How did the Samaritan nation begin?

Answer 1

The Samaritans claim to be the remnant of the northern Kingdom of Israel that was not deported by the Assirian invasion. They may be correct, but when the Jews returned to Jerusalem and the surrounding lands of Judah after the Babylonian exile, the returning Jews did not accept the legitimacy of the Samaritans. As a result, the Samaritan Torah and the Jewish Torah have been independently and separately transmitted for over 2500 years. Most of the differences are minor differences in spelling and grammar.

Answer 2

Samaritans hold that God sanctified Mount Gerizim (outside modern Nablus in the land formerly known as Samaria) as the holy site for sacrifices. Jews say the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This division may be a relic of the division between Judah and Israel before the Babylonian Exile, with the Samaritans being a remnant of the population of the northern kingdom of Israel that managed to hang onto their original homes through the invasions that destroyed that kingdom. The Samaritan Torah has been passed down through the past 2500 years through an independent scribal tradition from the Jewish Torah. The two Torahs differ in about 6000 p rlaces, mostly small variations in spelling or grammar, but a few significant places. The Samaritans entirely reject the Jewish texts added to The Bible after the Torah.