Tensions between the Samaritans and the Jews

The tension between the Jews and the Samaritans — show definition INF107 at the time of Jesus has its roots in a long and painful history, mingling politics, religion and identity.

It all began after the division of the kingdom of Israel, around the 10th century BC, into two entities: the northern kingdom (Israel, with Samaria as its capital) and the southern kingdom (Judah, with Jerusalem). In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom and settled foreign populations there. These new inhabitants mingled with the Israelites who had remained in the land, giving rise to the Samaritan people.

The Jews then regarded the Samaritans — show definition INF107 as religious and ethnic half-breeds who had mixed the worship of YHWH — show definition INF010 with pagan practices. Moreover, the Samaritans — show definition INF107 had their own temple on Mount Gerizim, which they considered the legitimate place of worship, in opposition to the temple in Jerusalem2. This further deepened the religious schism.

In the time of the Messiah Jesus, this hostility was so strong that the Jews avoided passing through Samaria, and contacts between the two peoples were rare and frowned upon. Yet the Messiah Jesus, going against the current, did not hesitate to converse with the Samaritans — show definition INF107, as with the woman at Jacob’s well in John 4.1-42, and even to make them examples of compassion, as in the parable — show definition INF181 of the Good Samaritan recorded by Luke 10.25-37.