The Good Samaritan

According to the Gospel by Luke, a lawyer, invited by Jesus to love his neighbour as himself, asked the question: “And who is my neighbour”? Jesus answered with the parable of the good Samaritan: a man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers who left him half dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite – a member of the Jewish tribe that got its name from Levi, Jacob’s third son had with Leah - passed by that way but avoided him. Along came a Samaritan, traditionally despised by the Jews, who, after washing and treating his wounds, brought him to an inn and left the inn keeper two denarii to take further care of the injured man. In the painting, the pilgrim lies wounded at the center, held by the Samaritan. In the background one can see the priest and the Levite walking away.