Samaritans
   the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon
   (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other
   places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the
   original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into
   captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These
   strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still
   remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old
   idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
   
     After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem
   refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the
   temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They
   erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however,
   destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another
   at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans
   continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings
   with the Samaritans" (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord
   was in contempt called "a Samaritan" (John 8:48). Many of the
   Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25;
   9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small
   population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in
   Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of
   their fathers. They are the "smallest and oldest sect in the
   world."