The Samaritans And Jews

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Introduction

Initially before we can answer this question, we must comprehend first of all who the Samaritans are, second of all who the Jews are, and lastly what they signified to each other in the first century New Testament period. Understanding where the hatred arose from and how they grasped God in the environment they were placed in. We must go back to the Old Testament information to understand this environment. Jews and Samaritans and the hatred they had for each other was enormous, and that occurred from what we understand about their conflict.

Samaritans & Jews
With the invasion of Assyria in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, all inhabitants were received into Assyrian captivity. When these Assyrians overcame the Northern Kingdom in 722
BC, they brought gentiles into the land of Samaria and many Israelites they deported - (2 Kings
17:5-6). [“Some say the Samaritans were the result of intermarriage of the Jews that were left in the land of Israel with the people that were deported by the King of Assyria from Babylon, Avva,
Hamath and Sepharvaim.”]- (Antiquities of the Jews Book IX, 14:3). If this is the case we can comprehend the hatred of the Jews toward the Samaritans from the scripture that was brought to them in Deuteronomy 7:2-4 saying, “and when the Lord your God delivers them over you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following
Me, to serve other gods.” (NKJV). In interbreeding with Assyrians the Israelites formed the people group that we now referre...

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...itans were separated from and frowned upon by the

Jewish society makes them of important significance in the New Testament. Christ indicated a

new view must be taken toward the Samaritans when he traveled through their towns instead of

bypassing through the Jordan to avoid them (John 4:4-5), when He conversed with a Samaritan

woman, contrary to Jewish custom (John 4:9), and when He said a time would come when

worshiping on Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem would not be of any significance (John 4:21-24).

When He was asked whom the lawyer would regard as his fellow neighbor, Jesus told the story

of the Good Samaritan precisely because Samaritans were looked down upon and despised.

This would have been hated by the Pharisees and Scribes of the time, because Christ, being a

Jew would have been expected to have such hatred for the Samaritan people group.

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