Who were the Samaritans?

Everyone can agree that Jesus was a wise and insightful man. Even someone who doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God can still admit that. His insightfulness often showed up whenever someone asked him a question. In fact, Jesus usually did not give the answer that someone wanted, but instead he answered with what the person needed to hear.

So, it happened one day that Jesus was asked by an expert in the Jewish Law what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus asked, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" The expert responded to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said, "You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live." The expert had one more question: "And who is my neighbor?" Instead of answering directly, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

But think about this: Why did Jesus use a Samaritan as the hero of the story? Because Jesus wanted to teach a larger lesson. Jesus knew he was speaking to a Jew, and he made the hero from the one group that Jews hated the most. Now, you might think they would hate the Romans the most or even Jewish tax collectors (who collected the Roman taxes), but no, it was the Samaritans.

An example of their hatred: On another day, Jesus was in discussion with some Jews. Jesus said something that angered the Jews and they said, "Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" (John 8:48) The Jews hated the Samaritans so much they believed them all demon possessed!

But why did the Jews hate the Samaritans so much? To understand that we have to go back 700 years before the time of Jesus. Actually, I will go back to the year 1000 BC and then go forward 300 years in order for this to make more sense.

David was king of all Israel around 1000 BC. His son, Solomon, followed him as king of Israel. But, after Solomon, the kingdom split into two parts: the Northern Kingdom (known as Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (known as Judah). Focusing on the Northern Kingdom: it had good kings and bad for several hundred years, until 722 BC. In that year the Assyrians defeated them.

The Assyrians took many of the Jews from the conquered Northern Kingdom back to their home country in order to keep an eye on them and to prevent rebellion. This left many empty farms, houses, and businesses. According to II Kings 17: 24 and following, the Assyrian king brought in people from different counties to fill the void. These people did not worship the one God of the Jews, instead they worshipped many gods. The Jews who had remained in their country intermarried with the newcomers and followed in the same practice.

These people did not leave but remained in the land, most likely continuing to intermarry and to blend in with the other Jews up to the time when Jesus lived. And they continued their practice of worshipping numerous false gods plus Yahweh. So you can see why Jews would hate them.

But what does that have to do with Samaritans? According to II Kings 17:24, most of the foreigners who came to settle in the Northern Kingdom ended up in Samaria. And the Jews who intermarried with the foreigners became known as the Samaritans. That is why the Jews hated the Samaritans.

Looking back at the parable: What was the insight that Jesus emphasized when he answered the question of loving one’s neighbor? It was not about being nice and helpful to everyone. Instead, it was this: The person you hate the most is actually your neighbor and is deserving of your love. Plus, even if we think that someone deserves to be hated (like the Jews believed the Samaritans deserved to be hated and, even, that God wanted them to hate the Samaritans), God still expects us to love everyone. So the parable is a lesson on loving other people.

And now you see how understanding OT history can make NT stories come alive.

©2006, 2020 Mark Nickens