Why was samaritans considered unclean?

Answer 1

The Samaritan was of lower class.

Answer 2

Samaritans were considered unclean by Jews because they were descendants of mixed marriages between the Israelites and foreigners, leading to a dilution of pure Jewish lineage. This mixing of bloodlines and different religious practices was seen as impure and unacceptable to traditional Jewish beliefs, resulting in discrimination and prejudice against Samaritans.

Answer 3

Unclean is the wrong word. Samaritans claim (plausibly) that they are descended from the Northern kingdom of Israel, as it was before the Assyrians invaded and dispersed what were later called the lost tribes of Israel. Their Torah contains numerous small differences from the Torah accepted by the Jews, and done big one: It designates Mount Gezarim as the holy site where sacrifices are authorized. To this day, Samaritans conduct sacrifices on that mountain. Also, the Samaritans reject as non-canonical all of the prophets and writings after the Torah. You could say that Jews look on Samaritans as heretics of a sort because of their rejection of 2/3 of the Hebrew Bible and their variant text for the 1/3 that remains. 2000 years ago, there were many more Samaritans than today. Today, there are few enough that they are tolerated (by Palestinians and Jew alike), but 2000 years ago, they were numerous enough that friction with the Jewish community was quite real, as is amply recorded in the Christian New Testament.