"Go and Do Likewise": Jesus and Rhetorical Syncrisis in the Parable of the "Magnanimous" Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)

Abstract

Abstract:The article offers a reading of the parable of the good Samaritan from the perspective of the Greco-Roman progymnastic exercise of syncrisis. It argues that in its original context, Jesus's representation of the good Samaritan as a moral examplar, vis-à-vis the image of the priest and the Levite, was critical to the realisation of social harmony and camaraderie among the socially differentiated members of Christ-groups. By introducing the term "neighbour" into the fictive language of the early Christian movement, the parable challenged both Jewish exclusive understanding of neighbour and the system of kinship and reciprocity that characterised Greco-Roman social relations. Through this analysis, the article presents new dimensions to the interpretation of the parable of the good Samaritan.