The Parable of the Good Samaritan

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Most of you know the Parable of the Good Samaritan, but may not remember the exchange that led up to Christ relating this important parable. From Luke, Chapter 10 (KJV):

25 ¶ And, behold, a certain lawyer [i.e., rabbi] stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

The source of the commandment to love one's neighbor is from Leviticus 19:18 which reads (KJV):

18 ¶ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

"Thy neighbour" is sometimes translated as "your fellow". Strong's indicates that the base word of the phrase is רֵעַ (rea) meaning "friend, companion, fellow." When looking through the remainder of Leviticus 19, it is clear that, at a minimum, the term pertained to those among whom one lived and was not just limited to a "friend." However, the Rabbis sought to limit its application. As he explains in his book, Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, Israel Shahak states that the the injunction to love thy neighbor in Leviticus 19 "is understood by classical (and present-day Orthodox) Judaism as an injunction to love one’s fellow Jew, not any fellow human." Thus, the other commandments dealing with friends and neighbors, such as the judging your neighbor in righteousness (Lev. 19:15), or not defrauding or robbing your neighbor (Lev. 19:13), and many others, did not, per the Rabbinical teachings, apply to goyam (gentiles). In short, to the Jews, "neighbor" only included their coreligionists. 

    Jesus' response to the rabbi however was the parable of the good Samaritan:

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

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

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

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

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

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.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

 This parable is quite powerful because the Samaritans were more despised by the Jews than most any other group. As one article explains, the root of the hostility between Jews and Samaritans was in the division of the ancient kingdom of Israel after the death of Solomon into the northern kingdom of Israel comprised of 10 tribes, and the lower kingdom of Judah. 

    Later, after Israel’s fall to the Assyrians, they began to intermarry with the Assyrians, contrary to Deuteronomy 7:3-5. This is why the Jews hated the Samaritans as “dogs,” or “half-breeds.”

    The Samaritans were also a continuous source of difficulty to the Jews who rebuilt Jerusalem after returning from Babylonian captivity (Ezra 4, esp v 10; Nehemiah 4, esp v 2).

    Eventually, the religion of the Samaritans evolved to the point that they held only the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) as being the law of God, rejecting all the books of poetry and prophecy. Furthermore, they claimed their copy of the Pentateuch was the only original copy (a claim still made today by what few Samaritans still survive). Obviously, this was/is a claim rejected by the Jews.

Thus, Christ specifically rejected the notion that "neighbor" only applied to coreligionists, but extended to all people regardless of religion or faith. Moreover, by his question of who among the three travelers was a neighbor to the wounded Jew, he deftly changed the emphasis of רֵעַ (rea) from "fellow" to "friend." That is, to be a neighbor is to be a friend.