Samaritans in the New Testament and Jewish Context

The Samaritans were a distinct ethno-religious group in ancient Israel, whose origins and relationship with the Jewish people are complex and often marked by animosity, particularly during the New Testament period. The term "Samaritan" originally referred to an inhabitant of the city of Samaria, or more broadly, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel ^[3]. However, after the Assyrian conquest and the deportation of the original inhabitants in 721 BCE, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (and later Sargon) resettled the region with people from Babylon and other areas ^{[1, 3]}. These new inhabitants intermingled with the remaining Israelites and gradually adopted aspects of the Jewish religion, though they also retained some of their former idolatrous practices ^[1].

This mixed heritage led to significant tension with the Jews, especially after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. The Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow the Samaritans to participate in rebuilding the temple, viewing them as adversaries ^{[1, 8]}. This refusal exacerbated the existing rift. By the time of Jesus, the Samaritans were considered by Jews to be "strangers" and "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel" ^[10]. They were often equated with Gentiles and were a byword for heretics or those possessed by a devil ^{[7, 11]}. Josephus records various quarrels between Jews and Samaritans, including incidents where Galileans traveling through Samaritan territory to Jerusalem for festivals faced hostility ^{[2, 5]}.

Despite this deep-seated animosity, Jesus' interactions with Samaritans in the New Testament challenge conventional Jewish attitudes. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus presents a Samaritan as the hero, demonstrating compassion and mercy, in contrast to a priest and a Levite who pass by a wounded man ^{[6, 7]}. This parable highlights that true neighborliness transcends ethnic and religious boundaries, even those as deeply entrenched as the Jewish-Samaritan divide ^[9]. The Samaritan in the parable shows kindness, which was unexpected given the enmity between the two groups ^[6].

Another notable encounter is Jesus' healing of ten lepers, where only one, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks [Luke 17:11-19]. Jesus remarks on the absence of the others, asking, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?" [Luke 17:17-18]. This incident further underscores the Samaritan's unexpected piety and gratitude, contrasting with the lack of gratitude from the Jewish lepers ^[10].

The Samaritans had their own version of the Pentateuch and worshipped on Mount Gerizim, which was another point of contention with the Jews who worshipped in Jerusalem [John 4:20]. The historical record, including the writings of Josephus, frequently details the conflicts and distinct identities of these two groups ^{[2, 4, 5]}. The New Testament, through Jesus' teachings and interactions, often uses the Samaritans to illustrate themes of inclusion, mercy, and the breaking down of social and religious barriers that were prevalent in the Jewish context of the time.

Sources

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”
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.”
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”
Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 4, section 1: . How The Samaritans Made A Tumult And Pilate Destroyed Many Of Them; How Pilate Was Accused And What Things Were Done By Vitellius Relating To The Jews And The Parthians.”
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”
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.”
Luke (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Luke 10:33: Samaritan--one excommunicated by the Jews, a byword among them, synonymous with heretic and devil (Joh 8:48; see on Luk 17:18). had compassion--His best is mentioned first; for "He who gives outward things gives something external to himself, but he who imparts compassion and tears gives him something from his very self" [GREGORY THE GREAT, in TRENCH]. No doubt the priest and Levite had their excuses--It is not safe to be lingering here; besides, he's past recovery; and then, may not suspicion rest upon ourselves? So might the Samaritan have reasoned,”
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 (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Luke 10:32: But a certain Samaritan,.... By whom Christ may be meant; not that he was really so, for he was a Jew, a son of Abraham, and of David, according to the flesh, but he was so called by the Jews, Joh 8:48 and was treated as such by them: and since it is the design of the parable in general to show, that he that does acts of kindness and mercy to persons in distress, is a neighbour in the truest sense, though he is not an Israelite, but even a Samaritan, who was, above all men, hated by the Jews; why may it not be thought to be the view of Christ in particular, to prove hi”
Luke (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Luke 17:17: There are not found that returned,.... Or it do not appear, that any have returned: to give glory to God; for inasmuch as they did not return to give thanks to Christ, and acknowledge him the author of their cure and cleansing they did not give glory to God: save this stranger; for so the Samaritans were reckoned by the Jews, even as the Gentile, aliens from the commonwealth, of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. Christ speaks in the language and dialect of the nation, and yet we find sometimes, that, "a Cuthite", or a Samaritan, is distinguished fr”
John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 8:48: Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?--What intense and virulent scorn! (See Heb 12:3). The "say we not well" refers to Joh 7:20. "A Samaritan" means more than "no Israelite at all"; it means one who pretended, but had no manner of claim to the title--retorting perhaps, this denial of their true descent from Abraham.”

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