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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 10:31 - 10:31
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31. κατὰ συγκυρίαν. ‘By coincidence.’ i.e. at the same time. The word ‘chance’ (τύχη) does not occur in Scripture. The nearest approach to it is the participle τυχὸν in 1Co 15:37 (if τυγχάνοντα be omitted in Luk 10:30). ‘Chance,’ to the sacred writers, as to the most thoughtful of the Greeks, is ‘the daughter of Forethought:’ it is “God’s unseen Providence, by men nicknamed Chance” (Fuller). “Many good opportunities work under things which seem fortuitous.” Bengel. The rare word συγκυρία is, like others used by St Luke, found chiefly in the writings of Hippocrates.
ἱερεύς τις. His official duties at Jerusalem were over, and he was on his way back to his home in the priestly city of Jericho. Perhaps the uselessness of his external service is implied. In superstitious attention to the letter, he was wholly blind to the spirit, Deu 22:1-4. See 1Jn 3:17. He was selfishly afraid of risk, trouble, and ceremonial defilement, and, since no one was there to know of his conduct, he was thus led to neglect the traditional kindness of Jews towards their own countrymen (Tac. Hist. Luk 10:5; Juv. XIV. 103, 104), as well as the positive rules of the Law (Deu 22:4) and the Prophets (Isa 58:7).
ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐκείνῃ. ‘On that road.’ It is emphatically mentioned, because there was another road to Jericho which was safer, and therefore more frequently used.