Luke 10 is the tenth chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. It records the sending of

seventy disciples The seventy disciples (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητές, ''hebdomikonta mathetes''), known in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκον� ...

by Jesus, the famous parable about the Good Samaritan, and his visit to the house of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962. This

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

's author, who also wrote the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

, is not named but is uniformly identified by early Christian tradition as

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 42 verses. Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 75 Papyrus 75 (formerly Papyrus Bodmer XIV– XV, now Hanna Papyrus 1), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus containing text from the Gospel of Luke 3:18–24:53, and John 1:1–15:8. It is designated by the siglum in the ...

(written about AD 175–225) *

Papyrus 45 Papyrus 45 (''P. Chester Beatty'' I) is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri, a group of early Christian manuscripts discovered in the 1930s, and purchase ...

( 250) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...

( 400) *

Codex Washingtonianus Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Washingtonensis, Codex Freerianus, also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', ''The Freer Gospel'' and ''The Freer Codex'', is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, written on parchment. It is de ...

( 400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

( 450) *

Papyrus 3 Papyrus 3, designated by (in the numbering Gregory-Aland), is a small fragment of fifteen verses from the Gospel of Luke dating to the 6th/7th century. It is formed part of a lectionary. It is dated palaeographically to the 6th or 7th century. ...

(6th/7th century; extant verses 38–42).

Old Testament references

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

Narrative of the Seventy and their return

Luke's gospel is the only one which includes this narrative. Protestant theologian

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the New Testament and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, was ...

calls this section (verses 1–16) the "Narrative of the Seventy" and links it to the earlier account of the sending out of advance messengers in Luke 9:52.Meyer, H. A. W. (1873)
Meyer's NT Commentary
on Luke 10, accessed 12 June 2012 The return of the seventy concludes this section (verses 17–20). This passage includes Jesus's assertion that "the laborer is worthy of his wages", which is reflected in similar wording in : :''For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain", and "The laborer is worthy of his wages".'' The first of these statements is found at , but the second statement is not found in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, leading to the suggestion that the author of the letter to

Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

may have referred to Luke or the equivalent verse in

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

. Some manuscripts refer to seventy-two others. The manuscript evidence "is fairly divided, and it is not easy to conclude what Luke actually wrote.Franklin, E., ''59. Luke'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)
The Oxford Bible Commentary
, p. 941 The

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

refers to 70, but other critical texts note the word δύο, ''duo'', as a potential addition. Both alternatives are linked to the two Old Testament episodes which Eric Franklin considers potentially to have been reflected in Luke's account: *

Genesis 10 The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or ''Origines Gentium'', is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible ( Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known ...

has a list of the seventy nations of the world, although the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

(LXX) has seventy-two. * Numbers 11 speaks of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

choosing seventy elders upon whom a portion of the spirit that was upon him would rest, but since two others shared the gift, this could be taken as seventy-two.

Verse 9

:''And heal the sick there, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you".'' Franklin suggests that in this verse, the "embrace" of the

kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" ...

reaches those who respond favourably to the message.

Kenneth N. Taylor Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor (May 8, 1917 – June 10, 2005) was an American publisher and author, better known as the creator of '' The Living Bible'' and the founder of Tyndale House, a Christian publishing company, and Living Bibles Inter ...

, in his paraphrase of Luke, has the offer of the kingdom given especially to those who are healed: :''Heal the sick; and as you heal them, say, "The Kingdom of God is very near you now".'' Verse 11 repeats "that the kingdom of God has come near you", but this verse also points to it being near those who reject the messengers.

Verse 16

:''"He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."'' Meyer treats this verse as confirmation in principle that Jesus placed on equal grounds the cities which reject the seventy and those which reject Himself. In the second part, the saying rises to a climax: a deepening of the emotion, a solemn conclusion. Matthew's parallel text is entirely positive: :''“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward."'' Luke's treatment retains the positive side of the seventy's potential reception, but places more emphasis on the negative.

