Parable of the Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. A Jewish priest and then a Levite come by, both avoiding the man. A Samaritan happens upon him and—though Samaritans and Jews were generally antagonistic toward each other—helps him. Jesus tells the parable in response to a provocative question from a lawyer in the context of the Great Commandment: "And who is my neighbour?" The conclusion is that the neighbour figure in the parable is the one who shows mercy to their fellow man or woman.
Some Christians, such as Augustine, have interpreted the parable allegorically, with the Samaritan representing Jesus Christ, who saves the sinful soul. Others discount this allegory as unrelated to the parable's original meaning and see the parable as exemplifying the ethics of Jesus.
The parable has inspired painting, sculpture, satire, poetry, photography, film, and many others. The phrase "Good Samaritan", meaning someone who helps a stranger, derives from this parable, and many hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan.
Narrative
In Luke 10, the parable is introduced by a question, known as the Great Commandment:Jesus replies with a story:
Historical context
Road from Jerusalem to Jericho
In the time of Jesus, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as the "Way of Blood" because "of the blood which is often shed there by robbers who robbed people". Martin Luther King Jr., on the day before his assassination, described the road as follows:File:First century Iudaea province.gif|thumb|upright=1.0|A map of the Roman Province of Judea in the time of Jesus. Jericho is just north of the Dead Sea, with Jerusalem to the west.
Samaritans and Jesus
While relations between Jews and Samaritans as closely related ethnoreligious groups in the region are historically complex and not purely negative, a distinct downturn occurred in the late 2nd century BCE during the Hasmonean dynasty, which involved the destruction of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim in 128 BCE. In the early 1st century CE, Samaritans had desecrated the Jewish Temple at Passover with human bones. Due to this hatred, some think that the lawyer's phrase "The one who had mercy on him" may indicate a reluctance to name the Samaritan. Or, on another, more positive note, it may indicate that the lawyer has recognized that both his questions have been answered and now concludes by generally expressing that anyone behaving thus is a "neighbor" eligible to inherit eternal life.As the story reached those who were unaware of its context—i.e., the oppression of the Samaritans, and the bitter hatred that Jesus' listeners and Samaritans had for each other—this aspect of the parable received less and less recognition; uninformed people saw "Samaritan" as merely a convenient name for that individual, when in fact it stood for "hated outsider who worships falsely and desecrates our religion". Today, to remedy this missing context, the story is often recast in a more modern setting where the people are ones in equivalent social groups known not to interact comfortably. Thus, cast appropriately, the parable regains its message to modern listeners: namely, that an individual of a social group they disapprove of can exhibit moral behavior that is superior to individuals of the groups they approve. Christians have used it as an example of Christianity's opposition to racial, ethnic, and sectarian prejudice. For example, anti-slavery campaigner William Jay described clergy who ignored slavery as "following the example of the priest and Levite". Martin Luther King Jr., in his April 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, described the Samaritan as "a man of another race". Sundee Tucker Frazier saw the Samaritan more specifically as an example of a "mixed-race" person. Klyne Snodgrass wrote: "On the basis of this parable we must deal with our own racism but must also seek justice for, and offer assistance to, those in need, regardless of the group to which they belong."
Samaritans appear elsewhere in the Gospels and the Book of Acts. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals ten lepers and only the Samaritan among them thanks him, although Luke 9:51–56 depicts Jesus receiving a hostile reception in Samaria. Luke's favorable treatment of Samaritans is in line with the favorable treatment elsewhere in the book of the weak and of outcasts, generally. In John, Jesus has an extended dialogue with a Samaritan woman, and many Samaritans come to believe in him. In Matthew, he instructs his disciples not to preach to Gentiles or in Samaritan cities. In the Gospels, generally, "though the Jews of Jesus' day had no time for the 'half-breed' people of Samaria", Jesus "never spoke disparagingly about them" and "held a benign view of Samaritans".
