Luke 10:31 (WEB)
By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Catechism · 2
The Virtues
“The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Mt 5:44; Lk 10:27-37; Mk 9:37; Mt 25:40, 45.
The Seven Petitions
“His commandment is "that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."” — Catechism footnote: Jn 13:34; cf. 1 Jn 3; 4; Lk 10:25-37.
Fathers and councils · 61
Augustine of Hippo
“But the reason why it is said, is, because each one of us ought to account every man to be that which he wishes him to become, although he be not yet become such; as the Lord showed the alien Samaritan to be neighbor to him unto whom he showed mercy.”” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–37
Read the whole comment“Luke, on the other hand, not indeed in this order, but in a widely different connection, introduces something which resembles this.” — editor's note: Luke x. 25–37.
Read the whole comment““Blessed are the merciful;” imitate Him, Who came to the help of him who was wounded by robbers, and who lay in the way half-dead and despaired of.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–35
Read the whole comment“And so the Lord replied to Martha, when she complained that her sister did not help her: “Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.”” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–42
Read the whole comment“And perhaps these are the two commandments, on which hang all the law and the prophets.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–35.
Read the whole comment“He exercised mercy, and did a neighbor’s part to one whom He did not account an alien.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–37.
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Ambrose of Milan
“Moses says: “This people is stiff-necked,” and the Lord says that the priest and the Levite passed by, and neither of them poured oil or wine into the wounds of him who had been wounded by robbers; for they had nothing to pour in, since if they had had oil they would have poured it into their own wounds.” — editor's note: S. Luke x. 31, 32.
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Jerome
“I forgot that the Gospel warns us that he who goes down from Jerusalem immediately falls among robbers, is spoiled, is wounded, is left for dead.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–35.
Read the whole comment“From this she went straight on down the hill to Jericho thinking of the wounded man in the gospel, of the savagery of the priests and Levites who passed him by, and of the kindness of the Samaritan, that is, the guardian, who placed the half-dead man upon his own beast and brought him down to the inn of the church.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–35.
Read the whole comment“You may have gone down from Jerusalem and may have been wounded on the way; yet the Samaritan will set you upon his beast, and will bring you to the inn and will take care of you.” — editor's note: Luke x. 30–34.
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Catena Aurea on Luke
- Cyril of AlexandriaCatena Aurea on Luke
The lawyer, when praised by our Saviour for having answered right, breaks forth into pride, thinking that he had no neighbour, as though there was no one to be compared to him in righteousness. Hence it is said, But…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
He answered that he knew not his neighbour, because he believed not on Christ, and he who knows not Christ knows not the law, for being ignorant of the truth, how can he know the law which makes known the truth?
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
Now our Saviour defines a neighbour not in respect of actions or honour, but of nature; as if He says, Think not that because thou art righteous thou hast no neighbour, for all who partake of the same nature are thy…
Read the whole comment - A Greek expositorCatena Aurea on Luke
He has well used the general term. For He says not, “a certain one went down,” but, a certain man, for his discourse was of the whole human race.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
For that man is taken for Adam himself, representing the race of man; Jerusalem, the city of peace, that heavenly country, from the bliss of which he fell. Jericho is interpreted to be the moon, and signifies our…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or by Jerusalem, which is by interpretation “the sight of peace,” we mean Paradise, for before man sinned he was in sight of peace, that is, in paradise; whatever he saw was peace, and going thence he descended (as…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
Now he says not “descended,” but “was descending.” For human nature was ever tending downwards, and not for a time only, but throughout busied about a life liable to suffering.
