Sometimes an inkeeper is just an inkeeper

In Interpreting the Parables Craig Blomberg steers a middle course between the excessive allegorizing that characterized the first nineteen centuries of interpretation, and the overly realistic (de-allegorizing) approach advocated by most 20th century scholars. As an example of the first I had to chuckle at this bit of creative exegesis.

St. Augustine provided the classic example of ancient allegorizing with his interpretation of the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37): the wounded man stands for Adam; Jerusalem, the heavenly city from which he has fallen; the thieves, the devil who deprives Adam of his immortality; the priest and Levite, the Old Testament Law which could save no one; the Samaritan who binds the man's wounds, Christ who forgives sin; the inn, the church; and the inkeeper, the apostle Paul!