The man wanted to justify his actions, so 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?
- BSB But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- 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?”
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 16:15He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
- Luke 18:9–11He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.
- Matt 5:43–44“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
- Lev 19:34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
- Gal 3:11Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Rom 10:3For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
- Rom 4:2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
- Luke 10:36Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
- Job 32:2Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than God.
- Jas 2:24You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
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.