Samaritans

2023-02-18

The Samaritans were a people group that settled in the northern kingdom when the northern tribes of Israel were exiled throughout the world. They were still there in New Testament times.

History

After years of not heeding the prophets of the Lord, the northern kingdom continued in idolatry. They openly sinned with high places to false gods but also had secret rebellion as well. “And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city” (2 Kings 17:9). They slew their own children to these pagan gods and used magical powers, which are demonic in nature. “And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger” (2 Kings 17:17).

The Assyrians besieged Samaria three years, and then they exiled the people. “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6).

After this, the king of Assyria transplanted foreigners in Israelites’ place. “And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof” (2 Kings 17:24). They did not know anything about the Lord, so they were killed by lions because of their heathen practices: “And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them” (2 Kings 17:25). To rectify the situation, the Assyrian king sent a priest back to train them in the ways of the God of the land. “Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD” (2 Kings 17:28).

After this, we see the first instance of the term “Samaritan” and the only reference in the Old Testament: “Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt” (2 Kings 17:29). A Samaritan is a person who dwelt in Samaria. This town was founded by King Omri when he purchased the land from Shemer. “And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria” (1 Kings 16:24). The high places left behind by the original Samaritans were used by the new nations who settled the land.

The people of the land served both their own gods but also the LORD. “So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day” (2 Kings 17:41). These people became known as the Samaritans, it seems. The term began to signify not only where these people lived, but their mixed religion.

Postexilic Period

Samaritans are also alluded to in the postexilic period.

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. (Ezra 4:1-3)

These people wanted to help with the building of the Temple, though their motives are unclear. They are called adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria and Sennacherib’s successor (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38), transplanted these people from other lands, and they started to worship the Lord in addition to their tribal deities. These people fit the Samaritan description well. You can see how this would begin a turbulent coexistence between Jews and Samaritans.

I always assumed from sermons, Bible college classes, books, and general Christian discussion that the Samaritans consisted of the remnant of the northern kingdom who intermarried with the nations mentioned in this passage. This might be true, but I have not found the Biblical evidence yet to sustain the theory.

Samaritans in the New Testament

When you get to the New Testament, the Samaritans are despised by the Jews: “for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Like the people of the northern kingdom under Jeroboam and the foreigners that succeeded them, the New Testament Samaritans served the Lord in their own mountain, while the Jews served in Jerusalem. The woman at the well said to Jesus, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship” (John 4:20). Jesus, while correcting the woman at the well’s thinking, said that the true worshippers worship in spirit. We see that the Samaritans’ thinking about worship is wrong, and the Jews’ thinking was more right. “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).

Though the Samaritans were further astray in their thinking than the Jews, we see that they were more eager to be saved. The woman at the well was one example. The rest of her village is another. Some believed by her testimony, while others believed by seeing the Lord Himself. “So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days” (John 4:40).

Of the ten lepers, the Samaritan was the one who came back and gave thanks. “And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger” (Luke 17:16-18).

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus used a Samaritan as the example of the one who loved his neighbor the best. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him” (Luke 10:33).

Deep down, these Samaritans knew they were estranged from the people of God, which likely made them more ripe for accepting Christ. Among the Samaritans, there was a prominent sorcerer who had control; this shows the syncretistic nature of their religion. “But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God” (Acts 8:9-10). By the time Philip made it to Samaria, they were quite ready to accept Christ, and even Simon the Sorcerer himself believed.

The Original Northern Tribes

What about those people who were from the northern tribes that were not the (foreign) Samaritans? All those from the tribe of Levi, since Jeroboam made the basest of people priests, came to Jerusalem from the north. “And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD” (2 Chronicles 11:13-14).

Concerning others, it makes sense that those northern Israelites who wanted to serve the Lord went into the southern kingdom. These tribes would not have been completely dissolved. “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser” (Luke 2:36). Also, many of the ones from Hezekiah’s Passover may have stayed there since, and remained with the Jews to Babylon and back. “Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 30:11). Moreover, we see that there remains at least 12,000 virgin men from the all the tribes of Israel except Dan in Revelation 7:4-8. If there are that many virgin men that remain, surely there are other men and women that also exist in the world that are from those tribes.