Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Desiring to justify himself (qelwn dikaiwsai eauton). The lawyer saw at once that he had convicted himself of asking a question that he already knew. In his embarrassment he asks another question to show that he did have some point at first:
And who is my neighbour? (kai tiv estin mou plhsion). The Jews split hairs over this question and excluded from "neighbour" Gentiles and especially Samaritans. So here was his loop-hole. A neighbour is a nigh dweller to one, but the Jews made racial exceptions as many, alas, do today. The word plhsion here is an adverb (neuter of the adjective plhsiov) meaning o plhsion wn (the one who is near), but wn was usually not expressed and the adverb is here used as if a substantive.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Matthew 5:43
John 9:36
Galatians 5:14
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