Luke 10:35

Two pence. That is, two Roman denarii, now worth perhaps 22 cents, but then equivalent to two days’ wages (see p. 49).

Host. Gr. pandocheus, “an innkeeper”; that is, one who operates a pandocheion (see on v. 34).

When I come again. Probably on the return journey. The confidence the innkeeper seems to have had in the Samaritan may imply that the latter was a businessman who frequently passed through Jericho and was known to the innkeeper.

I will repay. The Greek stresses “I.” The “two pence” were merely a down payment.

It would no doubt be several days before the injured traveler would recuperate sufficiently to continue on his way (see v. 30). In view of this, the kind Samaritan assumes full responsibility for the stranger. He might have reasoned that the incident occurred in Judea, that the man was probably a Jew, and that the innkeeper was a Jew, and that therefore he, as a Samaritan, had discharged his responsibility. But not so. The Samaritan’s interest was more than momentary; he did even more than he could have been expected to do. His interest in the stranger continued even beyond the minimum obligation any passer-by might reasonably be expected to assume.