The Samaritans: Who Are They?

What and who is a Samaritan? Often we hear of the term or phrase the Good Samaritian. What does this mean to us? Does it mean doing right when everyone else does wrong? Well the answer is yes and no. Who was the Samaritan woman at the well the Messiah spoke with? In this post I will get to the heart of this story that the Messiah told in Luke Chapter 10 and will get into the significance of the Samaritan woman at the well in John Chapter 4.

In my last post I talked about the difference between Ancient Israel and Judah. We saw there were two nations after the split when King Solomon died.  Initially Jeroboam reigned over The Northern House and Rehoboam over the Southern House.  I briefly touched on the two capital cities, which are Samaria and Jerusalem. I will focus mostly on the Northern House in this post. We first need to see when Samaria became the capital city of the Northern House of Israel. After Jeroboam initially reigned over the Northern House six kings reigned over Israel: Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri.  The last fellow on the list Omri, bought the hill of Samaria for two talents of silver. Omri built on a city on that hill and called it Samaria (1 Kings chapter 16). This is the capital city of the Northern House of Israel.

After Omri 13 men reigned over the Northern House as King: Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea.  I listed all of the kings because they all did evil in the eyes of the LORD. The Prophets warned and rebuked them and they still did evil in the sight of the LORD. As a result of Israel’s sin they were taken into Assyrian captivity according to II Kings 17:6.

The Northern house Israel is removed from Samaria and dispersed into Assyrian territories and some remained in and around Samaritan cities.  The Assyrian people are now in Israel’s territory. Naturally the Israelites intermingled and married with the people of the Assyrians. Fast forward to Ezra and Nehemiah when the temple and the temple wall were being restored as the Southern house of Judah had come out of Babylonian captivity the Samaritans tried to help but their help was refused so the Samaritans became hindrances to the temple and temple wall being restored. (Ezra Chapter 4  &Nehemiah Chapter4). This shows us some reasons of the hostility between the Samaritans and Jews mentioned in the Gospels.

Let’s take a look at an instance we see of the Samaritans in the Gospels. In the gospel of Luke 9:51-56 Jesus sent his messengers ahead of Him to a Samaritan village.  They did not receive Him because He set His face towards Jerusalem. Now the reason behind this is the Samaritans believed worship was to take place on Mount Gerizim while the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. This is a big reason why there was strife between the Samaritans and the Jews. This leads us to Luke 10:25-37. The story of the Good Samaritan:

Title: The Holy Bible, King James Version

Edition: Third

Publisher: Public Domain

Publisher Location: Omaha, Nebraska

Luke 10:25

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Luke 10:26

He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

Luke 10:27

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Luke 10:28

And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Luke 10:29

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:30

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

Luke 10:31

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Luke 10:32

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

Luke 10:33

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

Luke 10:34

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Luke 10:35

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Luke 10:36

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

Luke 10:37

And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Notice of all the people Jesus could have used as an example of  being a good neighbor He chose a Samaritan. This went against everything the Jews were used to doing. To further prove this point we will take a look at  the Samaritan woman at the well.

Title: The Holy Bible, King James Version

Edition: Third

Publisher: Public Domain

Publisher Location: Omaha, Nebraska

John 4:1

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

John 4:2

(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

John 4:3

He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

John 4:4

And he must needs go through Samaria.

John 4:5

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

John 4:6

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

John 4:7

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

John 4:8

(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

John 4:9

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

John 4:10

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

John 4:11

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

John 4:12

Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

John 4:13

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

John 4:14

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 4:15

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

John 4:16

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

John 4:17

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

John 4:18

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

John 4:19

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

John 4:20

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

John 4:21

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

John 4:22

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

John 4:23

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:25

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

John 4:26

Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

John 4:27

And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

John 4:28

The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

John 4:29

Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

John 4:30

Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

John 4:31

In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

John 4:32

But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

John 4:33

Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

John 4:34

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

John 4:35

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

John 4:36

And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

John 4:37

And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

John 4:38

I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

John 4:39

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

John 4:40

So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

John 4:41

And many more believed because of his own word;

John 4:42

And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

So what is the significance of this encounter with the Samaritan woman? Jesus said He came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel Matthew 15:24. Those Samaritans were His sheep too. They were from the broken and scattered house of the Northern Kingdom Israel. Jesus told her Salvation was of the Jews. The prophets foretold of a Messiah springing out of Judah hence Jews. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus came to restore Israel; to reunite and save both Israel and Judah. But many of the Samaritans and Jews rejected Him and therefore the door was open to the gentiles. See Romans Chapter 11.

