Abstract
Rather than functioning as a cipher for gentile inclusion, the “good Samaritan” in the Lukan parable (Luke 10:30–35) contributes to a vision of the restoration of “biblical Israel.” We argue that Luke has a comprehensive vision for Israel’s restoration in his two-volume work: restoration that includes Samaria and Samaritans. Our exploration takes its impetus from the work of Matthew Chalmers (JBL, 2020) and gains traction from historical reconstructions of first-century Jewish-Samaritan relations and from a narrative reading of Samaritans across Luke and Acts. By addressing each reference to Samaria or Samaritans in Luke-Acts, we demonstrate that Luke consistently envisions Samaritans as part of Israel, even as their presence in the narrative represents the contested boundaries of the people of God. Reading the parable of the Good Samaritan in this light suggests that its primary focus is ecclesiological (who belongs to God’s people) and is, only secondarily, ethical (how God’s people should live).
