Luke 10.25-37

God’s people ought to be able to disagree without rancor or violence. However, if a disagreement leads to one party being harmed, then Hebrew Law held the other party responsible for opportunity costs and expenses involved with the injured man’s healing. The transgressor would have to lay out a not inconsiderable amount of his own money to restore the man he had injured. Here is another example of restorative justice, the responsibility laid upon a transgressor to restore the just state of things which was upset by his sin.

These stiff penalties also, we might suppose, would serve to keep tempers in check during a dispute. We can also see how a statute like this could be employed for harm inflicted against one’s reputation. Laws today protecting against libel and slander are ultimately grounded in the principle contained in this statute.

One thing more: We are our neighbor’s keeper, as the parable of the good Samaritan demonstrates. He was not the cause of this man’s affliction, but he took up the responsibility to see to his healing with his own resources. Jesus commended him for this, thus elaborating the spirit of this statute beyond the mere letter of it.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.