What Does Luke 10:33 Mean in the King James?
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
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
The Samaritan’s compassion is an inward movement: seeing the wounded man stirs him from deep within.
THE MEANING
The one who seems least likely to draw near becomes the one whose seeing reaches the wounded man. His need does not remain distant or abstract; it moves the Samaritan inwardly, even before the care that follows. The verse shows compassion beginning when another’s suffering is truly seen.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that compassion belongs only within one’s own circle: here, a stranger’s pain stirs care in someone marked as an outsider.
THE ROOT
ἐσπλαγχνίσθη
esplagchnisthē
GROWS FROM
σπλαγχν-
splagchn-
The Greek stem is tied to the inner organs, the vital inward parts.
“had compassion” in this verse is esplagchnisthē. English “compassion” can sound like a feeling held at a distance, but this Greek word carries the image of the inward parts being moved. The Samaritan’s seeing and compassion belong together: the wounded man’s need reaches him within.
ALSO GROWS
splagchnon: Inner parts; inward organs.
σπλάγχνον
This noun gives the verb its visceral image: compassion rises from deep within.
eusplagchnos: Tenderhearted; compassionate.
εὔσπλαγχνος
The same inward-parts stem describes tenderness, linking compassion to a heart moved toward another’s need.
THE PATTERN
Seeing another’s distress can open into compassion that draws near.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.THE THREAD
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.The verb translated “had compassion” is the same Greek verb, σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai), “to be moved with compassion,” used for the Samaritan. In both scenes, seeing opens into an inward movement toward the person who is suffering.
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