But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
Parallel translations
- WEB But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
- KJV But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
- BSB But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion.
- NASB But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
- NLT “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.
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
A Samaritan, despised by Jews, sees the man and is moved with compassion. Mercy comes from the least expected person.
Overview
Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies, so the hero's identity would have shocked Jesus' hearers. Where the religious officials felt nothing, the outsider is moved with deep compassion. The reversal teaches that true neighbor-love crosses every social and ethnic boundary.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Kgs 8:50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them
- Luke 7:13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, “Don’t cry.”
- Jer 38:7–13Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),
- Prov 27:10Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.
- Matt 18:33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’
- John 4:9The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
- Matt 10:5Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.
- Jer 39:16–18“Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day.
- Exod 2:6She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
- John 8:48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
- Luke 17:16–18He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.
- Luke 9:52–53and sent messengers before his face. They went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.
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 10:33 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.