Samaria, Samaritan

Definition

Samaria was the name of a city and its surrounding region in the northern part of Israel. The region was located between the Plain of Sharon on its west and the Jordan River on its east.

• In the Old Testament, Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. Later the region surrounding it was also called Samaria.
• When the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they captured the city of Samaria and forced most of the northern Israelites to leave the region, moving them far away to different cities in Assyria.
• The Assyrians also brought many foreigners into the region of Samaria to replace the Israelites who had been moved.
• Some of the Israelites who remained in that region married the foreigners who had moved there, and their descendants were called Samaritans.
• The Jews despised the Samaritans because they were only partly Jewish and because their ancestors had worshiped pagan gods.
• In New Testament times, the region of Samaria was bordered by the region of Galilee on its north and the region of Judea on its south.

(See also: Assyria, Galilee, Judea, Sharon, kingdom of Israel)

Bible References

• Acts 8:1-3
• Acts 8:5
• John 4:4-5
• Luke 9:51-53
• Luke 10:33

Examples from the Bible stories

• __20:4 Then the Assyrians brought foreigners to live in the land where the kingdom of Israel had been. The foreigners rebuilt the destroyed cities and married the Israelites who were left there. The descendants of the Israelites who married foreigners were called Samaritans__.
• __27:8 “The next person to walk down that road was a Samaritan. (Samaritans were the descendants of Jews who had married people from other nations. Samaritans__ and Jews hated each other.)”
• __27:9 “The Samaritan__ then lifted the man onto his own donkey and took him to a roadside inn where he took care of him.”
• __45:7 He (Philip) went to Samaria__ where he preached about Jesus and many people were saved.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H8111, H8115, H8118, G45400, G45410, G45420