Many see 2 Chronicles 28:8–15 as the model for the Samaritan's neighborly behavior in the parable. In Chronicles, Northern Israelite ancestors of Samaritans treat Judean enemies as fellow-Israelite neighbors. After comparing the earlier account with the later parable presented to the expert in Israel's religious law, one could conclude: "Given the number and significance of these parallels and points of correspondence it is hard to imagine how a first-century scholar of Scripture could hear the parable and not think of the story of the merciful Samaritans of 2 Chronicles 28."
Priests and Levites
In Jewish culture, contact with a dead body was understood to be defiling. Priests were particularly enjoined to avoid uncleanness. The priest and Levite may therefore have assumed that the fallen traveler was dead and avoided him to keep themselves ritually clean. On the other hand, the depiction of travel downhill may indicate that their temple duties had already been completed, making this explanation less likely, although this is disputed. Since the Mishnah made an exception for neglected corpses, the priest and the Levite could have used the law to justify both touching a corpse or ignoring it. In any case, passing by on the other side avoided checking "whether he was dead or alive". Indeed, "it weighed more with them that he might be dead and defiling to the touch of those whose business was with holy things than that he might be alive and in need of care."Interpretation
Allegorical reading
described the allegory as follows:John Welch further states:
The allegorical interpretation is also traditional in the Eastern Orthodox Church. John Newton refers to the allegorical interpretation in his hymn "How Kind the Good Samaritan", which begins:
Robert Funk also suggests that Jesus' Jewish listeners were to identify with the robbed and wounded man. In his view, the help received from a hated Samaritan is like the kingdom of God received as grace from an unexpected source.
Ethical reading
was not impressed by Origen's allegorical reading:The meaning of the parable for Calvin was, instead, that "compassion, which an enemy showed to a Jew, demonstrates that the guidance and teaching of nature are sufficient to show that man was created for the sake of man. Hence it is inferred that there is a mutual obligation between all men." In other writings, Calvin pointed out that people are not born merely for themselves, but rather "mankind is knit together with a holy knot we must not live for ourselves, but for our neighbors." Earlier, Cyril of Alexandria had written that "a crown of love is being twined for him who loves his neighbour."
Francis Schaeffer suggested: "Christians are not to love their believing brothers to the exclusion of their non-believing fellowmen. That is ugly. We are to have the example of the good Samaritan consciously in mind at all times."
Other modern theologians have taken similar positions. For example, G. B. Caird wrote:
Joel B. Green writes that Jesus' final question :
Such a reading of the parable makes it important in liberation theology, where it provides a concrete anchoring for love and indicates an "all embracing reach of solidarity." In Indian Dalit theology, it is seen as providing a "life-giving message to the marginalized Dalits and a challenging message to the non-Dalits."
Martin Luther King Jr. often spoke of this parable, contrasting the rapacious philosophy of the robbers, and the self-preserving non-involvement of the priest and Levite, with the Samaritan's coming to the aid of the man in need. King also extended the call for neighborly assistance to society at large:
Catholic view
states that there are three points to be noted in this parable: Firstly, the manifold misery of sinners: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem." Secondly, is shown the manifold pity of Christ to the sinner: "A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him he had compassion on him." Thirdly, the rule which is given for imitation: "Go, and do thou likewise."Justus Knecht gives the deeper interpretation of this parable, according to the Church Fathers, writing:
Other interpretations
In addition to these classical interpretations many scholars have drawn additional themes from the story. Some have suggested that religious tolerance was an important message of the parable. By selecting for the moral protagonist of the story someone whose religion was despised by the Jewish audience to which Jesus was speaking, some argue that the parable attempts to downplay religious differences in favor of focusing on moral character and good works.Others have suggested that Jesus was attempting to convey an anti-establishment message, not necessarily in the sense of rejecting authority figures in general, but in the sense of rejecting religious hypocrisy. By contrasting the noble acts of a despised religion to the crass and selfish acts of a priest and a Levite, two representatives of the Jewish religious establishment, some argue that the parable attempts to downplay the importance of status in the religious hierarchy in favor of the practice of religious principles.