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'''Samaritans''' today are a people of mixed ethnicity who live in [[Israel]], who practice a religion having similarities and differences to the [[Jewish faith]]. They accept as their canon the [[Torah]] and the [[Book of Joshua]], as do [[Christian]]s, while rejecting other [[Jewish]] [[Scriptures]].

'''Samaritans''' today are a people of mixed ethnicity who live in [[Israel]], who practice a religion having similarities and differences to the [[Jewish faith]]. They accept as their canon the [[Torah]] and the [[Book of Joshua]], as do [[Christian]]s, while rejecting other [[Jewish]] [[Scriptures]].

Samaritans had a large population of three million at the time of [[Jesus]],<ref name="Samaritans">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/20/i-hope-there-are-still-samaritans-in-the-future</ref> and the Samaritan versus Jewish rivalry then was perhaps analogous to the Palestinian versus Jewish conflict today.  Samaritans reject emigrating to other lands, and today do not consider themselves to be Palestinian or Jewish.<ref name="Samaritans"/>

Samaritans had a large population of three million at the time of [[Jesus]],<ref name="Samaritans">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/20/i-hope-there-are-still-samaritans-in-the-future</ref> and the Samaritan versus Jewish rivalry then was analogous to the Palestinian versus Jewish conflict today.  Samaritans reject emigrating to other lands, and today do not consider themselves to be Palestinian or Jewish.<ref name="Samaritans"/> Some may wonder if Jesus was a Samaritan,<ref>https://johnmarkum.org/was-jesus-a-samaritan/</ref> while [[John the Apostle]] likely was.

The Samaritans mentioned several times in the [[Gospels]] by [[Jesus]] were a mixed-race, part-[[Gentile]] and part-Jewish, who engaged in practices considered to be [[blasphemous]] by Jewish [[Pharisees]].  The references to Samaritans are nearly all favorable, particularly by the [[Gentile]] [[Luke]] but also by [[John]], while [[Matthew]] is critical of Samaritans at {{bibleref|Matthew|10|5}}<ref>"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.'" ([[ESV]])</ref>.  For example, one of the most famous references to Samaritans in the New Testament is in the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]].  It is also said that Jesus first expressly revealed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at the well, despite how Samaritans were outcasts at the time:<ref>John 4:25-26 (NAS).</ref>

The Samaritans mentioned several times in the [[Gospels]] by [[Jesus]] were a mixed-race, part-[[Gentile]] and part-Jewish, who engaged in practices considered to be [[blasphemous]] by Jewish [[Pharisees]].  The references to Samaritans are nearly all favorable, particularly by the [[Gentile]] [[Luke]] but also by [[John]], while [[Matthew]] is critical of Samaritans at {{bibleref|Matthew|10|5}}<ref>"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.'" ([[ESV]])</ref>.  For example, one of the most famous references to Samaritans in the New Testament is in the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]].  It is also said that Jesus first expressly revealed his divinity to a Samaritan woman at the well, despite how Samaritans were outcasts at the time:<ref>John 4:25-26 (NAS).</ref>