Scripture · John 1:5
Luke 10:33–34 · The Good Samaritan lifting the wounded man
The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix)
But a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
The Samaritan bends beneath another man’s weight. In Van Gogh’s version of Delacroix’s composition, mercy fills the foreground as a difficult physical task: getting the injured traveler onto an animal.
What does The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) show?
The helper braces his legs and lifts with his back and arms. The wounded man leans across him, one arm around his shoulder, while the animal waits at the right. An open box lies at the lower left; farther away, two small figures continue along the winding path.
Yellow clothing presses against the cool blues of the hillside and the wounded man’s trousers. Van Gogh worked from a black-and-white reproduction of Delacroix’s painting and made his own interpretation in color. The repeated, curving brushstrokes carry the strain of the bodies into the surrounding landscape.
Featured in: Was Van Gogh a Christian? His Faith in 11 Paintings, and the Café Terrace “Last Supper”
What does Luke 10:33–34 mean?
In Luke 10, a priest and a Levite see the injured traveler and pass on the other side. The person who stops is a Samaritan. The strained relations between Jews and Samaritans, also visible in John 4:9, give that choice an edge: help arrives from across a social and religious divide.
Compassion then becomes a sequence of actions. The Samaritan approaches, treats the wounds, puts the man on his own animal, and takes him to an inn. Van Gogh concentrates on the difficult transfer of the body. The helper’s braced legs and bent back give mercy a physical cost before the story reaches its expense in money and time.
The parable began with a question about who counts as a neighbor. Jesus ends by asking which person acted as one, and tells His questioner to do likewise. The painting holds us at that point of action, where the wounded man’s need has become someone else’s responsibility.
Luke 10:34 names the action Van Gogh makes us watch: placing an injured stranger on one’s own animal.
Sources
Kröller-Müller Museum — Google Arts & Culture. Museum-supplied image and record: May 1890, materials, dimensions, and interpretation after Delacroix.
Luke 10 — Berean Standard Bible. The Samaritan’s compassion and practical care.
John 4 — Berean Standard Bible. Verse 9 makes the division between Jews and Samaritans explicit; read beside the neighbor question in Luke 10.
Also from Luke:The Angel Appearing to ZachariasAnnunciation
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