Bible Strands
Luke 18:9
To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses a group who trusted in their own righteousness and despised others, positioned between the parable of the persistent widow and the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector. The "some" (τινας) are unnamed but identified by their posture, not their title.
The words — πεποιθότας (pepoithotas), a perfect passive participle of πειθώ, carries the sense of a settled, established trust — not a passing confidence but a fixed self-reliance that has hardened into identity.
The thread — The same pattern of self-justification and contempt recurs in Luke 16:15 (justifying oneself before men), Proverbs 30:12 (pure in one's own eyes yet unwashed), and Isaiah 65:5 ("I am holier than you").
Why it lands — The verse names the audience before the story begins, forcing the reader to decide whether they are the "some" or the one being addressed by the parable that follows.
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
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Cross-references
- 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.
- Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
- Isaiah 65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
- Romans 10:3 Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Romans 14:10 Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- Romans 9:31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
- Luke 7:39 When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”
- John 7:47 “Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees.
- Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Luke 19:7 And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!”