not. The verse forces a single question: which of the two postures is yours?

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Cross-references

Luke 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 16:15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
Matthew 23:12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
James 4:6 But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.