Samaria

Samaria is at once a city, a kingdom, and a region. Omri buys the hill from Shemer and builds a capital on it; for the next two centuries it houses the kings of the northern tribes, draws Syrian and Assyrian armies to its walls, and gathers prophetic indictment for its altars and Asherah. After Assyria takes it, foreign colonists are settled in its cities and become the people the post-exilic community calls Samaritans. By the Gospels, "Samaria" names the territory between Judea and Galilee that travelers must cross — and the people Jesus speaks with at Jacob's well, heals on the border, and casts as the merciful neighbor in a parable.

Founding and capital of the northern kingdom

Omri purchases the site and gives it the founder's name. "And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria. ... and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years" (1Ki 16:24-29). The "in Samaria" formula then carries through the dynasties: "Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel" (1Ki 22:51); "Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] seventeen years" (2Ki 13:1); "Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] sixteen years" (2Ki 13:10); "Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months" (2Ki 15:8). Isaiah names the city the political head of the northern realm: "the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son" (Isa 7:9).

Idolatry in the city

Ahab's reign brings a Baal cult to the capital: "And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria" (1Ki 16:32). After Jehu's purge that follows — "And when he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke to Elijah" (2Ki 10:17) — Jehu lures the worshipers of Baal into the house of Baal and slaughters them: "And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. ... And they brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an outside latrine, to this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel" (2Ki 10:25-28). Even so, the syncretism is not wholly purged: "the Asherah also remained in Samaria" (2Ki 13:6). Generations later Josiah's reform reaches across the border: "And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [Yahweh] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el" (2Ki 23:19).

Sieges by Syria

Samaria is repeatedly attacked from Damascus. In Ahab's day Ben-hadad gathers a coalition: "And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it" (1Ki 20:1). Later, when Syrian raiding parties keep failing because Elisha betrays the king of Syria's bedchamber plans (2Ki 6:8-14), Yahweh strikes the pursuing host with blindness and Elisha leads them into the capital: "And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you⁺ to the man whom you⁺ seek. And he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they had come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and, look, they were in the midst of Samaria" (2Ki 6:19-20). The king of Israel is restrained from killing them; they are fed and sent back, and "the bands of Syria did not come into the land of Israel anymore" (2Ki 6:23).

A second Ben-hadad campaign brings full siege and famine: "And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, look, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for 80 [shekels] of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five [shekels] of silver" (2Ki 6:24-25). The famine drives two women to a cannibalism pact, exposed when the king passes by on the wall (2Ki 6:26-29). The king blames Elisha (2Ki 6:31), but Elisha promises relief: "Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be [sold] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria" (2Ki 7:1). Four lepers at the gate discover the Syrian camp abandoned, the besiegers having heard "a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host" (2Ki 7:6) and fled. The plundered camp fulfills the prophecy: "So a seah of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh" (2Ki 7:16). The skeptical captain who had mocked Elisha's word is trampled in the gate, "for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died" (2Ki 7:20).

Fall to Assyria

Hoshea's defection brings Shalmaneser. "Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years" (2Ki 17:5). The end is recorded twice. "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2Ki 17:6). The parallel notice synchronizes the same events with Hezekiah's reign: "And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2Ki 18:9-11). Isaiah had already named the spoil ahead of time: "the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria" (Isa 8:4). Micah pictures the city's leveling: "Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, [and] as places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations" (Mi 1:6).

Foreign colonies and the post-exilic Samaritans

After the deportation Assyria resettles the territory. "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities. And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn't fear Yahweh: therefore Yahweh sent lions among them, which killed some of them ... So these nations feared Yahweh, and served their graven images; their sons likewise, and the sons of their sons, as did their fathers, so they do to this day" (2Ki 17:24-41). A second Persian-era notice names additional groups: "the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest [of the country] beyond the River" (Ezr 4:9-10).

The new population's religion is mixed, and when the returning exiles begin rebuilding, these inhabitants press to join the project: "then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' [houses], and said to them, Let us build with you⁺; for we seek your⁺ God, as you⁺ do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' [houses] of Israel, said to them, You⁺ have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us" (Ezr 4:2-3). The hostility continues under Nehemiah, where Sanballat addresses "his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they leave themselves alone? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?" (Ne 4:2).

Samaria as a province in the Maccabean wars

By the Hellenistic period Samaria is a regional administrative unit beside Judea. From it Apollonius musters his army: "And Apollonius gathered together the nations, and a great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel" (1Ma 3:10). Later Jonathan secures border districts back from it: "We have ratified therefore to them all the borders of Judea, and the three cities, Apherema, Lydda, and Ramatha, which are added to Judea, out of Samaria, and all their confines, to be set apart to all those who sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the payments which the king received of them every year, and for the fruits of the land, and of the trees" (1Ma 11:34).

The province in the Gospels

Samaria is the territory between Judea and Galilee that travelers cross. On the way to Jerusalem Jesus passes "through between the borders of Samaria and Galilee" (Lu 17:11). On the way north from Judea he goes through it as a matter of necessity: "And he must surely pass through Samaria" (Jn 4:4); en route to Jerusalem his messengers "entered into a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for him" (Lu 9:52).

The woman at the well

The longest Samaria passage is the conversation at Jacob's well. Jesus "left Judea and departed again into Galilee" and "must surely pass through Samaria" (Jn 4:3-4), arriving "at a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour" (Jn 4:5-6). To the woman who comes to draw, he asks for a drink (Jn 4:7); she objects on Jew–Samaritan grounds: "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink, being a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans" (Jn 4:9). The exchange moves from "living water" (Jn 4:10-15) to her marital history (Jn 4:16-18) to the contested place of worship: "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you⁺ say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship" (Jn 4:20). Jesus relativizes the geography — "the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you⁺ worship the Father" (Jn 4:21) — and presses the priority of Israel's revelation: "You⁺ worship that which you⁺ don't know: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews" (Jn 4:22). He frames true worship: "But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such does the Father seek to be his worshipers. God is spirit: and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:23-24).

The woman's expectation gives him the opening for self-disclosure: "I know that Messiah comes (he who is called Christ): when he has come, he will declare to us all things. Jesus says to her, I am he who speaks to you" (Jn 4:25-26). She drops the waterpot and runs back to invite the city: "Come, see a man, who told me all things that I ever did: can this be the Christ?" (Jn 4:29). While the disciples puzzle over food, Jesus tells them, "My meat is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. ... Lift up your⁺ eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white to harvest" (Jn 4:34-35). The town responds: "And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that I did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they implored him to stay with them: and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word; and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of your speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world" (Jn 4:39-42). After the two days Jesus "went forth from there into Galilee" (Jn 4:43).

The Good Samaritan and the grateful leper

In the parable of the man on the Jericho road, a priest and a Levite pass by; "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on [them] oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the next day he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatever you spend more, I, when I come back again, will repay you" (Lu 10:33-35).

A parallel reversal occurs on the border. "And as he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood far off: and they lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, with a loud voice glorifying God; and he fell on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were not the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found that returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?" (Lu 17:12-18). To the one who returned he says, "Arise, and go your way: your faith has made you whole" (Lu 17:19).

"You are a Samaritan"

The same ethnic line that the woman at the well names is turned against Jesus by his opponents in Jerusalem: "The Jews answered and said to him, Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?" (Jn 8:48).