The Samaritan Problem

As we were studying John 4 last night someone asked so why the Samaritans and Jews didn't get on?  Why were they so antagonistic to one another?

Geography was partly why this hostility was such a problem.  As Jesus travels back to Galilee from Jerusalem he goes through Samaria.  As you can see from the map they were close to one another, you had to go through one to get to the other.

Samaria was the capital city of the Northern kingdom of Israel after the split in kingship.  This population is largely carried into exile by the king of Assyria after the fall of Samaria.  Samaria's inhabitants after that were a mix of races, including those who were hostile to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple under Nehemiah and Ezra.  Not all of the inhabitants of the Northern kingdom were exiled however (2 Chronicles 30) and there was assimilation between the newcomers and those established there already.  Both in terms of marriage and worship.

When Jews returned from exile to rebuild the opposition of their Northern neighbours hardened their attitude towards those they already regarded with bitterness due to their mixed marriages and mixed worship.  Those feelings of bitterness were only solidified by subsequent events.  The Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim, but it was destroyed in 128BC.  Friction continued with various outbreaks further fermenting the bitterness between the two nations.  The Samaritans also did not recognise the writings or any other scripture bar the Pentateuch as canonical.

By the time Jesus sat by the well with the Samaritan woman it is unsurprising that she is shocked by his request for water.