Samaria

In the Bible

According to 1 Kings 16:24, Omri, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, bought a hill from Shemer for two talents of silver. He built a city on it and named it Samaria after Shemer, the hill's owner. The city then became the capital of the northern kingdom. Omri's son Ahab built a temple of Baal in Samaria (1 Kings 16:32; see Ahab and Jezebel). 2 Kings 6–7 tells of Samaria under siege by the Aramean army and of Elisha. 2 Kings 17 records the fall of Samaria to Assyria. The Assyrians deported the Israelites to other lands and resettled people from other regions in their place. The prophets also used the name Samaria for the northern kingdom as a whole when rebuking its sins (Isaiah 7:9; Ezekiel 23:4; Amos 4:1; Micah 1:6).

In the New Testament, Samaria appears in the following passages:

• John 4: Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman at Sychar, a town in Samaria.
• Luke 9:51–56: When a Samaritan village refuses to receive Jesus and his companions, James and John ask to call down fire from heaven, and Jesus rebukes them.
• Luke 10:25–37: The Parable of the Good Samaritan.
• Luke 17:11–19: Of the ten lepers, the one who returned to give thanks was a Samaritan.
• Acts 1:8 and chapter 8: Samaria is named as a region to which the gospel will spread, and the gospel is in fact preached there.

Background

The Hebrew name is Shomron. Situated in the central hill country, Samaria lay on the route linking Judah to the south with Galilee to the north. The fall of Samaria to Assyria is generally dated to around 722 BC, although scholars disagree over whether the conquering king was Shalmaneser V or Sargon II.

On the basis of the account in 2 Kings 17:24–41, the Judeans regarded the inhabitants of Samaria as a people of mixed descent, intermingled with foreign settlers, who practiced a syncretistic faith. After the return from exile, the two groups clashed over the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls (Ezra 4; Nehemiah 4:1–2). The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim and accepted only the Pentateuch as Scripture. In the New Testament period, Herod the Great rebuilt the city of Samaria and named it Sebaste in honor of the Roman emperor Augustus. The words "for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9) reflect the deep hostility between the two groups at the time.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, Samaria symbolized idolatry, the division of the kingdom, and its destruction. In the New Testament, it becomes a place that receives the gospel. When Jesus first sent out his disciples, he told them, "into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not" (Matthew 10:5). After his resurrection, however, he defined the scope of their witness as "both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). In Acts 8, Philip, one of the Seven, preaches the gospel in the city of Samaria. Peter and John then come down and pray, and the Samaritan believers receive the Holy Spirit. Many interpreters read this scene as an intermediate stage in the gospel's movement beyond the boundaries of the Jewish people toward the Gentiles.

Interpretations and Debates

• Origin of the Samaritans: Jewish tradition, drawing on 2 Kings 17, regards the Samaritans as descendants of foreign settlers. The Samaritans themselves claim descent from members of the northern Israelite tribes who remained in the land.
• Acts 8:14–17: The Samaritan believers received the Holy Spirit after they had believed and been baptized. The Pentecostal and Holiness traditions often cite this passage in support of baptism in the Holy Spirit as an experience distinct from and subsequent to conversion. Some Presbyterians and Baptists interpret it instead as a unique, transitional event that confirmed the unity of the Samaritan church with the church in Jerusalem.
• The Samaritan woman: Her drawing water at midday is commonly explained as an attempt to avoid other people, but this is an inference the text does not state directly. Nor does the text explain the circumstances of her having had five husbands. The conversation about the place of worship (John 4:20–23) is set against the background of the rivalry between Mount Gerizim and Jerusalem.
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Early Church Fathers such as Augustine read the parable allegorically—that is, they looked for hidden meanings in the characters and objects of the story—and identified the Samaritan with Christ. Today the parable is more often read as ethical teaching on the scope of love for one's neighbor.

In the Korean Church

When explaining the scope of mission on the basis of Acts 1:8, preachers commonly apply "Samaria" figuratively to neighbors who are close at hand yet marginalized or culturally different. The term "Good Samaritan" is frequently used for the church's service and relief ministries, and it is also widely used in everyday speech.