Notice John 4:4 said that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. Now in Jesus day this was a big no no. The Jews on their way to Galilee would go out of their way and travel through the region of Perea, which was east of the Jordan River, rather than go through Samaria, which was the easiest route.  This is some major tension!!! But Jesus was the answer to these tensions. Notice in verse 9 she said Jews have NO dealings with Samaritans. So Jesus was bucking what His brethren did.Also notice in John 4:12 the woman called Jacob her father. How can she call Jacob her father if she wasn’t an Israelite? She was a half-breed but still an Israelite. She went on to say they worshiped on the mountain, which was Gerizim and the Jews in Jerusalem. In verses 21-24 Jesus says a time would come when there would be no worship on the mountain or in Jerusalem and that true worshippers would worship in spirit and truth. . Long story short she and her village got saved. Jews wouldn’t travel through Samarian villages and Jesus stayed two days!

Many will argue but what about Matthew 10:5-6 which says: ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Notice He told his disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles nor to the Samaritans. Notice the Samaritans are not called Gentiles; they are Israelites. But why did Jesus command this? Because the prophets said only He could save Judah and Israel. John 4:4 said He (Jesus) needed to go through Samaria; as for the gentiles that was up to the Apostle Paul and the Apostles after Jesus death and resurrection.

Acts1:6-8 says:  ⁶When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? ⁷And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. ⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  Acts 9:15 says almost the identical thing: But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.

Notice in verse six of Acts Chapter 1 the apostles ask will Jesus restore the kingdom to Israel. He told them not to worry about that yet. He told them to be witnesses to all in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the Earth. The kingdom is being restored. All who are in Christ will be Israel. That is The Northern House, Southern House, and the Gentiles. Anyone who rejects Christ will not be in that restored Kingdom.

In conclusion the Samaritans were indeed Israelites. They too were His sheep. Jesus said in Matthew 18:12: ¹²How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? ¹³And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. ¹⁴Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Even though His brethren wrote them off He did NOT.

Ancient Israel and Judah: What's the Difference?

Often time when we hear of the chosen people of the Bible, Israel, we reference them all as Jews. The Hebrew word for Jew is yehudiy and the strong’s definition for Jew is a descendant of Jehudah (that is,Judah). I have often heard ministers teaching and I wondered why all Israel were referred to as Jews. In order to properly understand prophecy we must know the difference between Israel and Judah. Well the fact is that all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews. Shocked? I hope so. This is an honest mistake and all we have to do to correct this mistake is 2 Timothy 2:15. That’s right STUDY! This article will chronicle the beginning and timeline of the Hebrew or Israelite people in the bible.

We have to start from the beginning when the world was in total chaos. There was all kind of perversion going on from astrology, witchcraft, sexual sin, murder, and idol worship. As a result God chose Abram (Genesis 12) who eventually became Abraham to establish a people to be an example to the rest of the nations. The first place we see Abram’s race is in Genesis 14:13 it calls Abram a Hebrew not a Jew! The term Jew is not mentioned in the bible until after the split of the kingdom In 2 Kings 16:6; which we will detail later in this article.

God established a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15). God promised Abraham he would make him a father of many nations. Abraham thought how could this happen if he didn’t have an heir in his house other than his servant Eleazar. God promised him a seed, which came to pass in the form of Isaac (Genesis 21).

Isaac went on to have a son Jacob and from this son sprang the nation of Israel. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Jacob had twelve sons through four women Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah. The names of his sons were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun,Issachar,Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali,Joseph , and Benjamin (Genesis 49). Each of these sons was a representative of each tribe of Israel. It should also be noted that Ephraim and Manasseh had a double portion in there father’s Joseph’s stead given to them by their grandfather Jacob (Israel).

Back when God first made a covenant with Abraham He told Abraham his descendants would be in a land that is not their own (Genesis 15:13-14). So this leads us to Joseph being sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Long story short because of famine in the land Joseph’s family came to Egypt. They were doing so well that the Egyptians feared them and put them into slavery.

The Children of Israel were enslaved as God had said and God rose up a deliverer Moses to bring them out of Egypt. Moses was successful in delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt.

So the newly delivered people were given the commandments in Exodus Chapter 20. We know them as the Ten Commandments. As time went on the people served God and observed His Law. Not with perfection the children of Israel rebelled and doubted God many times, so much so that they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Their deliverer Moses did not get to the Promised Land. Instead his replacement was Joshua. Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land.

