Where did the Samaritans come from

INTRODUCTION:

In the Old Testament they were only mentioned once, as the people imported to Samaria by Sargon king of Assyria. (2 Ki.17: 27-29).

PREAMBLE:

Then the king of Assyria gave this order: "Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires". So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places."

DISCUSSIONS:

The Samaritans here were deep in idol worshipping. However, if you go through John chapter 4, the Samaritan woman who had an encounter with Jesus was born again. After Jesus had convinced her of the fact that she needed a new Spirit within her in order to make the Kingdom of God, she agreed. She accepted Jesus as Lord and went out to make proclamation of the Lord of her life.

Many Samaritans Believed:

Many of the Samaritan from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me everything I ever did". When the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words, many more became believers. They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

An encounter with Jesus by the Samaritan woman opened the gate of salvation for her. She did not only believe, but she became a witness. Since you gave your life to Christ, how many people have told the story? Jesus affected the Samaritans and left a challenge for us today. Is your life a salt? Are you a light in the midst of darkness? Beyond the historical background of where the Samaritan actually came from, we must be challenged about the person who affected their lives. We should also be challenged about the Samaritans who yielded to the challenged before them then. What is your decision? Have you know Jesus? Is he anything to you? If you have known him, are you a light in the midst of darkness?

There is little reason to believe that these people were the ancestors of the Samaritans often referred to in the New Testament, despite the assertion of the Jewish historian Josephus that they were. The earliest references to the later Samaritans indicate that they lived at Schechem - John 4:5.

In the New Testament times people commonly thought of Palestine as being divided into three regions: Judea in the south, Samaria in the center and Galilee in the North. Under the Romans, Judea and Samaria were often grouped together. The center of administration of the region was Caesarea, a city built on the coast by Herod the Great (Luke 3:1; Acts 1:8, 23:33). Herod also built a city in the site of ancient Samaria and named it Sebaste.

Conclusively, the Samaritans were mostly found in Samaria, the Central Capital, Sebaste, Shechem. It could then be suggested that they came from those places. They had for their domestic and commercial use the Jordan River.

Rev Debo Adeyemo

Samaritans came from Samaria, a country located near the "children of Israel, or not that far away.

In my own opinion and tell me if I am right or wrong please!! :-) I believe that the Samaritans are the Syrian People who comprise a large part of the people living in America today because our culture worships many of the god's that they did. I wrote extensively on the god's of Syria, Lebanon, Persia and more in which one of the more famous one's being Lady Liberty. These Samaritans were also known some what as gentlemen who do not have quite the fighting, Neanderthal men of old yet these good Samaritans, would be just as evil if not more so than there prehistoric (so to say) counterparts. They would simply be evil in more deceptive ways. Do I have the point somewhat? I kind of sped through this one?? :-( :-) May God forever Bless you my Brother!!

The Samaritans were a "mix". They were the leftovers, leftover from the rest of the Jews who were carried away to Babylon. They intermarried with, I believe, the neighboring heathen nations, or perhaps with the occupying forces that came in after Babylonians swept the rest of the Jews away. Were they the armies of Egypt? At any rate, the "proper" Jews considered them half-breeds and therefore despised them. That is why they had the "faith " of Abraham, when the Samaritan woman said that their ancestors worshipped at Jacob's well, but did not worship at Jerusalem. The story of the Lord going through Samaria and meeting the woman at the well is one of my favorite accounts in Jesus' ministry here on earth. I love it when He said "We must (have need of) go through Samaria" and He just happened to be alone when the woman approached. It is a beautiful story of Jesus' kindness and his wish to redeem all mankind. Praise to His Name. He is High and Mighty and His Train fills the Temple. Hallelujah and amen.

The Samaritans, to whom the Jews were bitterly hostile, were descendants of the foreign settlers imported into Northern Palestine by the Assyrians toward the end of the eighth century BC. Under Hoshea, Israel's last king, 27,290 people of the ten tribes were deported to distant parts of the Assyrian empire under the direction of Esar-haddon of Assyria. Israel in turn was resettled with Assyrian captives from other conquered territories, thereby mingling their religious and cultural traditions. As conquerors did in these days, they had transported the greater part of the population and had settled strangers in the land. A mongrel race descended from the old Jewish remnant left there who intermarried with the heathen Assyrian conquerors and the other stranger races planted there. Their worship was partly Jewish, partly idolatrous, an admixture of Judaism and heathen superstitions. They lost their racial purity and that for a Jew was an unforgivable crime.

The Samaritan sect was founded by a group of Jews who were excluded from the Temple at Jerusalem, because they had married foreign wives. Angered by this they went to Samaria where they built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. To this temple, they carefully brought from Jerusalem a copy of the Bible but only the Pentateuch, the Samaritan Bible never grew beyond the five books of Moses. In time they became a new people, the Samaritans and rejected all other Old testament books including the writings of the prophets.

The temple on Mount Gerizim was the center of legitimate worship for the Samaritans and was opposed to the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem. They considered that they alone held the deposit of patriarchal religious faith and this caused constant and rabid hostilities between the Samaritans and the Jews. Only the Pentateuch of Moses is valued by them as holy scripture and the only legitimate worship is the rival temple at Mount Gerizim, in their view, hallowed by the ancient tradition of the patriarchs and located in the heart of their country.

