Dictionary of Bible Themes The people of the northern kingdom of Israel, named after its capital city established by Omri. At the time of the NT, Samaritans were despised by Jews, on account of their intermarriage with Gentiles after the fall of the northern kingdom in 721 B.C. However, the NT presents them as generally responding favourably to the gospel. 1 Kings 21:1Samaria as the name of the northern kingdom See also 1 Kings 18:1-6The entire northern kingdom is represented by the name of its royal capital, just as Jerusalem often represents Judah. 2 Kings 17:24; 23:19Jeremiah 31:5 2 Kings 17:3-5 The fall of Samaria 2 Kings 17:6-18Samaria's population deported See also 2 Kings 18:11-12Sargon II of Assyria completed the siege begun by Shalmaneser V, deporting (according to his own annals) over 27,000 of Samaria's inhabitants. 2 Kings 17:24Samaria resettled by other peoples See also Ezra 4:2,9-10This resettlement, the first of several, led to intermarriage, and is seen by many as the origin of the Samaritans of NT times. 2 Kings 17:25-41Religion in Samaria after its fall Syncretism arises in Samaria 2 Chronicles 30:10-11Those resettled brought their own gods with them, but also worshipped the LORD as the god of the land. Ultimately these inter-mixed peoples would abandon their polytheism and would accept the law of Moses. See also Some in Samaria remain faithful and still make pilgrimage to Jerusalem 2 Chronicles 30:1; 34:9Jeremiah 41:4-5 Ezra 4:1-5 Samaritans and the restoration of Jerusalem Samaritans offer to rebuild the temple with the returning exiles but are rejected See also The response of the Samaritans to this rejection, based on the Jews' desire to keep the faith pure, reflects the double-mindedness of their offer. Ezra 4:6,7-23Ongoing opposition from the Samaritans to the work of the returned exiles John 4:20Samaria's religious background by the time of the NT Samaria had established its own temple John 4:22The Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. It was later destroyed by the Jews, which led to a hardening of attitudes between the two groups. Samaritan Scriptures contained only the Pentateuch John 4:9Jesus Christ highlights the limited revelation of the Samaritans. Since their Scriptures contained only the Pentateuch, they were expecting a Messiah that they could know little about. Samaritan and Jewish attitudes to one another See also Luke 9:51-56Samaritans were seen as being very lax in their religious observance, and Jews would not therefore share drinking vessels with them. By NT times the gulf between Jew and Samaritan was quite wide and bitter. The three-day journey from Galilee to Jerusalem involved overnight accommodation, which the Samaritans generally refused, causing many Jews to travel on the eastern side of the Jordan. Matthew 10:5-6Samaritans and the ministry of Jesus Christ Initially Jesus Christ instructs his disciples not to go to the Samaritans See also Luke 9:51-56Jesus Christ is opposed by some Samaritans John 4:4-30,39-42Jesus Christ ministers to a Samaritan woman and many Samaritans believe in him Luke 17:11-19Jesus Christ heals a Samaritan leper Luke 10:30-37Jesus Christ tells a parable about a good Samaritan For the Jews, the concept of a "good" Samaritan would have seemed very strange; but Jesus Christ shows that love and faith is not restricted to Israel's boundaries. Acts 1:8Samaria and the ministry of the early first Christians The risen Christ includes Samaria in the church's mission Acts 8:1See also The church takes the gospel to Samaria Acts 8:4-13,25Acts 8:14-17 The apostles pray for the gift of the Spirit for the Samaritan converts Acts 9:31The delay in their reception of the Spirit until the apostles came from Jerusalem may have been God's way of removing the old Jewish-Samaritan divide in the infant church. See also The Samaritan church grows 5530 sifting5712 marriage, God & his people 7217 exile in Babylon 7236 Israel, united kingdom 7469 temple, Herod's 8316 orthodoxy, in NT 8452 neighbours, duty to 8799 polytheism 8831 syncretism |
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