Another name for someone who selflessly helps others.
This term originates from the parable told by Jesus in the Bible about a Samaritan (a man from a country called Samaria) who helps out a Jewish man who is ambushed by theives and left to die. This was all the more selfless of an act considering that the Jewish and Samaritan people in those times usually did not associate with each other. This story was told in response to a question concerning the scriptural mandate to "love thy neighbor as thyself". According to the story, a man asked "Who is my neighbor?" and the moral of the parable is that everyone is really your neighbor (meaning you should help anyone you see in need).
Today a Good Samaritan is usually someone who goes out on a limb to help others, even if they are complete strangers.
Ex. An anonymous good Samaritan rescued a child from the river yesterday, but left the area before he could be thanked.
When someone intervenes in a situation and makes things worse. For example, you are in a store and it's suddenly taken over by robbers. Instead of surrendering or stopping the robbers, you offer to help them rob the store. That would be a bad samaritan, a very bad samaritan.
The last words of christ, saidjust before he died. Can be said by others when they feel they have been let down. Translation to English is
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
"And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" ... And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the curtain of the Temple see Temples was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that He thus breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:33-34,37-39 RSV)