Samaritans

Origins of the Samaritans

After Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, it deported much of the Israelite population and resettled the region with foreign peoples 'from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim' (2 Kings 17:24), who intermarried with the Israelites left behind and adopted a mixed form of worship, honoring the LORD alongside other gods (2 Kings 17:29-41). Their descendants, centered in Samaria, developed their own version of the Torah and eventually built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim rather than worshiping at Jerusalem — a centuries-deep dispute over both bloodline purity and correct worship that hardened into the mutual hostility the New Testament assumes as background.

Samaritans in Jesus's Ministry

Jesus repeatedly and deliberately crosses this hostile boundary. He engages a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in a lengthy theological conversation, offering her 'living water' despite a mutual custom that 'Jews have no dealings with Samaritans' (John 4:1-26), and many Samaritans from that town come to believe in him as a result (John 4:39-42). His most famous parable makes a Samaritan, not a priest or Levite, the story's hero — the one who actually shows mercy to a wounded traveler (Luke 10:25-37), a deliberately provocative choice given his Jewish audience's contempt for Samaritans. Of ten lepers Jesus heals, only one returns to give thanks — 'and he was a Samaritan' (Luke 17:11-19). After the resurrection, Jesus names Samaria specifically as a place the gospel must reach (Acts 1:8), a mission Philip the Evangelist carries out with notable success (Acts 8:4-25).

Scripture references

• 2 Kings 17:24-41 — Assyrian resettlement and mixed origin of the Samaritans
• John 4:1-42 — Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well
• Luke 10:25-37 — The parable of the good Samaritan
• Acts 8:4-25 — Philip the Evangelist preaches successfully in Samaria

Further reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Samaritan