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Bible Dictionaries
Samaritans
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Samaritans (sa-măr'i-tanz). 2 Kings 17:29; comp. vs. 9-12. In the New Testament the word denotes the mixed race which sprang from the remnant of Israel and the colonists brought from various parts of Assyria at the captivity. 2 Kings 17:23-24. The colonists lived at first in heathenism; but they afterwards sought to propitiate "the god of the land" by bringing back an Israelitish priest to Bethel, and mingling with their own idolatries a corrupt worship of Jehovah. 2 Kings 17:25-33; 2 Kings 17:41. The Jews, on their return from captivity, b.c. 636, declined the Samaritans' request to be permitted to help build the temple. Ezra In consequence of this refusal the Samaritans hindered the erection of the temple and afterwards the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, b.c. 445. Nehemiah 4:6. The enmity was increased by the erection of a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritans offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic law, referring to Deuteronomy 27:11-13, as proof that this was the proper site for the temple. The bitter animosity between the two races must be understood in order to understand many facts in New Testament history.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Samaritans'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/s/samaritans.html. 1893.
