Mystery: Was John a Samaritan - Revision history

Aschlafly at 22:48, May 8, 2026

2026-05-08T22:48:59Z

Aschlafly at 05:11, April 29, 2026

2026-04-29T05:11:54Z

Aschlafly at 05:11, April 29, 2026

2026-04-29T05:11:09Z

Aschlafly: "Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them." - John 10:6 (NIV).

2026-04-29T05:10:23Z

"Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them." - John 10:6 (NIV).

Aschlafly at 05:06, April 29, 2026

2026-04-29T05:06:48Z

Aschlafly: increase to 37 facts supporting that John was a Samaritan

2026-04-29T05:06:00Z

increase to 37 facts supporting that John was a Samaritan

Aschlafly: the Gospel of John never mentions David once favorably, and only quotes Jews as referencing him, because Samaritans did not recognize David as a holy figure. The Gospel of John does repeatedly mention Moses, whom Samaritans did recognize and h

2026-04-22T00:57:54Z

the Gospel of John never mentions David once favorably, and only quotes Jews as referencing him, because Samaritans did not recognize David as a holy figure. The Gospel of John does repeatedly mention Moses, whom Samaritans did recognize and h

Aschlafly: improved further

2026-04-18T02:50:59Z

improved further

Aschlafly at 02:46, April 18, 2026

2026-04-18T02:46:33Z

Aschlafly: #35: In {{bibleref|John|2|6}}, John refers to "six stone water jars [at a wedding in Cana]] for the Jewish rites of purification," which implies that either John or his audience had different practices.

2026-04-18T02:45:38Z

#35: In {{bibleref|John|2|6}}, John refers to "six stone water jars [at a wedding in Cana]] for the Jewish rites of purification," which implies that either John or his audience had different practices.

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 John and his brother James oddly suggest destroying a Samaritan village for refusing to accept [[Jesus]] because He was on His way to [[Jerusalem]]. See [[Luke, Chapter 9|Luke 9:51–56]]. But this anger by John at the Samaritan village suggests that he felt betrayed by it, as a fellow Samaritan, rather than an underlying Jewish-Samaritan enmity that would not have sought hospitality from the village in the first place.
 == References ==
 {{reflist}}

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 {{See also|Mystery:Unsolved_Gospel_Mysteries}}
 [[John the Apostle]] was probably a [[Samaritan]]; there were about 1 million Samaritans and they were the majority along the roughly 100-mile distance between [[Jerusalem]] in the south and [[Capernaum]] in the north at the time of [[Christ]].<ref>It is also possible that John's background was different from the other disciples in another fundamental way.</ref> '''''Here are 37 facts supporting that John was a Samaritan''''':
-#the [[Gospel of John]] never mentions [[David]] favorably, and only quotes Jews as referencing him, because Samaritans did not recognize David as a holy figure. The Gospel of John does repeatedly mention [[Moses]], whom Samaritans did recognize and honor, more than every other [[Gospel]].
+#the [[Gospel of John]] never mentions [[David]] favorably, and only quotes Jews as unjustifiably referencing him, because Samaritans did not recognize David as a holy figure. The Gospel of John does repeatedly mention [[Moses]], whom Samaritans did recognize and honor, more than every other [[Gospel]].
 #John is the only [[Gospel]] author who never used the term "[[Gentile]]s", as Samaritans would not because they were half-Gentile and thus it was not a distinguishing term for them, while the other Gospel authors (and [[Peter]] and [[Paul]]) repeatedly used that term;
 #John's repeated references -- 10 times more than any other [[Gospel]] -- to "the Jews," meaning the Jewish people in and around [[Jerusalem]], was how Samaritans would have referred to their rivals;

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 #Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as "[[Jesus]] used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them."<ref>John 10:6 ([[NIV]]).</ref> Only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;
 #Samaritans did not celebrate [[Passover]] with a meal but with a sacrifice (of a lamb),<ref>https://www.chosenpeople.com/modern-samaritans-and-the-ancient-passover-sacrifice/</ref> and the [[Last Supper]] is uniquely described in the [[Gospel of John]] as not being a Passover meal;
-#Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";#Samaritans were an important population initially to convert, as [[Jesus]] indicated prior to his [[Ascension]],<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|1|8}}</ref> and it would have been immensely helpful to have a Samaritan as an [[Apostle]] to be a missionary to evangelize this demographic amid deep ethnic tensions, as [[John]] then did;<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|8|14-15}}</ref>
+#Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";
 #Only John describes [[Jesus]]'s [[Washing of feet]] at the [[Last Supper]], which would have been particularly disfavored by [[Jewish]] disciples as it was the opposite of hand-washing before eating;
 #John's mother made a request of [[Jesus]] that would have been [[blasphemous]] among Jewish people then, and thus she was probably not Jewish. ''See'' {{bibleref|Matthew|20|20-21}};

