The province of Samaria
1- Geography
Samaria was a region in the center of Palestine, between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south. Its territory corresponded roughly to the former kingdom of Israel (the ten northern tribes). The region was hilly and fertile, crossed by major trade routes linking Jerusalem to Galilee. Its historic capital, also called Samaria, had been rebuilt by Herod the Great under the name of Sebaste.
2- History
After the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC, the Assyrians deported part of the Israelite population and settled pagan colonists in the region (2 Kings 17.24-41). These peoples intermingled with the remaining Israelites, giving rise to a mixed people who practiced a syncretistic religion, blending the worship of with pagan elements.
3- The rivalry with the Jews
The built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, in competition with the one in Jerusalem (John 4.20). They accepted as Scripture only the (the five books of Moses). This rivalry produced deep hostility between Jews and , to the point that devout Jews avoided passing through Samaria and regarded any contact with as unclean (John 4.9). To call someone a “Samaritan” was a grave insult (John 8.48).
4- Jesus and Samaria
Jesus had broken with these prejudices:
- He passed through Samaria and spoke to the woman of Sychar (John 4.4-42)
- He made a Samaritan the hero of a famous (Luke 10.30-37)
- He healed ten lepers, among them one grateful Samaritan (Luke 17.11-19)
- He announced that the Gospel would be carried to Samaria (Acts 1.8)
5- Samaria in Acts
Philip's ministry in Samaria (Acts 8.5-8) therefore fulfills Jesus' prophetic word. It is a major milestone: for the first time the Gospel crosses the ethnic and religious barrier that separated Jews and . The apostles Peter and John would come to confirm this work (Acts 8.14-17), thereby validating the entry of into the Church.