The Definition of the word Samaritans

Samaritans

The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon "(B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other" "places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the" original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into "captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These" strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still "remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old" idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion. "After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the "temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They" "erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however," destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans "continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings" "with the Samaritans" (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord" "was in contempt called "a Samaritan" (John 8:48). Many of the" Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25; 9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small "population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in" "Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of" "their fathers. They are the "smallest and oldest sect in the" "world."