Samaritans, the

The people of the northern kingdom of Israel, named after its capital city established by Omri. At the time of the NT, Samaritans were despised by Jews, on account of their intermarriage with Gentiles after the fall of the northern kingdom in 721 B.C. However, the NT presents them as generally responding favourably to the gospel.

Samaria as the name of the northern kingdom

1 Kings 21:1 The entire northern kingdom is represented by the name of its royal capital, just as Jerusalem often represents Judah. See also 1 Kings 18:1–6; 2 Kings 17:24, 2 Kings 23:19; Jeremiah 31:5

Some time after these events, Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

The fall of Samaria

2 Kings 17:3–5

Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

Samaria's population deported

2 Kings 17:6–18 Sargon II of Assyria completed the siege begun by Shalmaneser V, deporting (according to his own annals) over 27,000 of Samaria's inhabitants. See also 2 Kings 18:11–12

Samaria resettled by other peoples

2 Kings 17:24 This resettlement, the first of several, led to intermarriage, and is seen by many as the origin of the Samaritans of NT times. See also Ezra 4:2, Ezra 4:9–10

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

Religion in Samaria after its fall

Syncretism arises in Samaria

2 Kings 17:25–41 Those resettled brought their own gods with them, but also worshipped the LORD as the god of the land. Ultimately these inter-mixed peoples would abandon their polytheism and would accept the law of Moses.

Some in Samaria remain faithful and still make pilgrimage to Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 30:10–11 See also 2 Chronicles 30:1, 2 Chronicles 34:9; Jeremiah 41:4–5

And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them. Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

Samaritans and the restoration of Jerusalem

Samaritans offer to rebuild the temple with the returning exiles but are rejected

Ezra 4:1–5 The response of the Samaritans to this rejection, based on the Jews' desire to keep the faith pure, reflects the double-mindedness of their offer.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build. They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ongoing opposition from the Samaritans to the work of the returned exiles

See also Ezra 4:6, Ezra 4:7–23

Samaria's religious background by the time of the NT

Samaria had established its own temple

John 4:20 The Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. It was later destroyed by the Jews, which led to a hardening of attitudes between the two groups.

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Samaritan Scriptures contained only the Pentateuch

John 4:22 Jesus Christ highlights the limited revelation of the Samaritans. Since their Scriptures contained only the Pentateuch, they were expecting a Messiah that they could know little about.

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Samaritan and Jewish attitudes to one another

John 4:9 Samaritans were seen as being very lax in their religious observance, and Jews would not therefore share drinking vessels with them. By NT times the gulf between Jew and Samaritan was quite wide and bitter. See also Luke 9:51–56 The three-day journey from Galilee to Jerusalem involved overnight accommodation, which the Samaritans generally refused, causing many Jews to travel on the eastern side of the Jordan.

“You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Samaritans and the ministry of Jesus Christ

Initially Jesus Christ instructs his disciples not to go to the Samaritans

Matthew 10:5–6

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

Jesus Christ tells a parable about a good Samaritan

Luke 10:30–37 For the Jews, the concept of a “good” Samaritan would have seemed very strange; but Jesus Christ shows that love and faith is not restricted to Israel's boundaries.

Samaria and the ministry of the early first Christians

The risen Christ includes Samaria in the church's mission

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The church takes the gospel to Samaria

Acts 8:1 See also Acts 8:4–13, Acts 8:25

And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

The apostles pray for the gift of the Spirit for the Samaritan converts

Acts 8:14–17 The delay in their reception of the Spirit until the apostles came from Jerusalem may have been God's way of removing the old Jewish-Samaritan divide in the infant church.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The Samaritan church grows

Acts 9:31

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.