Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Giuseppe
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Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Post by Giuseppe »

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise"

Now we know who are the "robbers": John the Baptist and the old prophets.

The Samaritan is the "foreign" par excellence.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
lsayre
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Re: Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Post by lsayre »

There does seem to be an impression that even Jesus himself is anti-semetic.
John2
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Re: Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Post by John2 »

Isayre wrote:
There does seem to be an impression that even Jesus himself is anti-semetic.
I don't get that impression at all. Right off the bat it says that an "expert in the law" addressed Jesus as “Teacher” (even if only to test him) and the first thing Jesus asks him is “What is written in the Law? ... How do you read it?”

And when the expert cites the commandments to love God and your neighbor, Jesus says, “You have answered correctly” and “Do this and you will live.” So he sounds pro-Torah here to me.

Then in the parable, to explicate what a neighbor is, Jesus complains about the priest and the Levite because they "passed by" the robbed man, not because he has an issue with priests and Levites per se.
You know in spite of all you gained, you still have to stand out in the pouring rain.
John2
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Re: Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Post by John2 »

Giuseppe wrote:
Now we know who are the "robbers": John the Baptist and the old prophets.
I take the robbers to be the bandits that Josephus talks about, as discussed here, for example:
In relaying the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke, however, chooses another term to describe the criminal deed perpetrated against an unsuspecting traveler. In this setting of a violent, highway robbery the term lestes is more appropriate. This term, used some forty-two times by Josephus, fifteen times by New Testament writers, and nine times in the Septuagint, describes armed bands of marauders who are intentionally brutal when they carry out their activities. The distinguishing marker is violence. While kleptes typically describes a stealthy person who deprives people of their property, lestes denotes a bandit who operates outdoors in the company of a gang. The bandit gangs attack caravans, individual travelers, or settlements with weapons, and violently relieve them of their goods.

http://bibleresources.americanbible.org ... of-bandits
You know in spite of all you gained, you still have to stand out in the pouring rain.
Giuseppe
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Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Re: Who are the robbers in the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Post by Giuseppe »

John2 wrote: Fri Jun 15, 2018 2:14 pm Giuseppe wrote:
Now we know who are the "robbers": John the Baptist and the old prophets.
I take the robbers to be the bandits that Josephus talks about, as discussed here, for example:
In relaying the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke, however, chooses another term to describe the criminal deed perpetrated against an unsuspecting traveler. In this setting of a violent, highway robbery the term lestes is more appropriate. This term, used some forty-two times by Josephus, fifteen times by New Testament writers, and nine times in the Septuagint, describes armed bands of marauders who are intentionally brutal when they carry out their activities. The distinguishing marker is violence. While kleptes typically describes a stealthy person who deprives people of their property, lestes denotes a bandit who operates outdoors in the company of a gang. The bandit gangs attack caravans, individual travelers, or settlements with weapons, and violently relieve them of their goods.

http://bibleresources.americanbible.org ... of-bandits
My reply here.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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