17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
22 Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,
24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
38 As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
41 Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Reading as
Questions they answer differently
On verse
Oldest first.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:30–34For 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. … 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, etc. In whom our Lord Jesus Christ would have Himself typified. … He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, therefore near to him, as it were, in likeness. … 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. … 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.
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. … 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, etc. In whom our Lord Jesus Christ would have Himself typified. … He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, therefore near to him, as it were, in likeness. … 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. … 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.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:30–35; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:40–42Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a mark of love, or perhaps of drawing the attention, that she should listen more earnestly. … There are many, there are diverse things, which are carnal, temporal, but one is preferred to many. For one is not from many, but many from one. Hence it follows, But one thing is needful. Mary wished to be occupied about one, according to that, It is good for me to cling close to the Lord. … Must we think that blame was cast upon the service of Martha, who was engaged in the cares of hospitality, and rejoiced in having so great a guest? … Our Lord then does not blame the actions, but distinguishes between the duties. For it follows, Mary has chosen that good part, etc. Not yours a bad one, but hers a better. … You are yet at sea; she is in port.
Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a mark of love, or perhaps of drawing the attention, that she should listen more earnestly. … There are many, there are diverse things, which are carnal, temporal, but one is preferred to many. For one is not from many, but many from one. Hence it follows, But one thing is needful. Mary wished to be occupied about one, according to that, It is good for me to cling close to the Lord. … Must we think that blame was cast upon the service of Martha, who was engaged in the cares of hospitality, and rejoiced in having so great a guest? … Our Lord then does not blame the actions, but distinguishes between the duties. For it follows, Mary has chosen that good part, etc. Not yours a bad one, but hers a better. … You are yet at sea; she is in port.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:38–42; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Gregory the Greatc. 540–604Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:17–18Now our Lord, in a remarkable manner, in order to put down high thoughts in the hearts of His disciples, Himself related the account of the fall which the teacher of pride suffered; that they might learn by the example of the author of pride, what they would have to dread from the sin of pride.
Now our Lord, in a remarkable manner, in order to put down high thoughts in the hearts of His disciples, Himself related the account of the fall which the teacher of pride suffered; that they might learn by the example of the author of pride, what they would have to dread from the sin of pride.
Gregory the Great, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:17–20; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Rome from 590, whose Morals on the Book of Job and sermons on the Gospels were read across the medieval church.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:20As if he said, It becomes you to rejoice not in the putting down of the evil spirits, but in your own exaltation. … For the names of the saints are written in the book of life not in ink, but in the memory and grace of God. And the devil indeed fell from above; but men being below have their names inscribed above in heaven.
As if he said, It becomes you to rejoice not in the putting down of the evil spirits, but in your own exaltation. … For the names of the saints are written in the book of life not in ink, but in the memory and grace of God. And the devil indeed fell from above; but men being below have their names inscribed above in heaven.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:17–20; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Luke 10:29–37Christ might have stated simply, that the word neighbor extends indiscriminately to every man, because the whole human race is united by a sacred bond of fellowship. … To make any person our neighbor, therefore, it is enough that he be, a man; for it is not in our power to blot out our common nature. … As little plausibility belongs to another allegory, which, however, has been so highly satisfactory, that it has been admitted by almost universal consent, as if it had been a revelation from heaven. This Samaritan they imagine to be Christ, because he is our guardian; and they tell us that wine was poured, along with oil, into the wound, because Christ cures us by repentance and by a promise of grace. They have contrived a third subtlety, that Christ does not immediately restore health, but sends us to the Church, as an innkeeper, to be gradually cured. I acknowledge that I have no liking for any of these interpretations; but we ought to have a deeper reverence for Scripture than to reckon ourselves at liberty to disguise its natural meaning.
