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Luke 10:29

King James Version (KJV)

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Translations

Luke 10:29 - Amplified Bible

And he, determined to acquit himself of reproach, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

Luke 10:29 - American Standard Version

But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

Luke 10:29 - Bible in Basic English

But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:29 - Darby Bible

But he, desirous of justifying himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:29 - English Standard Version

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Luke 10:29 - King James Version

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:29 - La Biblia de las Americas

Pero queriendo él justificarse a sì mismo, dijo a Jesùs: ¿Y quién es mi pròjimo?

Luke 10:29 - The Message

Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define ’neighbor’?"

Luke 10:29 - New American Standard Bible

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Luke 10:29 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Pero queriendo él justificarse a sì mismo, dijo a Jesùs: "¿Y quién es mi pròjimo?"

Luke 10:29 - World English Bible

But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

Luke 10:29 - Young's Living Translation

And he, willing to declare himself righteous, said unto Jesus, `And who is my neighbour?`

Luke 10:29 - Additional Comments

The lawyer continue the discussion as a legal debate. He now, as in fencing, does a parry and riposte (block and immediate offensive move). The lawyer may have felt an attack in that Jesus was challenging him to "do this" and he probably realized he had not. Maybe to vindicate himself, maybe to justify himself (as the rich man in Matt 19:20), maybe just as a challenge, the lawyer comes back with this response requesting how to practice what could be an esoteric command to love your neighbor.
The lawyer was asking how far he had to go to still be a neighbor. This seems like an elementary question to us, but to them it was not, for they classified people. The hierarchy was Priest - Levite - common Jew - Tax Collector, Outcast, Sinner - Samaritans - Gentiles. Many Jews did not consider anyone not a Jew as a neighbor, because of the special covenant that God had given to Jews. (Interesting that God took this special covenant with the Jews and extended it to all Gentiles - Acts 1:8, Gal 2:7-9, Acts 9:15, 22:21, 26:17,18, Rom 1:13,14, 15:16-19, 1 Tim 2:7).
Also, they tended to live in communities and cities of like people, so the lawyer could have made a case for the Samaritans and such not being his neighbor.
In reality the lawyer may not have truly been curious, he may have just been responding in a natural way one would in a debate.
Yet again, Jesus takes what was probably a question asked for the wrong purpose, and uses it to clarify an important spiritual principle, that anyone may be your neighbor who is in need of your love, i.e. to treat them as you would yourself.
Ths also shows us how sometimes we try to justify ourselves, but trying convince Jesus that we have fulfilled His request, when in reality His request is at a much higher level than what we have attained. We try to justify anger, unforgiveness, unkindness, selfishness, sexual freedom, etc.

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