Luke 10:30-35*

from Kenneth E Bailey (Poet and Peasant, 1976) who suggests that Luke characteristically uses three line statements through the Gospel. The following pattern parallels the contrasts between injury and recovery, the indifference of the priest who it is said was of a status to have been riding on a donkey and the Samaritan using his own beast. It contrasts the Levite who would not stop to offer first aid with the Samaritan’s emergency care. The centre is the compassion of the Samaritan.

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,

A. and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him,
and departed, leaving him half dead.

B.31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way:
and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.

C. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place,
came and looked on him,
and passed by on the other side.

D. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was:
                and when he saw him,
                   he had compassion on him,

C’. 34 And went to him,
and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine,

B’. and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn,
and took care of him.

A’. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence,                 and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him;
and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will   repay thee.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.