Verse 17

:''Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s are subject to us in Your name".'' Meyer notes that, given the nature of their mission in this chapter, it is unlikely that the seventy would all have returned to their starting point at the same time.

Verse 20

:''Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'' While the missionaries rejoice that they have power over the demons, Jesus tells them they should "raise their sights", their experience is "a reflection of, and a pointer to, something even more sublime in heaven". This verse has been contrasted with

Jeremiah 17 Jeremiah 17 is the seventeenth Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the Biblical prophet, proph ...

:13: "those who turn away from

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

shall be written in the earth".

Alexander Maclaren Alexander Maclaren (11 February 1826 – 5 May 1910) was a Scottish Baptist minister and writer. Biography Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher.Edwin Charles Dargan (1912) '' ...

writes that "a name written on earth implies that the bearer of the name belongs to earth, and it also secondarily suggests that the inscription lasts but for a little while. Contrariwise, a name written in heaven implies that its bearer belongs to heaven, and that the inscription will abide".

The Great Commandment and the Parable of the Good Samaritan (verses 25–37)

Jan Wijnants - Parable of the Good Samaritan

A lawyer or 'expert in the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

' asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what was written in the law, and the lawyer referred to the teaching in , :''You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'', and to the ordinance of Leviticus 19:18, :''You shall not take

vengeance Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...

, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'' Jesus confirmed that the lawyer's answer was correct. Luke's treatment of this

Great Commandment The Great Commandment (or Greatest Commandment) is a name used in the New Testament to describe the first of two commandments cited by Jesus in Matthew 22 (), Mark 12 (), and in answer to him in Luke 10 (), According to Jesus of Nazareth, th ...

differs from those of

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Matthew, where Jesus directly instructed his disciples that these are the greatest commandments in the Law. The lawyer then asked who his 'neighbour' is. In response, Jesus told a story of a traveller, presumably a Jew,

Joel B. Green Joel B. Green (born May 7, 1956) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, author, Associate Dean of the Center for Advanced Theological Study, and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, C ...

,
The Gospel of Luke
', Eerdmans, 1997, , p. 429. who is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and then a

Levite Levites ( ; ) or Levi are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew definite article "" ''Ha-' ...

come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a journeying

Samaritan Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

comes by. Samaritans and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured man. This

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

is recounted only in this chapter of the

. Portraying a Samaritan in a positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus's audience. Funk, Robert W., Roy W. Hoover, and the

Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 biblical criticism scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 200 ...

. ''The five gospels'', HarperSanFrancisco. 1993. "Luke", p. 271–400. Some Christians, such as

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

and

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...

, have interpreted the parable allegorically, with the Samaritan representing Jesus Christ, who saves the sinful soul.Caird, G. B. (1980). The Language and Imagery of the Bible. Duckworth. p. 165. Others, however, discount this allegory as unrelated to the parable's original meaning, and see the parable as exemplifying the ethics of Jesus.Sanders, E. P., ''The Historical Figure of Jesus''. Penguin, 1993. p. 6. The parable has inspired painting, sculpture, poetry and film. The

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

phrase "good Samaritan", meaning someone who helps a stranger, derives from this parable, and many

hospitals A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan.

Mary and Martha (verses 38–42)

In Luke's account, the home of Martha and Mary is located in 'a certain village'.

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

of Lazarus (name), L ...

is not mentioned and would not fit with the topography of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, which at this point in the narrative is just commencing as he leaves Galilee. John J. Kilgallen suggests that "Luke has displaced the story of Martha and Mary".Kilgallen, J. J.
Martha and Mary: Why at Luke 10,38?
''Biblica'', Vol. 84, No. 4 (2003), pp. 554–561

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version,

Bible in Basic English The ''Bible In Basic English'' (also known as the ''BBE'') is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand ...

)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Luke Gospel of Luke chapters Phoenicians in the New Testament Mary of Bethany