Semeia 2: The Good Samaritan

by John Dominic Crossan

Publisher:

Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)

, 1974

Overview

Semeia is an experimental journal devoted to the exploration of new and emergent areas and methods of biblical criticism. Studies employing the methods, models, and findings of linguistics, folklore studies, contemporary literary criticism, structuralism, social anthropology, and other such disciplines and approaches, are invited. Although experimental in both form and content, Semeia proposes to publish work that reflects a well defined methodology that is appropriate to the material being interpreted.

Key Features

• Key perspectives on biblical criticsim
• Includes bibliographies and index

Contents

Top Highlights

“The parable therefore forces upon its hearers the question: who among you will permit himself to be served by a Samaritan? In a general way it can be replied: only those who have nothing to lose by so doing can afford to do so. But note that the victim in the ditch is given only a passive rôle in the story. Permission to be served by the Samaritan is thus inability to resist. Put differently, all who are truly victims, truly disinherited, have no choice but to give themselves up to mercy.” (Page 79)

“The parable is therefore also an invitation to comport oneself as the story indicates: it does not suggest that one behave as a good neighbor like the Samaritan, but that one become the victim in the ditch who is helped by an enemy.” (Page 79)

“two types of narrative structure: semiotic, or the forms of the signifier, and semantic, or the forms of the signified” (Page 1)

“Jesus is asked: who is my neighbor? He answers: a neighbor is someone who helps another person in need.” (Page 76)

“If the parable is not grasped as (extended) metaphor the reader will then look for a teaching or a theme rather than for a revelatory shock of insight.” (Page 137)

Contributors

• Georges Crespy
• John Dominic Crossan
• William G. Doty
• Robert W. Funk
• Daniel Patte
• Robert Tannehill
• Dan O. Via, Jr.
• Amos N. Wilder

Product Details

• Title: Semeia 2: The Good Samaritan
• Editor: John Dominic Crossan
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
• Publication Date: 1974
• Pages: 193

About John Dominic Crossan

John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus at DePaul University, is widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Historical Jesus and Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. He lives in Minneola, Florida.