Samaritans in the New Testament (original) (raw)
Four New Testament writings mention Samaritans and Samaria—Luke–Acts, John, and Matthew. We must consider that all Samaritan texts in the New Testament are based on a historically correct knowledge of the cult of YHWH worshippers in Samaria oriented towards the Gerizim. If the YHWH admirers in Samaria are to be understood as one of the two independent “Israel” denominations that existed in the Palestinian heartland during the post-exilic period, consequently, in John, Matthew, and Luke–Acts, attention is paid to their understanding of the ecclesiological significance of “Israel” and to Christological aspects. Moreover, the authors of the Gospels reflect a semantically young phenomenon, when Σαμαρῖται is understood beyond the ethnicon as a term for a group religiously distinct from Judaism. At the time of Paul, the term “Samaritan” had not yet been established to refer to the religiously defined group. This means that care must be taken when interpreting the term “Israel” and “Israel...
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For We, like You, Worship Your God: Three Biblical Portrayals of Samaritan Origins
Vetus Testamentum, 1988
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The phrase 'Jews have no dealings with Samaritans' is the Johannine summary of the sour relations that existed between Jews and Samaritans during the time of Jesus Christ. Relations between Jews and Samaritans were at the level of conflicts during the time of Christ. These conflicts are reflected especially in the Gospels (see John 8:48; Luke 9:53-54). This work is primarily an attempt to identify the bases for these conflicts. Understanding the nature of the relations between these two groups will therefore assists students and interpreters of the New Testament appreciate and comprehend the negative signals emitted by these biblical texts. The work is a historical-critical method of study applied to biblical texts in their synchronic forms. It implies an inquiry into who the Samaritans were; what their beliefs and practices were and why there was such enmity between them and the Jews. The study identifies the non recognition of the Jewish origin of the Samaritans as the basis for the conflicts. It also identifies the intricacies of religion and politics in the diversification of the conflict, highlights some instances of class distinctions and religious conflicts in modern society as contemporary equivalents of the Samaritan-Jewish conflicts. It recommends respects for the dignity of the human person, emphasis on, and widening of the borders of kinship and the encouragement of multi-culturalism as the foundations for building a less discriminatory society.
After briefly rehearsing the first-century debate over Samaritan Israelism (SI), including favourable Tannaitic views, this paper shows that Jesus in the Samaritan parable teaches that covenantally loyal Samaritans are Israelites eligible for inclusion in his coming messianic age. Several points reveal this position. The parabolic teaching occurs within the Lukan thematic context of fulfilling prophesied messianic reunification (MR), reuniting both northern and southern Israelite kingdoms under a scion of David. The immediately preceding co-text of the parable relates eschatological kingdom proclamation in Samaria and an announcement by the royal Son of God (Luke 10:22; cf. 1:32–35, etc.) of the arrival of that which “many prophets and kings” awaited (10:24), which includes MR into kingdom unity (Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5–6; 33:14–17; 2 Chr 30; 35, etc.). The parable evidences a description of the word “neighbour,” which, within this context of Lev 19:17–18, is defined as a “fellow Israelite”; thus, when Jesus describes the one who proved to be a Torah-obedient neighbour of the Judaean victim as a Samaritan, he is portraying a reuniting of Israelites divided across national, ethnic, and sectarian boundaries. The form of the parable adopts the well-known triadic structure of “Priest-Levite-Israelite,” and Jesus places the Samaritan in the position of the Israelite. Jesus endorses the Chronicler’s pan-Israelite ideology embracing SI, reflecting the Lukan eschatological MR theme, in his intertextual use of 2 Chr 28:15 as a source for 10:33–34. Use of the tripartite collocation ποιεῖν + ἔλεος + μετά (from the Hebrew עשׂה חסד עמ) in 10:37a defines the Samaritan as one who observes covenantally loyal ḥesedism, not generic humanistic mercy. This recognition of Jesus’s position in the parable coheres with later representation of the northern kingdom by its Samaritan inheritors in the 2-stage resurrection of Israel (Acts 2 and 8) fulfilling Ezek 37. The parable’s SI and MR also produce a more comprehensively coherent reading of the rebuilding of the σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ (Acts 15:16) than the influential Bauckham, “James and the Gentiles (Acts 15.13-21)” (1996). When properly recognizing the Ḥesedic Samaritan’s parabolic teaching, it becomes clear that Luke-Acts views Samaritans as representatives of the northern kingdom inheriting the covenant promises of messianic renewal along with southern Israelite Judaeans.
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in : József Zsengellér (ed.), Samaria, Samarians, Samaritans. Studies on Bible, History and Linguistics, Berlin, W. de Gruyter, 2013, p. 121-172