Revisiting Racism in the NT: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
I grew up in America’s deep South, where race has always been a touchy subject. I encountered varying degrees of racism – from having members of the Ku Klux Klan in my classes to passive-aggressive comments made to the few Black people brave enough to live in the area. Most major events in our town, such as proms and musical concerts, were even held at an event center named after a prominent Nazi scientist!
Like many who leave the comfort of the South, I had to wrestle with my identity as a Southerner. At first, I wanted to denounce my “heritage,” even to the point where I disguised my Southern accent to keep people from identifying my place of origin.
Over time, I began to see there are many aspects of Southern culture that are beautiful – the hospitality, the food, the “never-meet-a-stranger” mentality. I realized I could accept and embrace those aspects I enjoyed while also rejecting what I abhorred.
Regrettably, racism even infected the walls of the churches I attended. When I decided to attend Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, I was approached by two different spiritual leaders in my life. Their advice for my major life transition to the North?
“Don’t you go dating any black girls while you’re up there! They just have a different culture than us, and God wouldn’t want us to intermingle like that.”
Even at the time, I knew there was something “off” about what they were saying to me, but I didn’t have the biblical knowledge (or chutzpah for that matter) to contend with their assertions. Today, I would take a stand on God’s value of the individual and the beauty of how the gospel brings people of different cultures together in a way that celebrates our differences and the One who brings us together.[1]
But . . . does anyone believe ethnocentrism is a modern invention? Didn’t some of the Jewish people of Jesus’ time treat other races and cultures with contempt? The Samaritan woman at the well, found in John 4:1-26, is often cited as an example of this. In verse 9, John even adds his commentary that “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
But was the main issue between the Samaritans and the Jewish people a racial tension?
I accepted this interpretation until I began to study the Jewish culture and traditional Christian interpretations of these passages. Beyond the Jewish/Samaritan relations, it was often taught that the Jewish people purposefully excluded Gentiles because of their race (or more precisely “ethnicity”).
However, I believe a more faithful understanding of 1st Century issues shows the conflicts have less to do with race and more to do with religion. In re-examining the encounter recorded in John 4, we find real tensions between Samaritans and Jewish people – tensions so intense that “Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.”
Samaritans were the result of marriages between Israelite women and Assyrian men. The Assyrians who conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel did two things when they conquered a new area: transplant the native men to other parts of the Assyrian Empire and force native women to marry Assyrian men. This prevented uprisings from occurring, since the men would be out of their home countries and women would have stronger relationships with their occupiers.
But it was not the difference in DNA that caused future disunity between Samaritans and Jewish people. Rather, it was the mixture of pagan religious practices in Israel.[2]
Under Nehemiah’s governorship, the Jewish people who returned from Exile rejected their Samaritan brothers. Beyond that, when Jewish people returned to Jerusalem, Samaritans sided with the enemies of Israel. They burned Torah scrolls, denied the Jerusalem Temple, and accepted a polluted form of religion.[3] This led to many years of hatred between the two peoples.
How do we know the Jewish/Samaritan division in the days of the New Testament was over religious issues and not a racial one? Here are five reasons I think are the most compelling.
Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah to the Samaritan woman, yet clearly in His ministry He said He came to save the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.”[4] If Samaritans were viewed as outside of Israel, Jesus wouldn’t have proclaimed His Messiahship to them.
The conversation in John 4 centers around religious issues. The woman asks where the correct place to worship is, and Jesus responds with a spiritual (not racial) answer.[5]
Cornelius wouldn’t have been the first Gentile convert as is generally accepted. Simon Peter received a vision from the Lord to share the Gospel with Gentiles.[6] If the Samaritan woman wasn’t considered a part of Israel, she would have been the first Gentile convert.
Israel had a rich history of accepting Gentile converts. If any Gentile sought to follow the God of Israel, they were welcomed. King David’s own grandmother was a Moabite.
“Race” is a modern concept. In Ancient Near East culture, people often differentiated between tribes and nations, but race was not a known issue. In fact, Johann Fredriech Blumenbach (1752-1840) was the first to propose a classification of human “races.”[7]
So for the reasons above, I strongly believe the disdain that the Jewish people showed the Samaritans and Gentiles was wrong, but it was rooted in religious, not racial, tensions.
So . . . why is this important? Why does this nuanced understanding matter? Either way, devaluing others is against God’s plan, right?
Here are three reasons to reject a “racial” interpretation of John 4:
The charge of racism makes it easy to vilify the Jewish people. When viewed through the “race” lens, latent anti-Semitism is fostered. I have personally seen the use of the image of the “racist Jews” to justify hatred towards God’s chosen people.
We should seek to understand the most accurate reading of Scripture. When we begin applying our own personal experiences to interpreting Scripture, it becomes easy to manipulate Scripture into saying whatever we want it to say. In hermeneutics, we call this “eisegesis.”
It discredits real issues in today’s world. When passages are misunderstood or misapplied, it is easier to dismiss the argument, even if the premise is a true biblical point. For example, Scripture presents the reality that all humans are made in the image of God; therefore, each member of the human race has inherent value.[8] We should also use passages that compel the believer to seek justice for those oppressed, such as Isaiah 1:17. When we use passages such as these, the ground we stand on is much firmer.
As believers, we should seek to “present ourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”[9] When we do this, God gets the most glory.
Written by Chase, LIFE Staff
In a day of racial division, we need to recognize racism is, at its core, a heart issue!
As humans we are prone to prefer what is most like us. When faced with “the other,” it is all too easy to move from disliking to disdaining to devaluing to despising and on to destroying if the progression isn’t stopped.
As followers of Yeshua, we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom whose culture is defined by our King. Here are the values He would have us exemplify as aliens living on Earth:
Do to others what you would have done to you (Matthew 7:12).
Consider others better than yourself (Philippians 2:3).
Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31); the story of the Good Samaritan redefines “neighbor” (Luke 10:25-37).
Love your enemy and pray for those who do evil to you (Matthew 5:43-48).
How will living out these commands impact how we view and treat those unlike us (and those we don’t naturally like)?
Footnotes:
[1] For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).
[2] God prohibited Israelites from marrying foreign wives “because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3-5). God also made provision for marrying non-Jewish wives (Deuteronomy 10:21-24), the assumption being that they would adopt Israel’s God, as did Ruth.
[3] John Bowman, The Samaritan Problem: Studies in the Relationships of Samaritanism, Judaism, and Early Christianity, p. 20-21.
[4] John 4:26; Matthew 15:24.
[5] John 4:19-24.
[6] Acts 10.
[7] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach
[8] Genesis 1:26-27.
[9] 2 Timothy 2:15.