Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. A Pharisee - For a description of the Pharisees and their tenets, see on Matthew 16:1 (note).
Publican - See an account of these on Matthew 5:46 (note). Both these persons went to the temple to pray, i.e. to worship God: they were probably both Jews, and felt themselves led by different motives to attend at the temple, at the hour of prayer: the one to return thanks for the mercies he had received; the other to implore that grace which alone could redeem him from his sins.