Who Were the Samaritans in the Bible?

Understanding John 4:9, 2 Kings 17:24-41, Luke 10:25-37

The Samaritans occupy a unique and crucial place in the biblical narrative. Understanding who they were — and why Jews despised them — unlocks some of the most powerful stories in the New Testament, including the Good Samaritan parable and Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well.

Historical origins (2 Kings 17)

The story begins with the Assyrian conquest. In 722 BC, the Assyrian empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported most of its population. The Assyrians then resettled foreign peoples from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim into the land of Samaria (2 Kings 17:24).

These foreign settlers intermarried with the remaining Israelites, creating a mixed population. They also blended religious practices: 'They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought' (2 Kings 17:33).

From the Jewish perspective, this mixed ancestry and syncretistic religion was a fundamental corruption. The Samaritans were viewed as half-breeds who had polluted the faith of Israel.

The religious divide

The hostility deepened over centuries:

The temple dispute — When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile (539 BC) and began rebuilding the Jerusalem temple, the Samaritans offered to help. Zerubbabel rejected them: 'You have no part with us in building a temple to our God' (Ezra 4:3). The Samaritans then actively opposed the rebuilding.

In response, the Samaritans eventually built their own temple on Mount Gerizim (near modern Nablus) — a rival worship center to Jerusalem. This was the ultimate act of schism. When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman, she raised this exact issue: 'Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem' (John 4:20).

In 128 BC, the Jewish king John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim — an act of profound humiliation that Samaritans have never forgotten.

Scripture dispute — The Samaritans accepted only the Torah (the five books of Moses) as Scripture, rejecting the Prophets and Writings that Jews considered authoritative. Their version of the Torah (the Samaritan Pentateuch) differed in places from the Jewish text — most notably, Deuteronomy 27:4 reads 'Mount Gerizim' where the Jewish text reads 'Mount Ebal,' supporting the Samaritan claim that Gerizim was God's chosen mountain.

The depth of the hatred

By Jesus' time, the Jewish-Samaritan hostility was intense and mutual:

• Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee would often take a longer route through the Jordan Valley to avoid passing through Samaria
• The Jewish Talmud recorded: 'He that eats the bread of the Samaritans is like to one that eats the flesh of swine'
• Jews and Samaritans did not share drinking vessels (which is why the Samaritan woman was shocked when Jesus asked for water — John 4:9)
• 'Samaritan' was used as an insult: Jesus' opponents said, 'Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?' (John 8:48)
• In one incident, Samaritans refused to welcome Jesus simply because he was heading toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:52-53)

Jesus and the Samaritans — The radical encounters:

1. The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42)

This is one of the longest recorded conversations Jesus had with any individual. He deliberately 'had to go through Samaria' (John 4:4) — a route most Jews avoided. He spoke with a Samaritan woman alone (violating both ethnic and gender conventions). He asked her for water (accepting ritual impurity). He revealed her personal history ('You have had five husbands'). And He revealed His identity to her — a Samaritan, a woman, an outcast — before He publicly declared it in Jerusalem.

When the woman raised the Gerizim vs. Jerusalem debate, Jesus transcended the entire argument: 'A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth' (John 4:21-23).

The result: 'Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him' (John 4:39). Jesus spent two days there. The Samaritans declared: 'We know that this man really is the Savior of the world' (4:42) — notably, 'the world,' not just Israel.

2. The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

When a Jewish expert in the law asked Jesus, 'Who is my neighbor?' Jesus told a parable in which a Jewish man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead. A Jewish priest and a Levite both pass by without helping. But a Samaritan — the last person a Jewish audience would expect to be the hero — stopped, bound the man's wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his care.

Jesus then asked: 'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?' The lawyer could not even bring himself to say 'the Samaritan.' He answered: 'The one who had mercy on him.' Jesus said: 'Go and do likewise.'

The parable's power depends entirely on the ethnic hostility. Jesus deliberately made the despised outsider the moral hero — a direct assault on Jewish ethnic and religious superiority.

3. The Grateful Leper (Luke 17:11-19)

Jesus healed ten lepers. Only one returned to give thanks — and Luke pointedly notes: 'He was a Samaritan' (17:16). Jesus asked: 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Once again, the outsider shows greater faith than the insiders.

4. The mission to Samaria (Acts 1:8, 8:4-25)

Jesus' final commission explicitly included Samaria: 'You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8). Samaria was not an afterthought — it was step two in the gospel's expansion.

Philip went to Samaria and 'proclaimed the Messiah there' (Acts 8:5). 'When they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women' (8:12). Peter and John came from Jerusalem, laid hands on the Samaritan believers, and they received the Holy Spirit — confirming that Samaritans were fully included in the new community of faith.

The Samaritans today

Remarkably, a small Samaritan community still exists — approximately 800 people living near Mount Gerizim and in the city of Holon, Israel. They maintain the Samaritan Pentateuch, observe Passover with animal sacrifice on Mount Gerizim, and consider themselves the true descendants of ancient Israel. They are one of the smallest and oldest religious communities in the world.

Why the Samaritans matter:

1. Jesus crossed every boundary — ethnic, religious, gender, social — to reach people considered beyond God's concern. The Samaritan encounters are not minor episodes; they are programmatic statements about the gospel's universal scope.

2. The 'enemy' can be the hero — The Good Samaritan parable permanently challenges every community's tendency to define 'neighbor' by ethnicity, religion, or social status.

3. Worship transcends location — Jesus' declaration to the Samaritan woman ('neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem') ended the age of sacred geography. True worship is 'in Spirit and in truth' — not bound to any place, temple, or tradition.

4. The gospel's expansion pattern — Acts 1:8 (Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → the ends of the earth) shows that the gospel deliberately crosses social barriers in concentric circles. Samaria was the first barrier — the most difficult, because the hostility was so personal and so old.