Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 10:37 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 37. 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 10:37 answers neighbor definition with doing mercy rather than identifying a group to exclude.
Read It With
- Luke 10:25–10:37
Read Luke 10:37 with 10:25–10:37. Luke 10:37 answers neighbor definition with doing mercy rather than identifying a group to exclude. The complete unit's controlling movement is: A lawyer tests Jesus about life and the law, correctly joins love of God and neighbor, then hears of a wounded man passed by two figures and compassionately aided by a Samaritan; Jesus tells him to do likewise.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Luke 10:37 answers neighbor definition with doing mercy rather than identifying a group to exclude. This selected detail moves Luke 10:25–10:37 from its initiating question or action toward the unit's response and prepares Luke's next movement.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 10:25–10:37.
- A lawyer tests Jesus about life and the law, correctly joins love of God and neighbor, then hears of a wounded man passed by two figures and compassionately aided by a Samaritan; Jesus tells him to do likewise.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: Priest and Levite motives are not stated, purity rules do not explain their conduct with certainty, and the Samaritan is a historicized religious-ethnic outsider rather than a generic nice person.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The parable does not authorize antisemitism, anti-clergy stereotypes, unsafe solo rescue, victim blame, or flattening Samaritans into a modern label.
What Remains True
Luke 10:37 answers neighbor definition with doing mercy rather than identifying a group to exclude. Read inside Luke 10:25–10:37, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: A lawyer tests Jesus about life and the law, correctly joins love of God and neighbor, then hears of a wounded man passed by two figures and compassionately aided by a Samaritan; Jesus tells him to do likewise. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- When teaching Luke 10:37, explain this exact contribution inside Luke 10:25–10:37, identify the unit's source-controlled uncertainty, and refuse this misuse before proposing action: The parable does not authorize antisemitism, anti-clergy stereotypes, unsafe solo rescue, victim blame, or flattening Samaritans into a modern label.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 10:37's specific contribution to Luke 10:25–10:37: answers neighbor definition with doing mercy rather than identifying a group to exclude. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 10:25–10:37 — A Wounded Stranger Exposes Neighbor LoveSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Priest and Levite motives are not stated, purity rules do not explain their conduct with certainty, and the Samaritan is a historicized religious-ethnic outsider rather than a generic nice person.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 10:25–10:37, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 10:25–10:37
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 10:25–10:37
Open source ↗