The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37): Its Function and Purpose within the Lukan Journey Section

This dissertation begins with a history of research. Early Christian writers and the Fathers of the Church tended to interpret the parable of the Good Samaritan allegorically. This method of interpretation remained a major way of reading the parable until the end of the nineteenth century. In the wake of Adolf Jülicher’s studies on the parables, however, scholars began to explore the origin of the parable, its classification, as well as its historical background. After this history of research, the first chapter of the dissertation concludes that scholars have not given sufficient attention to the literary setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan within the Lukan journey section. In the second chapter this dissertation discusses the text and structure of the parable as well as the meaning of “neighbor ” in the time of Jesus and the origin of the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. The chapter concludes that the parable of the Good Samaritan has two major parts, the initial dialogue between the scholar of the law and Jesus (10:25-28) and the parable proper (10:29-37). The third chapter considers the literary setting of the parable; namely, the Lukan journey section (9:51–19:46). The study of this chapter shows that the placement of the trave