Samaria

Samaria, Sumaria or Shomron (Hebrew שֹׁמְרוֹן, Standard Hebrew Šoməron, Tiberian Hebrew Šōmərôn, Arabic سامريّون Sāmariyyūn (but commonly called in Arabic ???? ????? Jibal Nablus), in the New Testament Greek ????????) is a term used for the mountainous northern part of the area on the west bank of the Jordan River. The word is perhaps from shâmar, 'to watch,' hence meaning something like 'outlook'; but, according to 1 Kings 16:24, derived from the individual Shemer, from whom Omri purchased the site.

Samaritans

Ethnically, the Samaritans are the inhabitants of Samaria after the beginning of the Jewish Babylonian Exile. 2 Kings 17 and Josephus (Ant 9.277–91) say that the Samaritans are descendants of deportees brought into the region of Samaria by the Assyrians from other lands they had conquered, including Cuthah; the Samaritans themselves say they are descendants of Israelites from the Northern Kingdom who escaped deportation and exile.

Related Topics:
Samaritan - Babylonian Exile - Israelites

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Samaritanism is a religion related to Judaism in that it accepts the Torah as its holy book, though little of later Jewish theology. Their temple was at Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, and was destroyed by the Macabbean (Hasmonean) John Hyrcanus late in the second century BCE, although their descendants still worship among its ruins. The purported antagonism between Samaritans and Jews is important in understanding the New Testament stories of The Good Samaritan" and the Samaritan Woman.

Related Topics:
Samaritanism - Judaism - Torah - Theology - Gerizim - Macabbean - Hasmonean - John Hyrcanus - Second century BCE - New Testament - The Good Samaritan

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