But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Parallel translations
- WEB But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
- KJV But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
- NKJV But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- NASB But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- NLT The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asks who counts as his neighbor. His evasive question reveals a heart seeking to limit love's demands.
Overview
Rather than confessing his failure to love, the lawyer seeks a definition narrow enough to leave him righteous. The desire to 'justify himself' exposes the self-righteous instinct the gospel confronts. Jesus answers not by drawing a boundary but by redefining neighbor-love itself in the parable that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Luke 16:15So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- Luke 18:9–11To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
- Matt 5:43–44You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
- Lev 19:34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
- Gal 3:11Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Rom 10:3Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Rom 4:2If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
- Luke 10:36Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
- Job 32:2This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
- Jas 2:24As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 10:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.