Christ might have stated simply, that the word neighbor extends indiscriminately to every man, because the whole human race is united by a sacred bond of fellowship. … To make any person our neighbor, therefore, it is enough that he be, a man; for it is not in our power to blot out our common nature. … As little plausibility belongs to another allegory, which, however, has been so highly satisfactory, that it has been admitted by almost universal consent, as if it had been a revelation from heaven. This Samaritan they imagine to be Christ, because he is our guardian; and they tell us that wine was poured, along with oil, into the wound, because Christ cures us by repentance and by a promise of grace. They have contrived a third subtlety, that Christ does not immediately restore health, but sends us to the Church, as an innkeeper, to be gradually cured. I acknowledge that I have no liking for any of these interpretations; but we ought to have a deeper reverence for Scripture than to reckon ourselves at liberty to disguise its natural meaning.
John Calvin, Commentaries, on 10:30–37; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on Luke 10:37Go and do thou in like manner - Let us go and do likewise, regarding every man as our neighbour who needs our assistance. Let us renounce that bigotry and party zeal which would contract our hearts into an insensibility for all the human race, but a small number whose sentiments and practices are so much our own, that our love to them is but self love reflected. With an honest openness of mind let us always remember that kindred between man and man, and cultivate that happy instinct whereby, in the original constitution of our nature, God has strongly bound us to each other.
Go and do thou in like manner - Let us go and do likewise, regarding every man as our neighbour who needs our assistance. Let us renounce that bigotry and party zeal which would contract our hearts into an insensibility for all the human race, but a small number whose sentiments and practices are so much our own, that our love to them is but self love reflected. With an honest openness of mind let us always remember that kindred between man and man, and cultivate that happy instinct whereby, in the original constitution of our nature, God has strongly bound us to each other.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 10:37; London, 1755; the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Luke 10:40–42But in Martha's favor it may be justly said, that all her anxiety was to provide suitable and timely entertainment for our Lord and his disciples … And we should not, on the merest supposition, attribute earthly-mindedness to a woman whose character stands unimpeachable in the Gospel … One thing is needful - This is the end of the sentence, according to Bengel. "Now Mary hath chosen, etc.," begins a new one. One single dish, the simplest and plainest possible, is such as best suits me and my disciples, whose meat and drink it is to do the will of our heavenly Father. … The utmost that can be said on the subject is, Martha was well employed, but Mary, on this occasion, better.
But in Martha's favor it may be justly said, that all her anxiety was to provide suitable and timely entertainment for our Lord and his disciples … And we should not, on the merest supposition, attribute earthly-mindedness to a woman whose character stands unimpeachable in the Gospel … One thing is needful - This is the end of the sentence, according to Bengel. "Now Mary hath chosen, etc.," begins a new one. One single dish, the simplest and plainest possible, is such as best suits me and my disciples, whose meat and drink it is to do the will of our heavenly Father. … The utmost that can be said on the subject is, Martha was well employed, but Mary, on this occasion, better.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 10:40–42; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on Luke 10:42one thing, &c.--The idea of "Short work and little of it suffices for Me" is not so much the lower sense of these weighty words, as supposed in them, as the basis of something far loftier than any precept on economy. Underneath that idea is couched another, as to the littleness both of elaborate preparation for the present life and of that life itself, compared with another. … Both were true-hearted disciples, but the one was absorbed in the higher, the other in the lower of two ways of honoring their common Lord. Yet neither despised, or would willingly neglect, the other's occupation. … A Church full of Marys would perhaps be as great an evil as a Church full of Marthas. Both are needed, each to be the complement of the other.
one thing, &c.--The idea of "Short work and little of it suffices for Me" is not so much the lower sense of these weighty words, as supposed in them, as the basis of something far loftier than any precept on economy. Underneath that idea is couched another, as to the littleness both of elaborate preparation for the present life and of that life itself, compared with another. … Both were true-hearted disciples, but the one was absorbed in the higher, the other in the lower of two ways of honoring their common Lord. Yet neither despised, or would willingly neglect, the other's occupation. … A Church full of Marys would perhaps be as great an evil as a Church full of Marthas. Both are needed, each to be the complement of the other.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 10:42; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.
