Samaria was the name of a city and its surrounding region in the northern part of Israel. The Plain of Sharon is west of this region, and the Jordan River is east of this region. The people of Samaria were called Samaritans.
* In the Old Testament, Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. Later the region surrounding it was also called Samaria.
* When the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they captured the city of Samaria and forced most of the northern Israelites to leave the region, moving them far away to different cities in Assyria.
* The Assyrians also brought many foreigners into the region of Samaria to replace the Israelites who had been moved.
* Some of the Israelites who remained in that region married the foreigners who had moved there, and their descendants were called Samaritans.
* The Jews despised the Samaritans because they were only partly Jewish and because their ancestors had worshiped pagan gods.
(See also: [Assyria](../names/assyria.md), [Galilee](../names/galilee.md), [Judea](../names/judea.md), [Sharon](../names/sharon.md), [kingdom of Israel](../names/kingdomofisrael.md))
* __[20:04](rc://en/tn/help/obs/20/04)__ Then the Assyrians brought foreigners to live in the land where the kingdom of Israel had been. The foreigners rebuilt the destroyed cities and married the Israelites who were left there. The descendants of the Israelites who married foreigners were called __Samaritans__.
* __[27:08](rc://en/tn/help/obs/27/08)__ "The next person to walk down that road was a __Samaritan__. (__Samaritans__ were the descendants of Jews who had married people from other nations. __Samaritans__ and Jews hated each other.)"
* __[27:09](rc://en/tn/help/obs/27/09)__ "The __Samaritan__ then lifted the man onto his own donkey and took him to a roadside inn where he took care of him."
* __[45:07](rc://en/tn/help/obs/45/07)__ He (Philip) went to __Samaria__ where he preached about Jesus and many people were saved.
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