The north was immeasurably stronger, wealthier, and more promising than its southern neighbor but vividly portrays the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and Ephraim. Enmity went back in its origin to the split between the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah after Solomon's death and had since then grown to an extreme degree. The exacerbation between Jews and Samaritans was always at its worst during the anniversaries of the national feasts; and it often broke into acts of open hostility. In consequence of this, the caravans of Galilean pilgrims seen in many instances to have chosen the route on the east of Jordan. The Jews accused the Samaritans of willfully molesting their harmless travelers. Samaritans were looked upon as religiously unclean, because of their intermarriage with pagans, but more so as followers of a satanic heresy.

The land was fair, and could have been much more richly developed with its fertile soil and more abundant water than in the southern part. With good farming, they would plant great fields of wheat, raise fine vegetable gardens and luxurious orchards, but no outsiders liked to buy their grain or fruit. Good Jews would walk far out of their way to go around Samaria. Only Romans would befriend them.

Jesus led his five followers straight to this forbidden province of Samaria, fifty miles north of Jerusalem. To return to Galilee, Jesus chose the road which ran through the center of Palestine and therefore across Samaria. He could have taken the road east of the Jordan, but according to Josephus, the former was the one more often taken by Galileans traveling to and from Jerusalem. Once within its borders, He did not rest until He had reached its most historic spot, the well of Jacob, at the eastern base of Mount Gerizim, where the earliest of Israelite patriarchs had worshipped. The well that Jesus visited, like all frequented wells in the East, was doubtless sheltered by a little alcove, in which were seats of stone.

This was the land which Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Everyone thought of this spot as the oldest well in the world and near by, so the devoutly piously believed, was the actual grave of Joseph. Christianity that was first preached in Jerusalem was carried by Greek-speaking evangelists to Samaria, the seacoast Palestinian towns, and as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. The Samaritans were a mixed lot but Jesus showed us that they are accepted. However imperfectly, their law was based upon the same rules as the rest of Israel, the Law of Moses. One of those laws is that the children shouldn't suffer for the sins of the fathers. The Jews made a mockery of this and the self-righteous hypocrisy was exposed by Jesus in His dealing with the Samaritans.

Samaria is the country inhabited by the kingdom of Israel—the north half of Palestine. It was taken possession of by people sent from Babylon, Persia and other countries by the Assyrian king, and these strangers, intermarrying marrying with the few Israelites remaining in the land, after the main body of the people had been led away into captivity, became the mixed people called Samaritans, so heartily despised by the Jews.

They seem to have been a mixed people from various eastern nations, conquered by this same king, and they brought with them their various forms of national idolatry. A plague breaking out among them, however, led them to petition for a priest of the god of the country, to teach them the old form of worship.

After the captivity of Judah, they sought an alliance with the returned Jews (536 B. C.), with whom they intermarried. On Ezra enforcing the Mosaic law against mixed marriages—three-quarters of a century later—Manasses, a Jewish priest, who had married the daughter of Sanballat, chief of the Samaritans, headed a secession at Shechem.

Their religion was less pure than that of the Jews, as they adulterated the doctrines of the Old Testament with the profane rites of the pagan religion. The national and religious hatred that Jews held for Samaritans was used by Jesus to teach his disciples the meaning of who is the neighbour that Christians should love.

The teachings of our Lord breathe the spirit of forbearance and love even to enemies. He tolerated, though he could not approve, the practices of the heathen in their idolatry, the Samaritans with their degenerate customs of worship, the luxury-loving Sadducees, and the law-bound Pharisees.

Hatred was not countenanced even toward foes. His instructions were: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

The Twelve were commanded to salute with their blessing every house at which they applied for hospitality. True, if the people rejected them and their message, retribution was to follow; but this visitation of cursing was to be reserved as a divine prerogative.

In the Parable of the Tares, Christ taught the same lesson of forbearance; the hasty servants wanted to pluck out the weeds straightway, but were forbidden lest they root up the wheat also, and were assured that a separation would be effected in the time of harvest.

In spite of the prevailing spirit of toleration and love pervading the teachings of the Saviour and the apostles, attempts have been made to draw from the scriptures justification for intolerance and persecution. fn Paul's stinging words addressed to the Galatians have been given a meaning wholly foreign to the spirit that prompted them. Warning the saints of false teachers, he said:

"As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

On the strength of this forceful admonition combined with denunciation, some have sought to justify persecution on account of differences in religion; but such misconstruction must be charged to shallow reading and evil prejudice. Let it be always remembered that vengeance and recompense belong to the Lord.

The Samaritians were the descendants of the pagans that settled in the land at the time of the captivities and the few Jews who remained in the land. (Ref. 2 Kings 17:24-34) The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. These people took over Samaria and lived in the cities. KJV Bible

Samaria...they were part Jew and gentile. the Jews made them leave Jerusalem, when Nehemiah rebuilt the temple. they settled in parts of Samaria and then became known as Samaritans. They worshiped God the same as the Jews, but on a different mountain... love and prayers

Where did the Samaritans come from?