Luke 10
Luke 10:17–42, World English Bible
Luke 10 in the Bible · Told in the Story: Chapter 37, The Good Samaritan
What others have written
8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Oldest first.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:30–34For 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. … 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, etc. In whom our Lord Jesus Christ would have Himself typified. … He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, therefore near to him, as it were, in likeness. … 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. … 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.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:30–35; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:40–42Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a mark of love, or perhaps of drawing the attention, that she should listen more earnestly. … There are many, there are diverse things, which are carnal, temporal, but one is preferred to many. For one is not from many, but many from one. Hence it follows, But one thing is needful. Mary wished to be occupied about one, according to that, It is good for me to cling close to the Lord. … Must we think that blame was cast upon the service of Martha, who was engaged in the cares of hospitality, and rejoiced in having so great a guest? … Our Lord then does not blame the actions, but distinguishes between the duties. For it follows, Mary has chosen that good part, etc. Not yours a bad one, but hers a better. … You are yet at sea; she is in port.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:38–42; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Gregory the Greatc. 540–604Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:17–18Now our Lord, in a remarkable manner, in order to put down high thoughts in the hearts of His disciples, Himself related the account of the fall which the teacher of pride suffered; that they might learn by the example of the author of pride, what they would have to dread from the sin of pride.
Gregory the Great, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:17–20; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Rome from 590, whose Morals on the Book of Job and sermons on the Gospels were read across the medieval church.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 10:20As if he said, It becomes you to rejoice not in the putting down of the evil spirits, but in your own exaltation. … For the names of the saints are written in the book of life not in ink, but in the memory and grace of God. And the devil indeed fell from above; but men being below have their names inscribed above in heaven.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 10:17–20; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Luke 10:29–37Christ might have stated simply, that the word neighbor extends indiscriminately to every man, because the whole human race is united by a sacred bond of fellowship. … To make any person our neighbor, therefore, it is enough that he be, a man; for it is not in our power to blot out our common nature. … As little plausibility belongs to another allegory, which, however, has been so highly satisfactory, that it has been admitted by almost universal consent, as if it had been a revelation from heaven. This Samaritan they imagine to be Christ, because he is our guardian; and they tell us that wine was poured, along with oil, into the wound, because Christ cures us by repentance and by a promise of grace. They have contrived a third subtlety, that Christ does not immediately restore health, but sends us to the Church, as an innkeeper, to be gradually cured. I acknowledge that I have no liking for any of these interpretations; but we ought to have a deeper reverence for Scripture than to reckon ourselves at liberty to disguise its natural meaning.
John Calvin, Commentaries, on 10:30–37; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on Luke 10:37Go and do thou in like manner - Let us go and do likewise, regarding every man as our neighbour who needs our assistance. Let us renounce that bigotry and party zeal which would contract our hearts into an insensibility for all the human race, but a small number whose sentiments and practices are so much our own, that our love to them is but self love reflected. With an honest openness of mind let us always remember that kindred between man and man, and cultivate that happy instinct whereby, in the original constitution of our nature, God has strongly bound us to each other.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 10:37; London, 1755; the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Luke 10:40–42But in Martha's favor it may be justly said, that all her anxiety was to provide suitable and timely entertainment for our Lord and his disciples … And we should not, on the merest supposition, attribute earthly-mindedness to a woman whose character stands unimpeachable in the Gospel … One thing is needful - This is the end of the sentence, according to Bengel. "Now Mary hath chosen, etc.," begins a new one. One single dish, the simplest and plainest possible, is such as best suits me and my disciples, whose meat and drink it is to do the will of our heavenly Father. … The utmost that can be said on the subject is, Martha was well employed, but Mary, on this occasion, better.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 10:40–42; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on Luke 10:42one thing, &c.--The idea of "Short work and little of it suffices for Me" is not so much the lower sense of these weighty words, as supposed in them, as the basis of something far loftier than any precept on economy. Underneath that idea is couched another, as to the littleness both of elaborate preparation for the present life and of that life itself, compared with another. … Both were true-hearted disciples, but the one was absorbed in the higher, the other in the lower of two ways of honoring their common Lord. Yet neither despised, or would willingly neglect, the other's occupation. … A Church full of Marys would perhaps be as great an evil as a Church full of Marthas. Both are needed, each to be the complement of the other.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 10:42; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.