Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 18:10

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." — Luke 18:10 (ASV)

Went up into the temple.—The peculiar form of the verb, “went up,” was strictly justified by the position of the Temple. It stood on what had been Mount Moriah and rose high above the other buildings of the city.

The one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.—The two words would be more pictorially suggestive to the disciples than they are, at first, to us. They would see the Pharisee with his broad blue zizith, or fringe, and the Tephillin (=prayers), or phylacteries, fastened conspicuously on brow and shoulder; the publican in his common working dress, with no outward badge to testify that he was a child of the Covenant.

Here, as in the case of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son (where see Notes), the parable may have stated actual facts. Of one such publican we read not long afterwards (See Note on Luke 19:8).