“Jews Have No Dealings with Samaritans”

“Jews Have No Dealings with Samaritans”

 Hatred between Jews and Samaritans was fierce and long-standing. It dated to the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in A.D. 722 The victorious Assyrians deported twenty thousand Israelites, mostly from the upper classes, and replaced them with settlers from Babylon, Syria, and several other nations. These foreigners introduced pagan idols and intermarried with the Hebrews, creating an ethnically mixed population.

 When the Jews of Judah returned from the Babylonian captivity, they met resistance from the Samaritans as they tried to rebuild the temple, Jerusalem, and the rest of their society. They looked down on their northern cousins because of their mixed marriages and idolatrous practices. Soon, permanent walls of bitterness had been erected by both sides. By Jesus’ day, the hostilities were so severe that the woman at the well was astonished that Jesus would even speak with her. As John explained, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9).