Section 10:25–37
Jesus told a story to show us who our neighbors are
One day as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he stopped to teach people. An expert in the Jewish law was there and asked him a question. The expert asked what he should do to obtain eternal life. He and Jesus discussed this question and agreed that a person must love God and love his neighbor. Then the expert asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him with a story that was a parable.
In the story robbers attacked a man and left him bleeding on a road. Two Jewish religious leaders passed the man without helping him. Then a man from the province of Samaria came and helped the man. People from Samaria were called Samaritans. The Jews despised Samaritans, so Jesus’ story surprised the Jews.
The person who treated the injured man with love, as a neighbor should, was a Samaritan. The Jewish religious leaders did not show love to the man. Most Jews considered only their fellow Jews to be their neighbors, but by this parable Jesus taught that all human beings are neighbors. We must love every other human being.
Some other possible section headings are:
The parable about the good foreigner
-or-
Who is my neighbor?
-or-
The Good Samaritan
Luke is the only gospel writer who includes this parable.
Paragraph 10:25–29
10:25a
One day an expert in the law: In Greek, this paragraph begins literally with the phrase “And behold.” In this context, the phrase introduces something new that the author wants people to pay attention to. The phrase introduces the expert in the law, who was an important person in the story. It also introduces the new event that Luke was beginning to tell about. One way to translate this is:
And listen! An expert in the law…
In some languages, including English, it is natural to begin a new event such as this with a time word or phrase. Since the text does not include details about when this event happened, you should refer to the time in a general way. Some ways to introduce this event and the expert in the law are:
One day an expert in religious law (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Then an expert on the law (New Century Version)
-or-
There was a certain expert in the law
-or-
An expert in the law was there.
Introduce the expert in the law and the whole event in a natural way in your language.
expert in the law: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as expert in the law refers to a man who studied, interpreted, and taught God’s laws to the people.
Some English versions translate this term as “lawyer.” However, the function of a lawyer today is quite different from the function of an “expert in the law” in Jesus’ time. The main function of the expert in the law was to teach the laws of Moses.
Some ways to translate this term are:
teacher of the Law of Moses
-or-
teacher of religious law
-or-
expert on the law
This word is different from the word used in 9:22b, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as “scribes.” However, both words have the same meaning and refer to the same group of men. It is recommended that you use the same expression to translate both terms.
See expert in the law in the Glossary.
stood up: In Israel at that time, a teacher and his students usually sat while he taught them. When a student asked the teacher a question, the student stood. It is also possible that the lawyer came forward in the crowd in order to speak with Jesus more easily. In some languages it may be helpful to make some of this implied information explicit. For example:
stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
⌊while Jesus was teaching,⌋ a law expert stood to ask a question to test Jesus’ ⌊knowledge⌋
-or-
came forward to test him by asking (Revised English Bible)
10:25b
to test Him: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as test:
(1) It means “to test or examine.” The law expert wanted to test Jesus’ ability to teach and interpret the law by asking him a question. For example:
to test Jesus by asking him this question (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
asked Jesus a question to see what he would say (Contemporary English Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New American Standard Bible)
(2) It means “to trap.” The law expert wanted to trick Jesus into saying something that could be used against him. For example:
tried to trap Jesus (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, King James Version, NLV, TLV)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions. In other contexts, Jewish leaders did try to trap Jesus, but here, the question was appropriate for testing Jesus’ knowledge about God and his will for people.
10:25c–d
Teacher: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Teacher was a polite title for a Jewish religious leader. It was a title of respect for a Jewish man who had authority to teach the things about God. In some languages the appropriate way to address a religious teacher may be:
Sir Teacher
-or-
Sir
-or-
Master
Be careful not to use a term that can refer only to a school teacher.
Consider what term of respect people use in your area for religious teachers. If religious teachers are not highly respected in your culture, it may be appropriate to use a term other than Teacher. Use a natural term in your language.
The word Teacher also occurs in 3:12b and 9:38b. See how you translated the same term there.
he asked: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the phrase he asked in the middle of the law expert’s question. In Greek, it comes before the question begins. Place it where it is most natural in your language.
what must I do to inherit eternal life: The man was asking what religious duty or deed he should perform in order to receive eternal life.
Some other ways to translate this are:
what must I do to have eternal life (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
what ⌊deed⌋ should I do so that I may live eternally
Almost the same question occurs in Matthew 10:16, Mark 10:17, and Luke 18:18.
to inherit: In this context, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as inherit means “acquire, obtain.” The man wanted to know what deed would cause God to give him eternal life in heaven. Another way to translate this is:
so that I may receive
In some languages, it may be necessary to say from whom the man expected to obtain eternal life. If that is true in your language, you may need to supply the information that it is God who gives that life. For example:
so that ⌊God⌋ will give me eternal life
eternal life: The phrase eternal life literally means life that never ends. In this context it refers to living forever with God in heaven.
In some languages, a literal translation of eternal life would wrongly mean that the man hoped to live forever on earth without dying. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to supply some implied information. For example:
life ⌊in heaven⌋ that never ends
-or-
to live forever ⌊with God⌋ ⌊after I die⌋
-or-
so that ⌊God will cause me⌋ to live forever ⌊in heaven⌋
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