1 Samuel 24:17-18

24:17 He said to David, “You are more innocent ¹  than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you! 24:18 You have explained today how you have treated me well. The Lord delivered me into your hand, but you did not kill me.

1 Samuel 24:2

24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find ²  David and his men in the region of ³  the rocks of the mountain goats. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 28:15

28:15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me – not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”

Proverbs 25:21-22

25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

25:22 for you will heap coals of fire on his head, ⁵ 

and the Lord will reward you. ⁶ 

Matthew 5:47

5:47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?

Luke 6:35

6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. ⁷  Then ⁸  your reward will be great, and you will be sons ⁹  of the Most High, ¹⁰  because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ¹¹ 

Luke 10:29-37

10:29 But the expert, ¹²  wanting to justify ¹³  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 10:30 Jesus replied, ¹⁴  “A man was going down ¹⁵  from Jerusalem ¹⁶  to Jericho, ¹⁷  and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat ¹⁸  him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. ¹⁹  10:31 Now by chance ²⁰  a priest was going down that road, but ²¹  when he saw the injured man ²²  he passed by ²³  on the other side. ²⁴  10:32 So too a Levite, when he came up to ²⁵  the place and saw him, ²⁶  passed by on the other side. 10:33 But ²⁷  a Samaritan ²⁸  who was traveling ²⁹  came to where the injured man ³⁰  was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. ³¹  10:34 He ³²  went up to him ³³  and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil ³⁴  and wine on them. Then ³⁵  he put him on ³⁶  his own animal, ³⁷  brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 10:35 The ³⁸  next day he took out two silver coins ³⁹  and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’ ⁴⁰  10:36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor ⁴¹  to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 10:37 The expert in religious law ⁴²  said, “The one who showed mercy ⁴³  to him.” So ⁴⁴  Jesus said to him, “Go and do ⁴⁵  the same.”

[24:17]  ¹ tn Or “righteous” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “you are in the right”; NLT “are a better man than I am.”

[24:2]  ² tn Heb “to search [for].”

[24:2]  ³ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

[25:22]  ⁵ sn The imagery of the “burning coals” represents pangs of conscience, more readily effected by kindness than by violence. These coals produce the sharp pain of contrition through regret (e.g., 18:19; 20:22; 24:17; Gen 42-45; 1 Sam 24:18-20; Rom 12:20). The coals then would be an implied comparison with a searing conscience.

[25:22]  ⁶ sn The second consequence of treating enemies with kindness is that the Lord will reward the act. The fact that this is promised shows that the instruction here belongs to the religious traditions of Israel.

[6:35]  ⁷ tn Or “in return.”

[6:35]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[6:35]  ⁹ sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.

[6:35]  ¹⁰ sn That is, “sons of God.”

[6:35]  ¹¹ tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[10:29]  ¹² tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:29]  ¹³ tn Or “vindicate.”

[10:30]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “answering, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “replied.”

[10:30]  ¹⁵ sn The journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was 17 mi (27 km), descending some 1800 ft (540 m) in altitude. It was known for its danger because the road ran through areas of desert and caves where the robbers hid.

[10:30]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:30]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:30]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and beat,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[10:30]  ¹⁹ sn That is, in a state between life and death; severely wounded.

[10:31]  ²⁰ sn The phrase by chance adds an initial note of hope and fortune to the expectation in the story.

[10:31]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the priest’s expected action (helping the victim) and what he really did.

[10:31]  ²² tn Grk “him”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:31]  ²³ sn It is not said why the priest passed by and refused to help. It is not relevant to the point of the parable that no help was given in the emergency situation.

[10:31]  ²⁴ sn The text suggests that the priest went out of his way (on the other side) not to get too close to the scene.

[10:32]  ²⁵ tn Here κατά (kata) has been translated “up to”; it could also be translated “upon.”

[10:32]  ²⁶ tn The clause containing the aorist active participle ἐλθών (elqwn) suggests that the Levite came up to the place, took a look, and then moved on.

[10:33]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the previous characters (considered by society to be examples of piety and religious duty) and a hated Samaritan.

[10:33]  ²⁸ tn This is at the beginning of the clause, in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:33]  ²⁹ tn The participle ὁδεύων (Jodeuwn) has been translated as an adjectival participle (cf. NAB, NASB, TEV); it could also be taken temporally (“while he was traveling,” cf. NRSV, NIV).

[10:33]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:33]  ³¹ tn “Him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The verb means “to feel compassion for,” and the object of the compassion is understood.

[10:34]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Instead, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[10:34]  ³³ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. The participle προσελθών (proselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:34]  ³⁴ sn The ancient practice of pouring oil was designed to comfort and clean the wounds (Isa 1:6).

[10:34]  ³⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[10:34]  ³⁶ tn It is not clear whether the causative nuance of the verb included actual assistance or not (“helped him on” versus “had him get on”; see L&N 15.98), but in light of the severity of the man’s condition as described in the preceding verses, some degree of assistance was almost certainly needed.

[10:34]  ³⁷ sn His own animal refers to a riding animal, presumably a donkey, but not specified.

[10:35]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[10:35]  ³⁹ tn Grk “two denarii.”

[10:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “when I come back”; the words “this way” are part of an English idiom used to translate the phrase.

[10:36]  ⁴¹ sn Jesus reversed the question the expert in religious law asked in v. 29 to one of becoming a neighbor by loving. “Do not think about who they are, but who you are,” was his reply.

[10:37]  ⁴² tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:37]  ⁴³ sn The neighbor did not do what was required (that is why his response is called mercy) but had compassion and out of kindness went the extra step that shows love. See Mic 6:8. Note how the expert in religious law could not bring himself to admit that the example was a Samaritan, someone who would have been seen as a racial half-breed and one not worthy of respect. So Jesus makes a second point that neighbors may appear in surprising places.

[10:37]  ⁴⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding summary.

[10:37]  ⁴⁵ tn This recalls the verb of the earlier reply in v. 28.