Luke 10:31

Now by chance ¹  a priest was going down that road, but ²  when he saw the injured man ³  he passed by ⁴  on the other side. ⁵ 

Ru 2:3; 2Sa 1:6; Job 6:14-21; Ps 38:10,11; Ps 69:20; Ps 142:4; Pr 21:13; Pr 24:11,12; Ec 9:11; Jer 5:31; Ho 5:1; Ho 6:9; Mal 1:10; Jas 2:13-16; 1Jo 3:16-18

¹ sn The phrase by chance adds an initial note of hope and fortune to the expectation in the story.

² 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.

³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ 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.

⁵ sn The text suggests that the priest went out of his way (on the other side) not to get too close to the scene.