Strategisches Erzählen und Strategiewechsel im Umfeld neutestamentlicher Erzähltexte. Das lukanische Gleichnis vom barmherzigen Samariter als Anschauungsbeispiel

Abstract

Modern biblical scholarship (of the post-war era) has shown that the narrative traditions that underlie the canonical gospels are very adaptive as they have been tailored to suit different communicative situations. In this context Luke’s The Good Samaritan represents an object case for study. Luke has clearly revised and strategically reworked the parable by inserting it into a narrative frame that features a dialogue between Jesus and a Jewish teacher of the law. While the parable (inserted narrative) questions Jewish resentments and prejudices against the Samaritans through confronting the Jewish scholar with the exemplary behaviour of the foreigner, the frame narrative serves to warn Christian recipients against being too hasty in looking down on Jewish authorities. This corresponds to Luke’s oeuvre as a whole (gospel and book of acts), which is characterized by a remarkably nuanced and realistic representation of the Jewish authorities of his time.