The Good Samaritan

 
 

Vocabulary

trust	due (2)	suspicious
path	donkey	innkeeper
jar	nut (2)	mushroom
sack	assault	dried fruit
leap	boulder	merchandise
priest	ground	beat him up
move	wounded	lie/lay/lain
hurt	goods	cry/cried/cried (2)
moan	fix (2)	bow and arrow
still	straight	wear/wore/worn (3)
bush	struggle	shine/shone/shone
flask	hunter	manage (2)
wipe	dress (3)	steal/stole/stolen
inn	merchant	Nevertheless
care	recovery	bid farewell

 
 
 

For as long as anyone could remember, the Jews and the Samaritans were suspicious of each other. They did not like or trust one another. This was largely due to differences in their religion, language and culture.

The Merchant

One day, a Jewish merchant was leading his donkeys along a path toward town. They carried jars of honey and sacks of mushrooms, nuts and dried fruit.

Suddenly, three men leaped from behind some boulders onto the path. “Give us all your merchandise!” they said in Hebrew (the Jewish language) to the merchant.

“No, these are mine,” replied the merchant. “I’m taking them to market. If you would like them, you can buy them there.”

The three men then began assaulting the merchant. They beat him up and took all his money and the donkeys with their goods.

The merchant lay on the ground, badly wounded and unable to move.

Help Me

Sometime later, another Jewish merchant came down the road.

“Oh, please help me!” cried the first merchant. “I’m hurt and need help. Please help me — or I will die!”

Without glancing at the first merchant, the second merchant continued walking without stopping.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

Then, a person dressed as Jewish priest came by.

The merchant moaned for help.

The priest also pasted the merchant with his eyes fixed straight down the road.

The Bright Sun

The day wore on. The sky was clear and the sun shone.

Then a Samaritan hunter carrying a bow and arrow and a large knife came down the road.

As the hunter came neared, the merchant struggled to move into the bushes, but he could not manage, and so lay still.

The hunter ran up to the merchant.

“NO!” cried the merchant.
“What happened to you?” said the hunter in the Samaritan language.

Though they could not understand each other, the hunter gave the merchant some water from his flask. He wiped and dressed his wounds. Then the hunter helped the merchant onto his feet.

Together they slowly walked into town.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

The Inn

When they got there, the hunter brought the merchant to an inn.

“But I have no money; it was all stolen,” said the merchant.

Nevertheless, the hunter brought him inside. The hunter explained what had happened to the innkeeper and gave her some money.

And with that, the hunter bid the merchant farewell and left.

Under the care of the innkeeper, another Samaritan, the Jewish merchant soon made a full recovery.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1. The Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along with each other. True or false?

2. What was the Jewish merchant doing? What did he have? Where was he going?

3. Did the merchant sell his goods in the town market? Why couldn’t he sell his merchandise in the market?

4. Everyone helped the injured merchant. Is this correct or incorrect?

5. Did the Samaritan hunter take the Jewish merchant back home?

6. There an irony or paradox in this story. Is this right or wrong?

7. Is there a moral or lesson in this story?

 
 

A. Does this sound familiar? Have you heard it before?

B. Are there any ethnic tensions in your neighborhood, city, country?

C. All my friends are the same ethnicity as me. Yes or no?

D. Is there a lot of cooperation, collaboration and partnerships among different ethnicities and nationalities?

E. What will happen in the future?