Note On The Samaritans
After the carrying off of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, a large number of Israelites still remained behind in Samaria and the surrounding country. They had become interbred with the pagan immigrants who had been sent into the country by the Assyrians, and thus a new race, the Samaritans, gradually originated. Nevertheless they had in many respects still remained Jewish in their religion, although they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament and established their own sanctuary on Mount Gerizim near Shechem and did not go and worship in Jerusalem. Even after the destruction of their temple on Gerizim by the Jewish Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus, they retained their own form of worship (cf. John 4: 20.) Until recently there were about a hundred Samaritans at Nablus in Palestine (the ancient Shechem) remaining faithful to their views and customs. These have now crossed into the territory of the state of Israel and settled there. In New Testament times (and long before) there prevailed a violent enmity between Jews and Samaritans. In the hour of common affliction, however, such differences are often wiped out, as in the case of this group of Jewish lepers amongst whom there was at least one Samaritan.
Norval Geldenhuys. 1951.
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