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 #John is the only [[Gospel]] author who never used the term "[[Gentile]]s", as Samaritans would not because they were half-Gentile and thus it was not a distinguishing term for them, while the other Gospel authors (and [[Peter]] and [[Paul]]) repeatedly used that term;
 #John's repeated references -- 10 times more than any other [[Gospel]] -- to "the Jews," meaning the Jewish people in and around [[Jerusalem]], was how Samaritans would have referred to their rivals;
-#Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as {{bibleref|John|10|6}} ("they did not understand what he was saying to them"), and only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;
+#Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as "[[Jesus]] used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them."<ref>John 10:6 ([[NIV]]).</ref> Only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;
 #Samaritans did not celebrate [[Passover]] with a meal but with a sacrifice (of a lamb),<ref>https://www.chosenpeople.com/modern-samaritans-and-the-ancient-passover-sacrifice/</ref> and the [[Last Supper]] is uniquely described in the [[Gospel of John]] as not being a Passover meal;
 #Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";#Samaritans were an important population initially to convert, as [[Jesus]] indicated prior to his [[Ascension]],<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|1|8}}</ref> and it would have been immensely helpful to have a Samaritan as an [[Apostle]] to be a missionary to evangelize this demographic amid deep ethnic tensions, as [[John]] then did;<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|8|14-15}}</ref>

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 #John is the only [[Gospel]] author who never used the term "[[Gentile]]s", as Samaritans would not because they were half-Gentile and thus it was not a distinguishing term for them, while the other Gospel authors (and [[Peter]] and [[Paul]]) repeatedly used that term;
 #John's repeated references -- 10 times more than any other [[Gospel]] -- to "the Jews," meaning the Jewish people in and around [[Jerusalem]], was how Samaritans would have referred to their rivals;
-#Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as {{bibleref|John|1|6}} ("they did not understand what he was saying to them"), and only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;
+#Only John refers to the Pharisees as being too simple-minded to understand some of Jesus's teachings, such as {{bibleref|John|10|6}} ("they did not understand what he was saying to them"), and only the Samaritans would challenge the Pharisees' intellectual abilities;
 #Samaritans did not celebrate [[Passover]] with a meal but with a sacrifice (of a lamb),<ref>https://www.chosenpeople.com/modern-samaritans-and-the-ancient-passover-sacrifice/</ref> and the [[Last Supper]] is uniquely described in the [[Gospel of John]] as not being a Passover meal;
 #Only the [[Gospel of John]] refers to the "Passover of the Jews,"<ref>{{bibleref|John|2|13}} ([[ESV]])</ref> which is how a Samaritan might have distinguished it from their different Passover; all the other [[Gospels]] refer to only the "Passover";#Samaritans were an important population initially to convert, as [[Jesus]] indicated prior to his [[Ascension]],<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|1|8}}</ref> and it would have been immensely helpful to have a Samaritan as an [[Apostle]] to be a missionary to evangelize this demographic amid deep ethnic tensions, as [[John]] then did;<ref>{{bibleref|Acts|8|14-15}}</ref>

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 #John's father's name, translated as "Zebedee", appears nowhere in the [[Old Testament]] and is most common today in [[Nigeria]], [[Africa]], which is half [[Muslim]] and half [[Christian]];
 #John's unique description of [[Jesus]] as possibly coming from the [[Samaritans]];
-#John's sympathy towards Samaritans, including describing how Jesus first disclosed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at a well (which everyone else omitted);
+#John's sympathy towards Samaritans, including describing how Jesus first disclosed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at a well (which everyone else omitted), at a time when the prevailing Jewish view was that Samaritan women in particular were unclean;
 #the [[Apostles]] sent the young [[John]] (along with [[Peter]]) to successfully [[evangelize]] Samaria after the [[Resurrection]], see {{bibleref|Acts|8|14}}, and Samaritans fully accepted John and his preaching despite the underlying hostility between [[Judea]]ns and [[Samaritans]];
 #John's repeated references -- 10 times more than any other [[Gospel]] -- to "the Jews," meaning the Jewish people in and around [[Jerusalem]], was how Samaritans would have referred to their rivals;

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 #the name "John" came from an [[angel]] for the naming of [[John the Baptist]],<ref>{{bibleref|John|1|13}}</ref> is [[Aramaic]] rather than [[Hebrew]] as no one in the entire [[Old Testament]] has the name "John",<ref>"Yochanan" is the Aramaic origin of John's name.</ref> and none of the [[Jewish]] relatives of John the Baptist had that name.<ref>{{bibleref|John|1|61}}</ref> Likewise for the name of his brother, "James".
 #many of Jesus's followers were Samaritans, as reflected by how 1 out of 10 of those cured of [[leprosy]] based on their [[faith]] anbutd the only one who thanked Jesus was a Samaritan in {{bibleref|Luke|17:11-19}}; it follows that 1-2 of Jesus's 12 [[Apostles]] were likewise Samaritan, as in John and his brother James.
-# In {{bibleref|John|2|6}}, John refers to  "six stone water jars [at a wedding in Cana]] for the Jewish rites of purification,"<ref>[[ESV]] quoted here.</ref> which implies that either John or his audience had different practices.
+# In {{bibleref|John|2|6}}, John refers to  "six stone water jars [at a wedding in [[Cana]]] for the Jewish rites of purification,"<ref>[[ESV]] quoted here.</ref> which implies that either John or his audience had different practices.
 #Jesus walked with his [[Apostles]] without any objecting directly through Samaria, which was between [[Galilee]] and [[Jerusalem]], while Jewish people preferred to walk around Samaria rather than through it; this suggests some of the Apostles were [[Samaritan]]s.
 #John emphasized that Jesus "came to what was his own, but his own people [''i.e.'', Jewish people] did not accept him," while others did accept him.<ref>{{bibleref|John|1|11-12}}</ref> John accepted Him, so John is part of "others" rather than part of Jesus' "own people."  The most likely "other" group in the same vicinity was comprised of Samaritans.