ABSTRACT
This chapter reads the Gospel of Luke as a test case in a search for the ambiguous and intersecting figure of the neighbor, in conjunction with recent interdisciplinary neighbor research. In particular, I ask for what function of the neighbor this is important, but also I want to see how the neighbor is evaluated, whether good or bad, angel or monster. The story of the Good Samaritan, starting with the core question “Who is my neighbor?” is clearly given significant attention, as it plays such an important role in New Testament scholarship and the overall neighbor discourse. Neighbors are favorite characters in parables who dine and celebrate with friends and relatives. Both men and women can be neighbors, and probably also slaves, children and the disabled. Toward the end of the chapter, I look at one specific text in detail which presents an intersectional neighborhood. This serves to get some idea about what role neighbors played in the everyday life of the ancient world and how they were evaluated. Neighbor turns out to be a complex figure, both the abstract fellow human being and the concrete person living next door.
