Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G Message"But the tax collector stood far off, unable even to lift his eyes toward heaven. He beat his breast and said, 'God, be my atonement—I am the sinner.'"
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.G"But the tax-collector, standing at a distance, would not even lift his eyes toward the skies. Instead he beat his chest, saying, 'Elohim, make atonement for me—I am the sinner.'"
KJV
King James VersionAnd the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleBut the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
Footnotes
The verb ἱλάσθητί (from ἱλάσκομαι) is the LXX cultic term for atonement, cognate with ἱλαστήριον—the mercy seat of the Ark where the high priest sprinkled blood on Yom Kippur (Lev 16 LXX). This is not a generic plea for kindness but a cry for what the entire Temple sacrificial system was designed to provide. The definite article in τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ—"the sinner"—intensifies this: the man does not merely number himself among sinners but owns the epithet as his defining identity, anticipating Paul's "I am the foremost of sinners" (1 Tim 1:15). The FOG renders "make atonement for me" to preserve the cultic register; the FOG Message uses "be my atonement," drawing out the typological arrow pointing to the One who would become both high priest and atoning sacrifice (Rom 3:25; Heb 9:5).
