31, 32. came down a . . . priest . . . and a Levite--Jericho, the
second city of Judea, was a city of the priests and Levites, and
thousands of them lived there. The two here mentioned are supposed,
apparently, to be returning from temple duties, but they had not
learnt what that meaneth, 'I will have mercy and not sacrifice'
[TRENCH].
saw him--It was not inadvertently that he acted.
came and looked--a further aggravation.
passed by--although the law expressly required the opposite treatment
even of the beast not only of their brethren, but of their
enemy
(De 22:4;
Ex 23:4, 5;
compare
Isa 58:7).
JFB.
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