Keraia
Glossary

Samaritans

The Samaritans and the Jews were related peoples. Both groups came from the ancient Israelites, but over time they became separate. They worshiped in different places and had some different customs. The Samaritans lived north of Judea and south of Galilee. They often had conflict with their Jewish neighbors. Many Jews looked down on this group, but Jesus treated them in a very different way.

Preview

  • Origins of the Sect

  • Relations Between the Samaritans and the Jews

  • Samaritan Beliefs

  • Jesus and the Samaritans

  • Samaria in the Mission of the Early Church

Origins of the Sect

It is hard to know exactly when the Samaritan group began. It is also hard to know when they fully separated from Judaism.

The Old Testament explains their beginning in 2 Kings 17, which says the Samaritans came from foreign peoples who were moved into the land after Assyria defeated Israel in 722 BC. The king of Assyria removed many Israelites from the land. Then he brought in people from Babylon, Cuthah, and other nations to live there. These people worshiped the Lord, the God of Israel, but they also continued to worship idols. Because of this, 2 Kings 17 presents their worship of God as only outward worship, not true faithfulness to him.

The Samaritans explain their beginning in a very different way. They say they come from the Jewish tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (see John 4:12). They also say that Assyria did not remove all the Israelites from the land in 722 BC. In their view, this exile was not complete or permanent.

To explain the hostility between them and the Jews, the Samaritans claim the Jews turned away from true worship during the time of Eli. They believe the Jews set up false places of worship instead of staying faithful to Mount Gerizim, which the Samaritans believed was the only holy place. Because of this, the Samaritans see themselves as true Israelites. They believe they are true Israelites both by family descent and by their way of worship.

Assyrian records from this time confirm that people were moved into and out of the northern kingdom. But it seems that Assyria did not remove all the Israelites from the land (see 2 Chronicles 34:9). This suggests that two groups lived in the land:

  • the Israelites who had not been sent into exile, and

  • the foreign people who had been brought into the land.

Over time, many of these foreign people began to follow the faith of the native Israelites. However, in the early period, they likely mixed the worship of the Lord with the worship of other gods. This is called syncretism.

Relations between the Samaritans and the Jews

The Samaritans lived in the north, near Mount Gerizim, Shechem, and Samaria. Mount Gerizim was their holy mountain. The Jews lived in Judea and, later, in Galilee. The relationship between these groups was often tense, though the level of conflict changed over time. This tension was connected to the old conflict between the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. It began again when Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem after the edict of Cyrus, the Persian ruler, around 538 BC.

At that time, Sanballat governed the whole southern area from Samaria in the north. He was a local ruler in Palestine under Persian authority. The returning exiles planned to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This was a clear political threat to Sanballat’s leadership in the north (Ezra 4:7–24; Nehemiah 4:1–9).

At first, the opposition was political. Later, it became religious. This may have happened in the fifth century BC, when a rival temple was built on Mount Gerizim.

One example of Jewish hostility toward the Samaritans comes from Sirach 50:25–26. The book Sirach was written around 200 BC. In this passage, the Samaritans are described as less honorable than the Edomites and Philistines. They are also called a “foolish people” (see also Testament of Levi 7:2).

Jewish dislike for the Samaritans grew during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Around 167 BC, he tried to spread Greek religious practices in the area. Some Jews resisted when the Jerusalem temple was changed into a temple for Zeus, a Greek god (1 Maccabees 1:62–64). Later, they joined the Maccabees in a revolt against Antiochus (1 Maccabees 2:42–43). But some sources suggest that the Samaritans did not resist Antiochus in the same way (see 1 Maccabees 6:2). This increased Jewish anger toward them.

The conflict reached its worst point during the short period of Jewish independence under the Hasmoneans. During this time, the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus attacked Shechem. He conquered the city and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim around 128 BC.

Samaria became more successful under Herod the Great. But the Samaritans and Jews in Judea and Galilee still had strong hostility toward each other. The Samaritans believed the Jerusalem temple was a false place of worship. The Jerusalem leaders also did not allow them to enter the inner courts of the temple. Around AD 6, a group of Samaritans made the Jerusalem temple unclean. They spread human bones in the temple porches and sanctuary during Passover. Galilean Jews also sometimes faced hostility when they traveled through Samaria to Jerusalem for the feasts (Luke 9:51–53).

This hostility continued in the time of Jesus. Each group kept the other group away from its holy place. For the Jews, this was the temple in Jerusalem. For the Samaritans, it was the temple on Mount Gerizim. For example, the Samaritans could not enter the inner courts of the Jerusalem temple. If they brought an offering, the Jewish leaders treated it as an offering from a Gentile (non-Jewish person).

Because of this, the Samaritans may be better described as a group separated from Judaism. But in daily life, many Jews treated them like Gentiles. Marriage between Jews and Samaritans was forbidden. Social contact between the two groups was also strongly limited (John 4:9).