Joshua led the people until he died. After Joshua judges led the people. There were 15 judges that lead the children of Israel. Some of the more notable judges were Gideon, Samson, and the prophet Samuel.

This brings us to the Children of Israel wanting a King. Almighty God told the prophet and final judge, Samuel to tell the people that HE was their King. Nevertheless God gave them what they wanted King Saul (Genesis Chapters 8 & 9). King Saul reigned over Israel between 40 and 42 years.

Saul did evil in the sight of the LORD and offered sacrifices himself instead of waiting on the LORD’s prophet. Saul also didn’t destroy all of the Amalekites and their possessions, namely the king Agag and some of their livestock. For this disobedience God Anointed David king (1 Samuel Chapters 13-16).

Eventually King Saul was wounded in battle and he asked his armor bearer to kill him but he refused and Saul killed himself by falling on his own sword (2 Samuel 31)

This brings us to David as the King. This is the first time we see a split in the Kingdom of Israel. After the death of Saul one of Saul’s son, Ishbosheth is king over Israel and only the house of Judah followed David (2 Samuel Chapter 2).  After war between Israel and Judah eventually led to all of Israel following David (2 Samuel Chapter 5). All twelve tribes followed David for 40 years. 33 years over Israel and 7 years and some change over Judah. When David died his son Solomon reigned over Israel for 40 years.

King Solomon was a wise, rich, and great king but Solomon as great a king as he was allowed foreign women to turn his heart from God. It was prophesied that the kingdom would be torn from him and given to his servant. The servant the kingdom would be given to Jeroboam. The prophet Ahijah met with Jeroboam tore a garment into twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to keep two pieces (1 Kings Chapter 11).

This tearing of the garment was symbolic of the Nation of Israel. It would be torn      into a Northern and Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was comprised of 10 tribes, which are Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and Manasseh (Joseph).  The Southern Kingdom was comprised of Judah, Benjamin. Noticeably absent is Levi. The Levites were divided amongst the twelve tribes but when the split occurred since the temple was in Jerusalem most of the Levites were in the south. This was the second time we see a split in the Kingdom.  To prove there was a split Israel and Judah fought wars against each other see: 1 Kings chapter 15, 2 Kings chapter 14, 2 Chronicles chapters 13,16,25,and 28.

With that established lets see the events of the split. When Solomon died his son Rehoboam became King. He was a hard king and taxed the children of Israel heavily. As a result the ten northern tribes revolted against Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king.

Once Jeroboam reigned as king he led Israel into Idol Worship. He fashioned their feasts to resemble the feasts of the house of Judah except he caused the people to serve golden calf idols rather than Almighty God. Jeroboam did this because he wanted to remain king rather than the Northern kingdom returning to the house of David and worship Almighty God, as they should have been doing (1 Kings 12:25-33). Jeroboam reigned for 22 years over Israel. After Jeroboam’s reign eighteen kings reigned after him. The house of Israel entered into Assyrian Captivity in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6).  In fact 2 Kings 17:18 says that God was angry at Israel and He removed them and only Judah was left. So we see two distinct nations.

Israel was gone into captivity and Judah remained. They weren’t off the hook so to speak they also did not keep God’s commandments. Later they too would go into Babylonian Captivity in 587 BC. The prophet Jeremiah details this in Jeremiah 29:10.  The House of Judah was in Babylonian captivity for 70 years.

In the the book of Ezra Chapter 2 it tell of the Captives that returned to Jerusalem after the 70 year captivity. They were from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, which was the Southern House of Judah or The JEWS.

All of the major and minor prophets understood that both the Houses of Israel and Judah were two separate nations. They foretold of the captivities and future restorations. The House of Israel never came out of Assyrian captivity. The House of Judah came out in 538-539 BC. The prophet Nehemiah tells the rest of the House of Judah’s history before the birth of Christ.

Not only did the Prophets understand the two house were separate but so did the apostles. Acts 1:6 says : When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Jesus answered and said: It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. ⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Notice two of the places are the capital cities of Israel and Judah. They are Jerusalem and Samaria. The Prophet Ezekiel tells of two harlot sisters Aholah and Aholibah. That is Samaria and Jerusalem. The Jews in Christ days lived in Judea. The Israelites were gone with only a remnant living in Samaria having intermarried with Assyrians while in captivity. Even then the Jews hated the half Hebrew half Assyrian people. The Messiah didn’t share the jews view of the Samaritans. See the story of the Good Samaritan and read of the woman at the well. My next post will chronicle who the Samaritans were as a people.

In conclusion, all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews!!! Only the people of the house of Judah are jews. Everyone else were Israelites.