Samaritans

The Samaritans are a population of Israelite descent, living in the region of Samaria.

Origins

The Samaritans claim descent from the Northern Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (two sons of Joseph) as well as from the Levites and some Bejamites.

Jesus and the Samaritans

There are no references to the Samaritans in the earlier Christian tradition. In Mt we read: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans"

In Luke instead there are some positive references to the Samaritans (17:11-19 10

The Gospel of John relates an encounter between a Samaritan woman and Jesus in which she says that the mountain was the center of their worship. She poses the question to Jesus when she realizes that he is the Messiah. Jesus affirms the Jewish position, saying "You (that is, the Samaritans) worship what you do not know".

According to the Acts of Apostles, some Samaritans joined the Jesus movement only after the death of Jesus. It was Philip the Evangelist who first to preached in Samaria and proclamed the Messiah to them (Acts 8:5).