The term Samaritans (haššōmrōnîm) is found only once in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 17:29, but references to this group is found in the Old Testament (Ezra 4, Isa. 9:9, Hosea 10:5) and New Testament (Matt. 10:5; Luke 9:52; 10:33; 17:16; John 4:9, 39-40; 8:48; Acts 8:25). They are always regarded as a distinct religious and ethnic group. There are two proposals for their origin.
Based on the Samaritan’s version, they insist on being the direct descendants of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who survived the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian empire in 722 BC. The inscription of Sargon II, the Assyrian king who conquered Samaria in 722 BC, does contain a report of the deportation of a relatively small number of the Israelites—about 27,000—because the Assyrians only deported the selected elites of a conquered territory. Thus the majority of the population remained in Samaria, who identified itself as Israelites, as Samaritans prefer to call themselves. Samaritans believe that the schism between Jews and Samaritans took place at the time when Eli, the priest, moved the sanctuary from Shechem to Shiloh and established an illegitimate priesthood and place of worship. Samaritan theology believes that the Era of Divine Favor was from the time of Moses until that move. The transfer of the sanctuary also started the Era of Disfavor that would last until the coming of the Taheb or the savior.
However, based on the Old Testament version, specifically, sources such as 2 Kings 17 and Josephus (Ant. 9:277-291), Samaritans are descendants of colonists brought by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon around 677 BC into the region of Samaria from which Sargon II removed native inhabitants and took them into captivity (2 Kings 17:24, Ezra 4:2, 9-10). The new settlers were captives from different lands Assyria had conquered, including Babylon and specifically Cuthah, which is most likely why Josephus used the designation “Cutheans” when he referred to Samaritans (Ant.9:290). These new settlers amalgamated with the Israelites in the land and gradually abandoned their idolatry, adopting partly the Israelites religion.
Both versions of Samaritans’ origin do imply a schism between the two nations, however, in different periods. The earliest evidence of the schism between the Jews and Samaritans comes from the Persian period. According to the interaction in Ezra 4 between the Jews returned from Babylon and the people of the land—a potential reference to Samaritans—the Jews refused to allow the Samaritans to join them in building the temple. This refusal caused a major separation and enmity between the two nations. This conflict was confirmed in the fifth century Elephantine papyri that contain explicit references to Samaritans as a separate religious group. In these letters, Samaritan and Jewish priests each plead for the support to build temples for their respective communities, implying an existing schism between the two nations. Both nations were granted means by the Persian king Darius to build separate temples, one on Mount Gerizim and the other in Jerusalem. Based on the accounts found in the Samaritan Chronicle of Abu’l Fath, Zerubbabel, and Sanballat, the leaders of the Jewish and Samaritan communities, were already arguing about the appropriate location of the temple. Josephus also confirmed this report. The evidence found in the Elephantine papyri and respective sources favor the version of Samaritan origin portrayed in the biblical account.
This schism between the two nations is continued and confirmed in the New Testament accounts as well. Namely, in Luke 9:52-53, Jesus’s ministry was not welcomed in the Samaritan villages “because he was traveling toward Jerusalem.” Based on the account in Matthew 10:5-6, Jesus himself instructed his disciples not to go to Samaritan villages because he wanted the disciples to focus on their mission to the Israelites. However, in John 4, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman. He also used Samaritans as positive characters in certain stories by which he rebuked particular Israelite groups. The most notable ones are most likely the account of the 10 lepers in Luke 17:11-19 and the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37. Finally, following Jesus’s Great Commission in Acts 1:8, his disciples made Samaria an early mission field for the growing Church as the multiple references of Samaria in Acts 8 indicate. Samaritans continue to exist after New Testament times; even to this day, Samaritans live as a separate national and religious group.
Two significant advances in Samaritan history took place in the third and fourteenth centuries AD. Significant highlights of the first periods are the establishment of social order and theological growth. Baba Rabba, one of the significant Samaritan High Priests, organized priesthood and laity. He also helped to build several synagogues. Marqah wrote his homiletical tractate, Memar Marqah, thus laying the foundation of Samaritan theology. At that time, Amram Darrah began reconstructing or replacing an earlier hymnal. His poetry, generally translated as “the string of pearls,” became the core of the Samaritan liturgy.
In the fourteenth century, the high priest Phineas intentionally inaugurated reforms to reconcile a variety of Samaritan sects. He commissioned Abuʾl Fath to write a history of the sect. Drawing from the Bible, traditional stories, and previous chronicles, he created a single, integrated narrative of Samaritan history. The notable Abisha Scroll, a Pentateuchal manuscript, was discovered in this era, that is, in 1355 AD. It is considered the most important artifact of the Samaritan community. A historical commentary with parallels to the book of Joshua was also finalized during this period.
Later in the seventeenth century, Samaritans drew the attention of European scholars on their community when a copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch arrived in Paris. It actually divided the religious community of the time. Roman Catholics favored the Samaritan Pentateuch over the Masoretic Text due to its support by the LXX. Protestant theologians, on the other hand, favored the Masoretic Text. Current scholarship has shown that the Samaritan Pentateuch derives from the LXX and the Masoretic Text and that it cannot be proven that it preferred one or the other.
There are five major beliefs in the Samaritan religion. The first two beliefs are that there is one God, and his chief mediator is Moses. The third one is The Torah. It was the means of communicating God’s will. The fourth belief is that, according to the Samaritan version of the law, especially in Deuteronomy 27:4, Moses was instructed by God to command Joshua to build an altar on Mt. Gerizim, which thus became the central site of the Samaritan worship. Lastly, the Samaritans anticipate the arrival of the Day of Vengeance and Recompense initiated by the Messiah or Taheb.
At present, Samaritans also celebrate Passover, the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), the Feast of trumpets (New Year on the first day of the seventh month), Yom Kippur, the Feast of Booths (Succoth), and the eighth day after the seven days of Succoth, the “holy convocation” in Leviticus 23:36, in addition to the regular Sabbath services. Passover, the key annual festival, is observed on Mt. Gerizim and includes an animal sacrifice according to the regulations found in Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
The Samaritans faced certain challenges during the nineteenth century when they were denied access to Mt. Gerizim. Their literary efforts had declined while their population shrank to under 200 at the close of the nineteenth century. However, it grew and more than doubled during the twentieth century.