Samaria
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Samaria (in Hebrew שֹׁמְרוֹן Sho-mer-one' "watch mountain") is the central part of the region of Palestine, and extends for about 40 miles from north to south, and 35 miles from east to west.
Contents |
Archaeological finds
Many parts of the Samarian city wall have been found. Made of Ashlor blocks and decorated with beautiful illustrations of ivory, these 1 1/2 meter thick pieces of cold hard history are lovely attraction.
Religion
The religious views of the Samaritans were greatly effected by each of their many conquerors. They started out with the same beliefs of the Jews in the Torah (the first five books of the bible). But as time progressed, and they were captured or conquered by different regions their religion changed as well. At different points in time they worshiped gods such as YHWH, Baal, and Astarte. During their time under the Greek reign, Alexander the Great even aloud them to build a temple. The Jews believed them to be racially impure, but also admitted that the Samaritans were not ordinary pagans.
Geography
The following is a link to a complete power point presentation on the topic of the geological position of Samaria. click here
Bible References
There are many references to Samaria in the Bible from 1 kings all the way to Acts. The following link leads to a complete list of all these occurrences.
But perhaps the most memorable mentioning of Samaria is the parable of the good Samaritan (from Luke 10:25-37) which is noted below. The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Related References
- "Samaria." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite. (2007).
- Samaria Hebrew Lexicon
- wikipedia
- cyrstalinks.com
- bibleplaces.com
- livius.org
- answers.com
- bible.com
- geography site
