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The Conversation
The Conversation
Terry Giles, Professor of Theology, Gannon University

We praise people as ‘Good Samaritans,’ but there’s a complex history behind the phrase

Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank. Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua via Getty Images

“Good Samaritan” is a label often used to describe someone acting selflessly to benefit others, even if a total stranger.

Some may recognize that the phrase has its origin in a biblical story, one of Jesus’ parables recounted in the Book of Luke, Chapter 10. In this story, a traveler from the Samaritan community, a Middle Eastern ethnic and religious group, happens upon a man who had been robbed and beaten by the side of the road.

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