Bible Strands
Luke 10:30
Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses a lawyer who asked, “Who is my neighbor?” by narrating a parable on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. The account is positioned directly between the lawyer’s question and the priest’s subsequent appearance on that same route.
The words — κατεβαίνεν (katebainen) = was going down [G2597]; τις (tis) = a certain [G5100]. These terms establish the traveler’s downward journey and his anonymous, representative status.
The thread — The movement between Jerusalem and Jericho appears in Luke 18:31 as Jesus predicts his ascent to Jerusalem for fulfillment of prophetic events. The wounded traveler’s condition echoes the helplessness described in Psalms 88:4.
Why it lands — The text records a violent robbery and abandonment without resolving the outcome, placing the burden on the listener to define neighborly obligation. It demands a concrete assessment of who bears responsibility for the injured man rather than abstract definitions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
- Luke 18:31 Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
- Psalms 88:4 I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
- Ezekiel 30:24 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.
- Lamentations 2:12 They cry out to their mothers: “Where is the grain and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives fade away in the arms of their mothers.
- Luke 19:28 After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.