Who Were the Samaritans, and Why Did Everyone Hate Them?

You already know the parable of the Good Samaritan - a man is robbed, a priest and a temple assistant walk past, and a Samaritan stops to help. Most people take away 'be kind to strangers.' That is not the lesson Jesus was telling. The whole force of the story sits inside one word, and if you do not know what that word did to a first-century Jewish audience, the parable goes off like a firework in an empty field. From there: the Assyrian resettlement of Samaria, the destroyed temple on Mount Gerizim, the woman at the well, and the ten lepers - three passages that all change once you know who these people were. Scripture: 2 Kings 17:24-41 - Luke 10:25-37 - John 4:1-26 - Luke 17:11-19 If this made you want to read those three passages again with that word in mind, subscribe - new think about it episodes every week.