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Huh? In the story of the Samaritan woman, Christ is talking with her. And then the apostles show up and are amazed that He is talking with a Samaritan woman.

When the Israelites divided into 2 kingdoms after the death of King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was established in the northern section of the Promised Land, in accordance with the lands allotted to the 10 tribes in that area. Shechem was the original capital, until Jeroboam moved it to Tirzah. Later, in approximately 880 B.C., Omri, the sixth King of Israel, established the capital at Samaria, a new town built on a hilltop about 7 miles (11 kilometers) northwest of Shechem. "Samaria" came to be used interchangeably for both the city, and the region. After the northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians, the region then known as Samaria was reduced in size. By the time of Jesus it was bounded by Galilee to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Judea to the south and the Jordan River to the east. Today, it is in the so-called "West Bank" area. Very telling....huh?

In the story of the Samaritan woman, Christ is talking with her. And then the apostles show up and are amazed that He is talking with a Samaritan woman.

This story takes place very early in Our Lord's ministry and as noted....[John 4:4] He had to go through Samaria.

Not only are the Apostles amazed....so is the Samaritan women...(verse 9) the Samaritan woman therefore saith to him, 'How dost thou, being a Jew, ask drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?' for Jews have no dealing with Samaritans.

As I posted earlier, the Samaritans were transplanted pagans from Babylon [II Kings 17:24] from about the seventh century B.C. and had continued in their pagan practices while taking on some of the elements of the God of Abraham. [II Kings 17:33-34]. The Jews, (Judah and Benjamin) being their neighbors to the south knew this....and despised them. This is the primary reason our Lord gave instructions to the twelve not to go there! [Matthew 10:5]

This is what Josephus has to say about them: So when Alexander had thus settled matters at Jerusalem, he led his army into the neighboring cities; and when all the inhabitants to whom he came received him with great kindness, the Samaritans, who had then Shechem for their metropolis, (a city situate at Mount Gerizzim, and inhabited by apostates of the Jewish nation,) seeing that Alexander had so greatly honored the Jews, determined to profess themselves Jews; for such is the disposition of the Samaritans, as we have already elsewhere declared, that when the Jews are in adversity, they deny that they are of kin to them, and then they confess the truth; but when they perceive that some good fortune hath befallen them, they immediately pretend to have communion with them, saying that they belong to them, and derive their genealogy from the posterity of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Accordingly, they made their address to the king with splendor, and showed great alacrity in meeting him at a little distance from Jerusalem. And when Alexander had commended them, the Shechemites approached to him, taking with them the troops that Sanballat had sent him, and they desired that he would come to their city, and do honor to their temple also; to whom he promised, that when he returned he would come to them. And when they petitioned that he would remit the tribute of the seventh year to them, because they did but sow thereon, he asked who they were that made such a petition; and when they said that they were Hebrews, but had the name of Sidonians, living at Shechem, he asked them again whether they were Jews; and when they said they were not Jews, "It was to the Jews," said he, "that I granted that privilege; however, when I return, and am thoroughly informed by you of this matter, I will do what I shall think proper." And in this manner he took leave of the Shechenlites; but ordered that the troops of Sanballat should follow him into Egypt, because there he designed to give them lands, which he did a little after in Thebais, when he ordered them to guard that country.

Notice in verse 12 of John 4....the Samaritan woman even lies about her heritage to Our Lord: Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? She was no more a descendant of Israel than Bin Laden!

They had no honor, they were pagans and the only time the Apostles became involved with them was in Acts 8 when Philip, a non Apostle, convinced Peter and John to come up and help him in Samaria. Look at the result regarding the beginnings of the entire "Simon Magus affair" and subsequent apostasy.