The term occurs only once in the OT, where it refers to the citizens of the former kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:29). Later, however, it was applied to the population of the region of which the city of Samaria was the political center and where there had developed a unique religious and social system. The origin of the Samaritans is described in 2 Kings 17:24-34. After Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BC) and Sargon II (722-705 BC) sent much of the population of Israel into exile, they settled people from Babylonia, northern Mesopotamia, and Hamath in Syria in the territory of the former kingdom. They brought their own religion with them, but as a result of mixing with the remaining Israelites, they also adopted the religion of Yahweh. The process was accelerated by catastrophes that the newcomers interpreted as a sign of displeasure of the local deity because not enough attention had been paid to him (Josephus Ant. Ix. 14. 3). Under Esarhaddon (681-669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (669-627? BC), new contingents of foreign people entered the territory of Samaria (Ezra 4:2, 9-10).
During his reign, King Josiah (c. 640-c. 609 BC) extended his authority over the territory of the former kingdom of Israel, which had been the Assyrian province of Samaria since 722 BC. When Josiah carried out his religious reforms, he went through not only his own kingdom but also the area of the northern tribes destroying all vestiges of pagan cults and idolatry (2 Chron. 34:6-7). It may have been Josiah’s influence that caused the worship of the God of Israel to win out among the Samaritans, and the foreign cults to become more and more suppressed, although the Jews around Jerusalem regarded the Samaritan religion as impure. For their Scriptures, the Samaritans adopted the Pentateuch. Some of the inhabitants of Samaria attended the temple services at Jerusalem, even after the destruction of Solomon’s temple (Jer. 41:5; cf. Ezra 4:2).
When the Jews returned from exile (c. 536 BC) and began to reestablish their religion, the Samaritans offered to join them, but Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the other leaders of Jerusalem rejected them outright (Ezra 4:1-3). They had learned from the admonitions of the prophets that their own national calamity had been the result of their unfaithfulness toward God. Convinced that the Samaritans had a corrupted religion, they wanted to avoid the errors of pre-exilic times and therefore chose religious and social isolation. As a result, an increasingly deepening hatred developed between the two peoples. The Samaritans worked against the returned Jews during their rebuilding of the temple in the time of Cyrus (vv. 4-5), made accusations against them in the reign of Ahasuerus (v. 6), and actively hindered them during the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem during the rule of Artaxerxes. Not satisfied with accusing the Jews of rebellion, they burned gates and destroyed sections of the rebuilt wall (Ezra 4:7-23; Neh. 1:3). Nehemiah describes in detail the efforts that, Sanballat, the governor of the Samaritans, made to hinder his work, although Nehemiah had been sent by the king and possessed all necessary authority to complete the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:10, 19-20; 4:1-2; 6:1-14).
After being rebuffed by the Jews, the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim, in which they offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic ritual. It is not quite clear whether this temple was built in the fifth or the fourth century BC. The antagonism between the Jews and the Samaritans became especially apparent in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. While the Jews resisted his attempts at Hellenizing them and endured severe persecution from the Syrians (2 Macc. 6), the Samaritans had their temple on Mount Gerizim dedicated to Zeus, the defender of strangers (2 Macc. 6:2). Hence when the Jews regained control of Palestine during the reign of the Maccabees, they turned against the Samaritans, and John Hyrcanus (135-105/4 BC) destroyed the temple on Mount Gerizim in 128 BC. Yet the Samaritans continued to conduct religious services on the highest peak of Mount Gerizim, adjacent to the site where their temple had stood, which they still considered the true place of worship (see John 4:20-21). They still celebrate their Passover feast on Mount Gerizim, following Mosaic rites, including the slaughter of Passover lambs.
The hatred between the Jews and Samaritans had not decreased by the time of the ministry of Jesus on earth, a fact indicated by several passages in the NT (Luke 9:51-54; John 4:9; cf. 8:48). For this reason, most pilgrims traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem avoided passing through Samaria and detoured through Perea instead.
The religion of the Samaritans did not differ much from that of the Jews in the time of Jesus, for with them they accepted the Pentateuch. They also expected a Messiah to come (cf. 4:25). However, their religious beliefs were less nationalistic than those of the orthodox Jews, especially the Pharisees. Jesus did not discriminate against the Samaritans and accepted them on an equal basis (Luke 10:29-37; 17:16-18; John 4:1-42).