October 24 Sermon - Part Two

In preparing for my sermon on the 24th, I translated the Gospel text (Luke 18:9-14). For the most part, my translation looks pretty similar to the NRSV version. However, in verse 14, which is the key to the whole parable, I ran into some questions.

The first issue is that loaded term, justified - or in Greek, dikaioo. The verb could be read as middle (justify one's self) or passive (be justified). The context obviously suggests that justifying one's self is precisely not the point, so the passive voice is probably the correct reading.

I also wondered about the Greek preposition para. In the NRSV, they translate that phrase "this man went down to his home justified rather than the other." However, the basic meaning I found was "beside," which would give "this man went down to his home justified beside the other." That changes the meaning pretty dramatically, doesn't it? Instead of an either-or, it becomes a both-and situation. Of course, that might just be a simple mistranslation on my part... I need to check out some commentaries and see what they say.