What Bible story was President George W. Bush invoking when he spoke about the Jericho Road in his first inaugural address?

Answer 1

"And the speech he delivered today lingered longest on a promise to care -- for the poor and the vulnerable, for new immigrants and all children."

''I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side,'' he said, referring to the Bible story of the good Samaritan in a 15-minute speech that included 10 religious references."

See "THE INAUGURATION: THE SPEECH; In His Address, Bush Lingers on a Promise to Care"

SEE President George W. Bush 2001 Inaugural Address

Note: This story had been invoked before.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, on the day before his death, described the road as follows:

I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about twelve hundred feet above sea level [actually about 2100 feet or 640 metres. And by the time you get down to Jericho fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about twenty-two feet [7 m] below sea level. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"

Answer 2

President George W. Bush was referring to the Parable of the Good Samaritan from The Bible when he invoked the "Jericho Road" in his first inaugural address. The story emphasizes the importance of helping those in need and displaying compassion for others, regardless of their background or circumstances. Bush alluded to this parable to encourage a sense of unity and responsibility among Americans.