Jesus presents two very different people here: a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both are on their way to the temple to pray to God. The Pharisees were respected by many for their strict and punctual lives, but tax collectors certainly were not. After all, they were tasked with collecting taxes by order of the hated Roman occupiers, and it was common knowledge that they also profited themselves in doing so.
10 Deux hommes montèrent au temple pour prier; l'un était pharisien, et l'autre publicain.