In Jesus' day what was a samaritans?

Answer 1

In The Bible, the good Samaritan is about a man who was beaten up by "thugs" and left to die on the side of the road. People pass by only to leave him there, one of which was a priest. Finally a man came along him and helped him into the next town. There, the good Samaritan paid for him to be cleaned and to recover in an inn all at the Samaritan's expense. the beaten man wanted to repay him but he had no money and the Samaritan said he did not need to pay.

Answer 2

The Samaritans were a group of people who lived in Samaria, what had been the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The society itself was mixed racially, containing both Jewish and pagan blood lines. Those who lived in the time of Jesus were monotheistic (believed in one God) and even shared some elements of Judaism, but did not follow all the strictures of the Jewish faith. Because of this and also because of their pagan ancestry, Jews disliked Samaritans.

Answer 3

In the parable of the good Samaritan, two high-status individuals pass by the injured man, refusing their obligation to help, and then the Samaritan comes by and helps. The Samaritan was the despised outsider from the perspective of the audience, the person they least expected to offer help. Telling the parable to a modern audience on today's right wing, we might cast a Black Lives Matter demonstrator as the Samaritan. Telling the parable to a modern audience on today's left, perhaps a man in a MAGA hat would put down his assault rifle and rush over to give aid. Then, as now, the parable is an answer to the question "who is my neighbor" in the context of the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself."