Who were the samaritans and what did the people of judah think of them?

Answer 1

The Samaritans were converts who were brought after the destruction of Jerusalem. The majority of the Hebrew population was taken off to Babylon as prisoners, but some Samaritan converts remained behind. They broke the laws of Moses by intermarrying with the local peoples and became, in a sense, "half-breeds". When the Jews returned from their exile they shunned these people. The half-breeds were not allowed to return to Judah or Jerusalem and so they settled in the region of Samaria from which they took their name. At the time of Jesus Samaritans were no longer considered Jews on any level though the Samaritans still held to some Jewish religious practices. The word "Samaritan" became a by-word to the Israelites and they hated them. The Jews use the name in a derogative way towards Jesus saying, "You Samaritan!"

Answer 2

The Samaritans:

After the Assyrians exiled the Israelite Ten Tribes (about 2600 years ago), the Assyrian king brought non-Jews from Cutha, Babylonia and Syria (Hamat), and settled them in the depopulated area where the Ten Tribes had lived (Samaria). They were taught Judaism by one of the Jewish kohens (2 Kings 17:27), and they were taught the Torah, which they wrote in the Old Hebrew script.

While both Jews and Samaritans believed in One God, and both accepted the Torah, there were also some differences. Jerusalem was and is the holiest site for Jews, while the Samaritans took Mount Gerizim as their religious center. Later in history, the Samaritans aligned with the Greeks and accepted foreign gods (Talmud, Hullin 6a).

The Talmud relates how the Samaritans adopted some of the mitzvot (Torah-commands) but not others (Talmud, Berakhot 47b), how they denounced the Jews to Alexander in an unsuccessful bid to get him to destroy the newly-built Second Temple (Talmud, Yoma 69a), and how they interfered with the declaring of Rosh Hodesh (the New Moon) (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 22b). Our traditions relate how the Samaritans would sometimes waylay the Jews who tried to journey to the Holy Temple.

Today the Samaritans are a small group of about 800, who practice an ancient form of Jewish worship, with animal sacrifices. They don't accept the Talmud, nor holidays such as Hanukkah.

Answer 3

After the Assyrians exiled the Israelite Ten Tribes (about 2600 years ago), the Assyrian king brought non-Jews from Cutha, Babylonia and Syria (Hamat), and settled them in the depopulated area where the Ten Tribes had lived (Samaria). They were taught Judaism by one of the Jewish priests (2 Kings 17:27), and they were taught the Torah, which they wrote in the Old Hebrew script. Later in history, the Samaritans aligned with the Greeks and accepted foreign gods (Talmud, Hullin 6a).
The Talmud relates how the Samaritans adopted some of the mitzvot (Torah-commands) but not others (Talmud, Berakhot 47b), how they denounced the Jews to Alexander in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to destroy the newly-built Second Temple (Talmud, Yoma 69a), and how they interfered with the declaring of Rosh Hodesh (the New Moon) (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 22b). Our traditions relate how the Samaritans would waylay the Jews who tried to journey to the Holy Temple.
Today the Samaritans are a small group of about 800, who practice an ancient form of Jewish worship, with animal sacrifices. They don't accept the Talmud nor holidays such as Hanukkah.

Answer 4

Around the time of Jesus, the Samaritans followed an archaic form of Judaism and sought to worship God on Mount Gezarim, with the Samaritans arguing that this had been the real location of Solomon's Temple. Religious differences, within essentially the same faith, meant considerable ill-feeling between the two peoples.