Luke 10:30

Luke 10:30, in plain English

Jesus told a story: A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead on the road.

Why it's here

Jesus did not answer the question directly. He told a story. And in that story, the question 'who is my neighbor?' would be turned completely upside down.

Who's speaking

Jesus begins the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus started a story everyone could picture: a lonely road through dangerous territory, a man attacked and left for dead. No name, no background, just a human being in desperate need.

The scholarly reading

Jesus responds with a parable: anthrōpos tis katebainen apo Ierousalēm eis Ierichō ('a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho') and fell among lēstais ('robbers') who stripped, beat, and left him hēmithanē ('half dead'). The Jerusalem-Jericho road was a notoriously dangerous 17-mile descent through desolate terrain.

Language and setting

The man is deliberately unidentified—no name, ethnicity, or status—making him a universal figure. The Jerusalem-Jericho road dropped 3,300 feet through rocky wilderness, infamously called 'The Bloody Way' (Ascent of Adummim) for its frequent robberies.

Voice

Jesus begins telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan to the legal expert.

Significance

Jesus began His most famous parable: a man traveling the notoriously dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead on the road. The victim's identity is deliberately left unknown.

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

31Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Read all of Luke 10 — A lawyer asks how to inherit eternal life and gets an answer he doesn't expect. The hero of the story is the one everyone despises.