RT Article
T1 Doing Torah, Imitating Yahweh: A Reconsideration of the Good Samaritan Story
JF The expository times
VO 133
IS 3
SP 105
OP 116
A1 Wendel, Susan J.
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1783529024
AB Scholars often puzzle over why the discussion about Torah obedience in Luke 10:25–29 does not appear to fit coherently with the story of the Good Samaritan that follows it (10:30–37). Was this an oversight on Luke’s part, a lack of editorial finesse, or did he have other aims? In this paper, I will argue that the apparent shift in logic, marked by the transformation of the lawyer’s question from ‘Who is my neighbour?’ (10:29) to ‘Who acts as a neighbour?’ (10:36), invites the lawyer to realign his interpretation of Lev 19:18 with the theology of imitatio Dei already present in Leviticus 19: The one who properly fulfills Lev 19:18 does so by imitating Yahweh. Within the context of Luke’s Gospel, moreover, Luke 10:25–37 illustrates how Luke both affirms and expands the terms of Torah obedience such that proper fulfilment of the Mosaic Law requires a disclosure of and participation in the very nature of God.
K1 Neighbour
K1 Gospel of Luke
K1 Imitatio Dei
K1 Torah
K1 Good Samaritan
DO 10.1177/00145246211038815