the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

the Samaritans clearly appears not only in the Mishnah 23
but also in Lk 9:52-54 and Jn 4:9.
24
The Greek word with the intensity, is a serious turning point in the
parable, 25 breaking the pattern of “saw” and “passed by.” The Samaritan responded to the
wounded man with compassion, not with a sense of duty. The Samaritan is also bound by the
same Torah 26 but may also be a prime target for the same robbers. Nevertheless he, like the
Levite who comes to the place, comes to the man and binds up his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine which, at that time, were used to soften and disinfect a wound. 27 He then puts him
on his own riding animal and led him to the inn and took care of him. Before continuing his
journey the next day, he asks the innkeeper to care for him and promises, if the innkeeper
spends more than two denarii, 28 that he will repay any additional expenses on his return. The
last measure was integral in the light of the bad reputation of the innkeepers at that time: 29
His considerate treatment will bring freedom, security and independence for the wounded
man. 30
After the telling of the parable, Jesus asked which of these three do you think became a
neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers? The lawyer answers his question, “the one
who showed mercy on him.” Jesus then said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Jesus’ question
here raises the question as to whether the parable answers the lawyer’s original question of
‘who is my neighbour?’ In order to define one’s neighbour, that is to say, the neighbour as
object, Jesus told the neighbour as subject. Since the lawyer’s initial query turns out to be a
negation of the question’s premise that there are boundaries to the definition of neighbour,
23. m. Šeb. 8.10 says that “he that eats the bread of Samaritans is like to one that eats the flesh of swine.” (cf. Sir.
50.25-26). Josephus, Ant. 18:30; The Wisdom of Ben Sirach 50:25-26; Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus,
352-58; Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, 48.
24. Köster and Donahue say that this word is a messianic term of Jesus which shows God’s love. Köster, H.
“”, TDNT, VII, 553-555; Donahue, The Gospel in Parable, 132. This word is used three times in
the Gospel of Luke: (Lk. 10:33), (Lk. 7:13) and (Lk. 15:20).
25. M.J.J. Menken shows how the word, is located in a centre of the pericope. M.J.J. Menken,
“The Position of ΣΠΛΑΓΧΝΙΖΕΣΘ-ΑΙ and ΣΠΛΑΓΧΝΑ in the Gospel of Luke,” NovT 30 (1988), 107-14.
26. It is necessary to remember that Samaritans also followed Torah, and so he too has the same risk of
defilement from contact with corpses, in addition the contamination is extended to his animals and merchandise.
27. This aid of the Samaritan parallels the story that the Israelites give aid to their Judean captives and take them
back to their land at Jericho in 2 Chron. 28:8-15. For the medical use of olive oil and wine, see m. Šab. 19.2;
Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 9.11.1; cf. Isa. 1.6.
28. Two denarii was the cost of lodging at an inn for at least twenty four days because a day’s lodging, at that
time, was worth approximately one-twelfth of a denarius. See Jeremias, Parables, 205; D.E. Oakman, “The
Buying Power of Two Denarii: A Comment on Luke 10:35,” Forum 3.4 (1987), 33-38.
29. For the unsavory reputation of innkeepers at that time, see m. Abodah Zarah 2.1. H. Danby, The Mishnah
(Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1933), 438.
30. Donahue, The Gospel in Parable, 133. When the wounded man leaves, if he cannot pay the bill, he will be
arrested for debt. See Derrett, Law in the New Testament, 218.
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