Letter and spirit of the law by God. Not all Pharisees, nor all Jews of that time, were legalistic. Though modern language has used the word Pharisee in the pejorative to describe someone who is legalistic and rigid, it is not an accurate description of all Pharisees. The argument over the "Spirit of the Law" vs. the "Letter of the Law" was part of early Jewish dialogue as well The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is one of the New Testament texts to address this theme. The passage concerns a dialogue between Jesus and an "expert in the law" or "lawyer". As described in
Parable of the Good Samaritan centuries by Chrysostom in Constantinople, Ambrose in Milan, and Augustine in North Africa. This interpretation is found most completely in two other medieval stained-glass windows, in the French cathedrals at Bourges and Sens." The allegorical interpretation is also traditional in the Orthodox Church. John Newton refers to the allegorical interpretation in his hymn "How Kind the Good Samaritan," which begins: <poem> How kind the good Samaritan To him who fell among the thieves! Thus Jesus pities fallen man, And heals the wounds the soul receives.</poem> Robert Funk also suggests that Jesus' Jewish listeners were to identify with the robbed and