Read the whole comment - Basil the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
This interpretation corresponds to the places, if any one will examine them. For Jericho lies in the low parts of Palestine, Jerusalem is seated on an eminence, occupying the crest of a mountain. The man then came…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
First, we must needs pity the ill fortune of the man who fell unarmed and helpless among robbers, and who was so rash and unwise as to choose the road in which he could not escape the attack of robbers. For the…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
But who are those robbers but the Angels of night and darkness, among whom he had not fallen, unless by deviating from the divine command he had placed himself in their way.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
At the beginning of the world then the devil accomplished his treacherous attack upon man, against whom he practised the poison of deceit, and directed all the deadliness of his malice.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
He fell then among robbers, that is, the devil and his angels, who through the disobedience of the first man, stripped the race of mankind of the ornaments of virtue, and wounded him, that is, by ruining the gift of…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or they stripped man of his immortality, and wounding him (by persuading to sin) left him half dead; for wherein he is able to understand and know God, man is alive, but wherein he is corrupted and pressed down by…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
For the half dead has his vital function (that is, free will) wounded, in that he is not able to return to the eternal life which he has lost. And therefore he lay, because he had not strength of his own sufficient…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
Or man after sin is said to be half dead, because his soul is immortal, but his body mortal, so that the half of man is under death. Or, because his human nature hoped to obtain salvation in Christ, so as not…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Or they stripped us of the garments which we have received of spiritual grace, and so are wont to inflict wounds. For if we keep the unspotted garments we have put on, we can not feel the wounds of robbers.
Read the whole comment - Basil the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
Or it may be understood that they stripped us after first inflicting wounds; or wounds precede nakedness, as sin precedes the absence of grace.
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Luke
But sins are called wounds, because the perfectness of human nature is violated by them. And they departed, not by ceasing to lie in wait, but by hiding the craft of their devices.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
Here then was man (that is, Adam) lying destitute of the aid of salvation, pierced with the wounds of his sins, whom neither Aaron the high priest passing by could advantage by his sacrifice; for it follows, And by…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or by the Priest and the Levite, two times are represented, namely, of the Law and the Prophets. By the Priest the Law is signified, by which the priesthood and sacrifices were appointed; by the Levites the…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
But He says, passed by, (Rom. 3:20; 8:3.) because the Law came and stood till its time foreordained, then, not being able to cure, departed. Mark also that the Law was not given with this previous intention that it…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or it is said, passed by, because the man who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho is believed to have been an Israelite, and the priest who came down, certainly his neighbour by birth, passed him by lying on the…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
They pitied him, I say, when they thought about him, but afterwards, overcome by selfishness, they went away again. For this is signified by the word, passed him by.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
A Samaritan coming by, far removed by birth, very near in compassion, acted as follows, But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was, &c. In whom our Lord Jesus Christ would have Himself typified. For…
Read the whole comment - A Greek expositorCatena Aurea on Luke
Now Christ here fully calls Himself a Samaritan. For in addressing the lawyer who was glorying in the Law, He wished to express that neither Priest nor Levite, nor all they who were conversant with the Law, fulfilled…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Now this Samaritan was also coming down. For who is he that ascended upon into heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13.).
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
But He says, journeying, as though He purposely determined this in order to cure us.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, therefore 1 near to him, as it were, in likeness.
