What is a Samaritan?

Answer

A Samaritan in the Bible was an individual from Samaria, a region located north of Jerusalem. During the time of Jesus, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea rejected the Samaritans, considering them a mixed-race group who followed a religion that was seen as impure and partly pagan.

Samaritans, as a distinct group from the Jews, are first referenced in the Bible during the era of Nehemiah and the reconstruction of Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile (Ezra 4:17;Nehemiah 2:10). Both Ezra 4 and a collection of fifth-century BC Aramaic texts known as the Elephantine Papyri indicate a division between the Jews and Samaritans during this period of Persian rule.

The Samaritans considered themselves as the protectors of the Torah and the legitimate descendants of Israel, specifically from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. They possessed their own distinct version of the Pentateuch, which comprises the initial five books of Moses, and believed that they were the sole preservers of the original Mosaic faith. Additionally, Samaritans had a unique religious structure and designated Mount Gerizim as their primary place of worship. They rejected the authority of the Jerusalem temple and the Levitical priesthood.

Historian Josephus and Jewish tradition attribute the origin of the Samaritans to the exile of the northern kingdom by Assyria in 721 BC. Following the captivity, Jews from the northern kingdom intermingled with Assyrians, resulting in the Samaritan community, which was a mix of Jewish and Gentile heritage. When the Jews accused Jesus of being a “Samaritan” in John 8:48, they were insinuating that He was of mixed descent, born to an unfaithful mother.

During the time of the New Testament, Jews held a strong disdain for Samaritans and avoided any association with them. The Samaritans resided primarily near Mount Gerizim (John 4:1-42), while also maintaining their own separate communities (Luke 17:11-19) and on roads between Jerusalem and Jericho (Luke 10:29-37).

Jesus encountered difficulty when ministering to people in Samaritan villages (Luke 9:52-53) and at one point told His disciples not to enter them (Matthew 10:5-6). Nevertheless, Christ shared the good news with Samaritans, ministering to a Samaritan woman (John 4:4-26) and healing a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19).

The most recognized Samaritan in the Bible is the one in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). A Jewish legal expert had put Jesus to the test, asking Him to explain the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself”; specifically, he asked Jesus to define the word neighbor.

That’s when Jesus told His parable of a man in need, portraying the Samaritan as the hero in the story. In the lawyer’s eyes, the Samaritan was the least likely candidate to act lovingly and compassionately toward his neighbor. As intended, the story shocked Christ’s audience of prejudiced Jews. The Lord showed that authentic love must transcend all human boundaries of race, religion, nationality, economic class, and educational status.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be His witnesses in Samaria. In Acts 8, the prophecy was fulfilled, and Samaria became an early mission field for the spreading first-century.

Church: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:4-8).

Several hundred Samaritans survive to this day in Israel and continue to practice their sect of Judaism. The faith focuses on five affirmations: there is one God, Yahweh; His chief mediator is Moses; the Torah is the vehicle of mediation; the central worship site is Mount Gerizim; and the Messiah will initiate a future Day of Vengeance and Recompense.

Samaritans observe several holy days including Passover; the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles; and the “80 days of solemn assembly.” They also celebrate regular Sabbath services. Their most solemn annual festival, Passover, is held on Mount Gerizim with animal sacrifices as prescribed in the book of Deuteronomy.