Israelite and Samaritan Conflict in the Old Testament
The conflict between Israelites and Samaritans has deep historical roots, stemming from the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE. After Shalmaneser's final captivity of Israel, the cities of Samaria were largely depopulated [3]. Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, subsequently brought people from Babylon and other regions to settle in Samaria, replacing the original inhabitants [4]. These new settlers intermarried with the remaining Israelites, forming a mixed population that became known as Samaritans [4, 8].
Over time, these new inhabitants gradually abandoned their original idolatry and adopted aspects of the Jewish religion [4]. However, after the return of the Judeans from Babylonian captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow the Samaritans to participate in worship at the Jerusalem temple [4, 5]. This refusal led to a significant schism, with the Samaritans separating entirely and building their own temple on Mount Gerizim [5, 8]. This Samaritan temple was later destroyed more than a century before the time of Christ [5]. Despite this, the Samaritans maintained a system of worship centered on the Law, preserving their own version of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) [5, 6, 8].
The animosity between Jews and Samaritans was pronounced by the time of Jesus. Josephus records a quarrel between the two groups, noting that Galileans traveling to Jerusalem for festivals would often pass through Samaritan territory [1, 2]. The depth of this animosity is highlighted in the New Testament, where a Samaritan is depicted as an unexpected helper in a parable, a reversal that would have astonished Jewish listeners [8, 9]. The Samaritans were considered a "despised" people by Jews [8]. While early Samaritans were descendants of Jacob, the Samaritans in Jesus' time were viewed as a "corrupted race" due to their mixed origins [10]. The refusal of the Jews to allow Samaritans to assist in rebuilding the temple after the exile is explicitly mentioned as a point of contention by Ezra [7].
Sources
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 6, section 1: . How There Happened A Quarrel Between The Jews And The Samaritans; And How Claudius Put An End To Their Differences.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 6, section 1: . How There Happened A Quarrel Between The Jews And The Samaritans; And How Claudius Put An End To Their Differences. 1. Now there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews on the occasion following: It was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the Samaritans; 11 and at this time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was called Ginea, which was situated in the limits of Samaria and the great plain, where certain persons the”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Samaritans — Strictly speaking, a Samaritan would be an inhabitant of the city of Samaria, but the term was applied to all the people of the kingdom of Israel. After the captivity of Israel, B.C. 721, and in our Lord's time, the name was applied to a peculiar people whose origin was in this wise. At the final captivity of Israel by Shalmaneser, we may conclude that the cities of Samaria were not merely partially but wholly depopulated of their inhabitants in B.C. 721, and that they remained in this desolated state until, in the words of (2 Kings 17:24) "the king of As”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Samaritans — The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion. After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Samaritan Pentateuch — On the return from the Exile, the Jews refused the Samaritans participation with them in the worship at Jerusalem, and the latter separated from all fellowship with them, and built a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. This temple was razed to the ground more than one hundred years B.C. Then a system of worship was instituted similar to that of the temple at Jerusalem. It was founded on the Law, copies of which had been multiplied in Israel as well as in Judah. Thus the Pentateuch was preserved among the Samaritans, although they never call”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Samaritan Pentateuch — a recension of the commonly received Hebrew text of the Mosaic law, in use among the Samaritans, and written in the ancient Hebrew or so-called Samaritan character. The origin of the Samaritan Pentateuch has given rise to much controversy, into which we cannot here enter. The two most usual opinions are-- + That it came into the hands of the Samaritans as an inheritance from the ten tribes whom they succeeded. + That it was introduced by Manasseh at the time of the foundation of the Samaritan sanctuary on Mount Gerizim. It differs in several imp”
- Ezra (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:1: Now when the adversaries - These were the Samaritans, and the different nations with which the kings of Assyria had peopled Israel, when they had carried the original inhabitants away into captivity, see Ezr 4:9, Ezr 4:10.”
- Luke (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Luke 10:33: 10:33 a despised Samaritan: This reversal in the story must have left the listeners aghast. Jews and Samaritans hated each other (see 9:52-53; 17:16; John 4:4-42). After the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, Assyrian colonists intermarried with Israelites left in Samaria; these inhabitants became known as Samaritans. After the Judeans returned from Babylon, conflict arose between the Jews and the Samaritans (Ezra 4:1-24), who built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim and used their own version of the Pentateuch (Genesis—Deuteronomy) as their Scripture”
- Luke (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Luke 10:33: Samaritan is mentioned merely to show that he was a person from whom a Jew had no right to expect any help or relief, because of the enmity which subsisted between the two nations.”
- John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on John 4:12: Our father Jacob - The ancient Samaritans were undoubtedly the descendants of Jacob; for they were the ten tribes that revolted in the reign of Rehoboam: but those in our Lord's time were not genuine Israelites, but a corrupted race, sprung from a mixture of different nations, sent thither by Salmanezer, king of the Assyrians. See Kg2 17:24.”