What Does Luke 10:29 Mean in the King James?
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
He asks where nearness ends while trying to establish that he himself is aligned.
THE MEANING
You can ask who counts as near while trying to establish your own alignment. Here, the boundary question grows out of the desire to vindicate yourself. “Neighbour” becomes a test of how small a circle can still leave you feeling right.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief this verse unsettles is that you can prove your own rightness by setting a narrow limit on whom you count as near.
THE ROOT
δικαιῶσαι ἑαυτόν
dikaiōsai heauton
GROWS FROM
δικαιόω (dikaioō), from δίκαιος (dikaios)
To declare or show as just or right; to establish as aligned.
“justify himself” in this verse is dikaiōsai heauton. Luke places the man’s wish to establish himself as aligned beside his question about who counts as near. The question about the neighbour is bound up with his attempt to vindicate himself.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, right, aligned.
δίκαιος
This is the quality the man wants to establish in himself.
dikaiosynē: Justice, righteousness, alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
The related noun shows that his question about the neighbour sits inside a question of what alignment means.
πλησίον
plēsion
GROWS FROM
πέλας
Near, nearby, at hand.
The Greek word carries the sense of nearness within the word translated “neighbour.” The question is therefore about where a person draws the boundary around who is close enough to count.
ALSO GROWS
plēsion: Near, nearby; a neighbour.
πλησίον
The person called a neighbour is, at the word’s center, someone near.
plēsiázō: To approach, come near.
πλησιάζω
The related verb makes nearness a movement toward someone, not only a category assigned to them.
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes nearness visible through love enacted toward another, while self-vindication asks where the circle ends.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.THE THREAD
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.Luke uses the same Greek verb family for the man’s wish to justify himself here and for the tax collector being “justified” there. The echo sharpens the tension between self-vindication and the standing described in the parable.
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