Because the two groups were kept apart in this way, their interactions were often tense. Many Jews used the word Samaritan as an insult (John 8:48). Some scribes may even have avoided saying the word directly (see the indirect reference in Luke 10:37). The disciples’ response when a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus shows this hostility. They wanted judgment to come on the village (Luke 9:51–55).

There is less evidence that Samaritans had the same attitudes toward Jews. But they likely did. So the Samaritan village in Luke 9:51–55 may not have been unusual. Other Samaritans may also have refused to welcome Jews who were traveling to Jerusalem.

Samaritan Beliefs

The main beliefs of the Samaritans show that they were close to Judaism in some ways, but different in other ways. Like the Jews, the Samaritans believed in one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is called monotheism. But the Samaritans believed that Mount Gerizim in the north was the only holy place where sacrifices should be offered. They based this belief on places where the Samaritan text of Deuteronomy and Exodus differs from the Jewish text.

Over time, the Samaritans connected Mount Gerizim with many important events in the Bible. They believed Mount Gerizim was where:

The Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Bible as inspired Scripture. These books are called the Pentateuch. They based their beliefs and practices only on these books. This smaller canon, or accepted collection of Scripture, shaped Samaritan theology. It also separated them further from Jewish thought at that time.

For example, the Samaritans honored Moses more highly than the Jews did. They saw him not only as the greatest prophet, but later Samaritan teaching also described him as:

  • the best of all people,

  • as existing before creation,

  • as speaking to God for Israel, and

  • as "the light of the world" for people.

The Samaritan hope for a Messiah also came from this smaller canon. They did not expect a Messiah from the family line of David, because the Pentateuch does not speak about that hope. Instead, they waited for a "prophet like Moses" based on Deuteronomy 18:15–18. This prophet was called the Taheb, or the Restorer. The Samaritans believed that in the last days he would restore proper worship on Mount Gerizim. They also believed he would bring the nations there to worship.

The main issue that separated the Samaritans from their Jewish neighbors was their belief about Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans believed it was the highest and most important holy place for worship.

Jesus and the Samaritans

Many Jews viewed the Samaritans as almost the same as Gentiles. Jesus seems to have shared this view in some ways. For example, Jesus called the Samaritan leper "this foreigner" (Luke 17:18). When he first sent out his disciples, he also told them not to take the message of the kingdom to the Samaritans or to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5).

But the Gospels give strong evidence that the attitude of Jesus toward the Samaritans was very different from the attitude of many Jews in his time. His disciples showed the usual Jewish hostility toward Samaritans. They wanted fire from heaven to come down on a Samaritan village that had refused to welcome Jesus but Jesus rebuked them (Luke 9:55). He also healed a Samaritan leper and praised him as the only one of 10 who thanked God (Luke 17:11–19).

Jesus also challenged common prejudice in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37). In the story, the Samaritan was the true neighbor to the man in need. The respected Jewish priest and Levite were not. In this story, as in other places, Jesus challenged the way people defined who was “righteous” and who was an “outcast.” He showed that God’s command to love others was greater than these social divisions.

John 4:4–43 tells about the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman. It also tells how Jesus stayed for two days in Sychar, a Samaritan town. In this story, Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7–9). This contact could have made him ritually unclean, according to Jewish purity rules. But Jesus still offered her the gift of salvation (John 4:10). He also offered this gift to the whole Samaritan town (John 4:39–41).

When Jesus reveals details about her marriages (John 4:16–18), she thinks he might be a prophet. The Samaritans expected a prophet like Moses, so she wonders if Jesus is their Messiah (John 4:19, 25–26). Jesus broke through the strong hostility between Jews and Samaritans. He did this by staying with people whom many Jews looked down on. He also accepted their faith in him as the "Messiah" (John 4:26) and "Savior of the world" (John 4:42).

As he often did with outcasts in Jewish society, Jesus showed that righteousness, or being right with God, does not depend on family descent or religious customs. It depends on faith in him. In this way, Jesus broke down the racial and cultural barriers of his day. He also prepared the way for the gospel (the good news about Jesus) to spread later to all nations.

Samaria in the Mission of the Early Church

Before Jesus went up to heaven, he told his disciples to take the gospel to Samaria (Acts 1:8). The early church did take the gospel to this region. After Stephen was killed for his faith, many Christians had to leave Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). One of them was Philip. He preached the gospel in the city of Samaria (Acts 8:5).

Many people responded because of the miracles Philip did. So Peter and John went from Jerusalem to Samaria. They represented the apostles in Jerusalem. They went to see what had happened and to confirm that the Holy Spirit was present among the Samaritan believers.

However, evidence from the second century AD suggests that Christianity did not become strong among the Samaritans. Most Samaritans kept their own religion. A small Samaritan community still exists today. They live near Mount Gerizim, near Shechem, and in several cities in Israel.

See also Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (Old Testament); Samaria.