10:37a
The one who showed him mercy: There is an ellipsis here. The full clause is:
⌊His neighbor was⌋ the one who had mercy on him.
-or-
The one who had mercy on him ⌊was his neighbor⌋.
Use a clause structure that is natural in your language for answering a question like this.
showed him mercy: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as showed him mercy means “acted mercifully toward him.” Some other ways to say this are:
The one who had mercy on him. (New International Version)
-or-
The one who showed pity towards him. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The one who was kind enough to help him. (God’s Word)
10:37b
In this part of the verse Jesus responded to the answer that the law expert gave him. Jesus’ response showed that he agreed with the answer. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:
Yes, now go… (New Living Translation (2004))
Go and do likewise: In Greek, the clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Go and do likewise is literally “Go and/also you do likewise.” The Greek pronoun “you” is emphatic. The meaning of the clause is probably that the lawyer also should act in the same way as the Samaritan had. Consider whether your language has a natural way to express this emphasis. For example:
You go, then, and do the same. (Good News Translation)
-or-
⌊I agree.⌋ As for you, you should also go and follow his example.
Go: Jesus did not say where the law expert was to Go. He probably meant “go on your way.” Translate this command in a way that does not sound disrespectful or harsh.
do likewise: The Greek command that the Berean Standard Bible translates as do likewise means “act in the same way” or “follow his/this example.” For example:
do what he did (New Century Version)
-or-
imitate his example (God’s Word)
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