Read the whole comment - A Greek expositorCatena Aurea on Luke
Or He came by the way. For He was a true traveller, not a wanderer; and came down to the earth for our sakes.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Now when He came He was made very near to us by His taking upon Himself our infirmities, He became a neighbour by bestowing compassion. Hence it follows, And when he saw him he was moved with compassion.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Seeing him lying down weak and motionless. And therefore was He moved with compassion, because He saw in him nothing to merit a cure, but He Himself for sin condemned sin in the flesh. (Rom. 8:3.) Hence it follows,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
For what so distant, what so far removed, as God from man, the immortal from the mortal, the just from sinners, not in distance of place, but of likeness. Since then He had in Him two good things, righteousness and…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
The binding up of wounds is the checking of sins; oil is the consolation of a good hope, by the pardon given for the reconciliation of man; wine is the incitement to work fervently in spirit.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Or, He binds up our wounds by a stricter commandment, as by oil he soothes by the remission of sin, as by wine he pricks to the heart by the denunciation of judgment.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Luke
Or in the wine he applies the sharpness of constraint, in the oil the softness of mercy. By wine let the corrupt parts be washed, by oil let the healing parts be assuaged; we must then mix gentleness with severity,…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
Or else, intercourse with man is the oil, and intercourse with God is the wine which signifies divinity, which no one can endure unmixed unless oil be added, that is, human intercourse. Hence he worked some things…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
Or, he poured in wine, that is, the blood of His passion, and oil, that is, the anointing of the chrism, that pardon might be granted by His blood, sanctification be conferred by the chrism. The wounded parts are…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
His beast is our flesh, in which He has condescended to come to us. To be placed on the beast is to believe in the incarnation of Christ.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Or, He places us on His beast in that He bears our sins, and is afflicted for us, (Isai. 53:4, LXX) for man hath been made like to the beasts, (Ps. 49:12) therefore He placed us on His beast, that we might not be as…
Read the whole comment - Theophylact of OhridCatena Aurea on Luke
Or He placed us on His beast, that is, on His body. For He hath made us His members, and partakers of His body. The Law indeed did not take in all the Moabites, and the Ammonites shall not enter into the Church of…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
For the Inn is the Church, which receives travellers, who are tired with their journey through the world, and oppressed with the load of their sins; where the wearied traveller casting down the burden of his sins is…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Luke
And rightly He brought him placed on His beast, since no one, except he be united to Christ’s body by Baptism, shall enter the Church.
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
But as the Samaritan had not time to stay longer on the earth, he must needs return to the place whence he descended, as it follows, And on the morrow he took out two pence, &c. (Ps. 118:24.) What is that morrow, but…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Or the two pence are the two commandments of love, which the Apostles received from the Holy Spirit to preach to others; or the promise of the present life, and that which is to come.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Luke
Or the two pence seem to me to be the knowledge of the sacrament, in what manner the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, which is given as a reward by the Angel to the Church that she may take more…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
The inn-keeper was the Apostle, who spent more either in giving counsel, as he says, Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment; (1 Cor. 7:15.) or, in working even with his own…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
Blessed then is that inn-keeper who is able to cure the wounds of another; blessed is he to whom Jesus says, Whatsoever thou hast spent more, when I come again I will repay thee. But when wilt thou return, O Lord,…
Read the whole comment - Cyril of AlexandriaCatena Aurea on Luke
After what has gone before, our Lord fitly questions the lawyer; Which of these three thinkest thou was neighbour to him who fell among thieves? But he said, He that shewed mercy on him. For neither Priest nor Levite…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Luke
As if He said, If thou seest any one oppressed, say not, Surely he is wicked; but be he Gentile or Jew and need help, dispute not, he has a claim to thy assistance, into whatever evil he has fallen.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Luke
Hereby we understand that he is our neighbour, to whomsoever we must shew the duty of compassion, if he need it, or would have shewn if he had needed it. From which it follows, that even he who must in his turn shew…
Read the whole comment - Ambrose of MilanCatena Aurea on Luke
For relationship does not make a neighbour, but compassion, for compassion is according to nature. For nothing is so natural as to assist one who shares our nature.
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Cross-references · 12
Cited together in Ambrose of Milan on Luke 10:29–37 (4) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Luke 10:29–37 (8) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Theophylact of Ohrid on Luke 10:29–37 (4) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Theophylact of Ohrid on Luke 10:29–37 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Luke 10:29–37 (8) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Luke 10:29–37 (10) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Lying Chapter 15.
Cited together in Cyril of Alexandria on Luke 10:29–37 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Theophylact of Ohrid on Luke 10:29–37 (8) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Ambrose of Milan on Luke 10:29–37 (7) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Ambrose of Milan on Luke 10:29–37 (7) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Luke 10:29–37 (8) (Catena Aurea).