Samaritans

1 definition found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Samaritans
     the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon
     (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other
     places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the
     original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into
     captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These


     strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still
     remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old
     idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
     
       After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem
     refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the
     temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They
     erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however,
     destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another
     at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans
     continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings
     with the Samaritans" (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord
     was in contempt called "a Samaritan" (John 8:48). Many of the
     Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25;
     9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small
     population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in
     Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of
     their fathers. They are the "smallest and oldest sect in the
     world."