Luke 10:31

10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side.

sn The phrase by chance adds an initial note of hope and fortune to the expectation in the story.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the priest’s expected action (helping the victim) and what he really did.

tn Grk “him”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn It is not said why the priest passed by and refused to help. It is not relevant to the point of the parable that no help was given in the emergency situation.

sn The text suggests that the priest went out of his way (on the other side) not to get too close to the scene.