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The Good Samaritan

Asked who counts as his neighbour, Jesus tells a story that turns the question round: whose neighbour will you be?

Read Luke 10:25–37 in the reader

Awaiting theological review

Before you read

Who Jesus was speaking to

Scripture

A lawyer — an expert in the Law of Moses — asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. He answers his own question with the two great commandments, love of God and love of neighbour. Then, “willing to justify himself”, he asks: “And who is my neighbour?”

Interpretation

The lawyer wants a boundary: who must I love, and who not? Jesus does not draw the line. At the end he asks a different question — which of the three became a neighbour to the man in need?

Luke 10:25–37

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition · Public Domain

The lawyer's question25And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying, Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? 26But he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself. 28And he said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbour? A man fell among robbers30And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead. 31And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by. 32In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. 33But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. 34And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee. Which was neighbour?36Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers? 37But he said: He that shewed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou in like manner.

Three travellers, one wounded man

Who stopped, and who passed by

Moved with compassion

The Samaritan

A foreigner on his own journey who stops, cares for the wounded man with his own oil, wine, animal and money, and promises to come back.

  1. 10:33 — Seeing him, was moved with compassion
  2. 10:34 — Bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine
  3. 10:35 — Whatsoever thou shalt spend… I will repay thee

Scripture

Luke uses the same verb for the Samaritan's compassion as for Jesus before the widow of Naim (Luke 7:13) and for the father who sees his son coming home (Luke 15:20): a compassion felt deep inside.

Tradition & devotion

Many Church Fathers, including Origen and Augustine, read the parable as a picture of salvation: the wounded man is humanity, the Samaritan is Christ who comes down to heal us, and the inn is the Church. This reading does not replace the plain command at the end — go, and do thou in like manner.

Think about it

The Samaritan's help cost him time, money and a promise to return. What would it cost you to stop for someone this week?

Passed by

The priest and the Levite

Two men of the Temple, close to God's service, who see the wounded man and cross to the other side.

  1. 10:31 — Seeing him, passed by
  2. 10:32 — In like manner also a Levite

Interpretation

The parable is not an attack on priests or on worship. It warns that religious duty can become a reason not to see the person in front of us.

Think about it

What reasons do you find for passing by?

Asked the question

The lawyer

An expert in the Law who knows the right answer, and wants to know how far it reaches.

  1. 10:27 — Thy neighbour as thyself
  2. 10:29 — And who is my neighbour?
  3. 10:37 — He that shewed mercy to him

Interpretation

At the end he cannot bring himself to say the word Samaritan: he says only “He that shewed mercy to him.” Jesus does not argue. He sends him off to do the same.

Think about it

Is there anyone you quietly leave outside the word neighbour?

Fell among robbers

The wounded man

Stripped, beaten and left half dead. He has no name, no nationality and no words in the story.

  1. 10:30 — Leaving him half dead

Interpretation

Because he is stripped and unconscious, no one can tell who he is or where he comes from. The only thing that matters about him is that he is in need.

Think about it

Have you ever been the one lying by the road? Who stopped for you?

What first hearers would have noticed

Context

The road down to Jericho

History & scholarship

Jerusalem stands in the hills, about 750 metres above sea level; Jericho lies near the Dead Sea, around 250 metres below it. The road drops roughly a kilometre in under thirty kilometres, through lonely desert country where travellers could easily be ambushed.

A priest and a Levite

History & scholarship

Priests offered the sacrifices in the Temple; Levites assisted them. Touching a dead body made a person ritually unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:11), and some scholars suggest the two feared the man was dead. Jesus gives them no excuse and no motive: they simply see him and pass by.

Why a Samaritan?

History & scholarship

Samaritans and Jews shared the books of Moses but worshipped in different places, and centuries of hostility divided them. John notes in passing that Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (John 4:9). For Jesus' listeners, the hero of the story is the last person they would expect.

Scripture

Only Luke records this parable. The same chapter has just told how a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus (Luke 9:52–56).

Look closer

Symbols

Oil and wineLuke 10:34

History & scholarship

Wine cleaned wounds and oil soothed them: the ordinary medicine of the time, which a traveller might carry with him.

Tradition & devotion

Christian tradition has often seen in them the sacraments, through which Christ continues to heal.
Two penceLuke 10:35

History & scholarship

A denarius was roughly a day's wage for a labourer, so two would cover a stay at the inn for some days — and the Samaritan promises more.
Go, and do thou in like mannerLuke 10:37

Scripture

The story ends not with a definition but with a command: “Go, and do thou in like manner.”

Church teaching

Pope Francis devoted the second chapter of his encyclical Fratelli tutti (2020) to this parable, calling every person to become a neighbour to those who are wounded.

Remember

Quiz me

Question 1 of 5beginner

Where was the man going when he fell among robbers?

The next question

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