Note 1 at Jn. 4:4: According to Josephus, the Jewish historian (Life 52), this would shorten Jesus' journey by three days.

Note 2 at Jn. 4:4: Originally, Samaria was a city in the hill country of Ephraim. It was located on a hill 42 miles north of Jerusalem, 6 miles NW of Shechem, and 19 miles east of the Mediterranean. It was founded by Omri, who was a very wicked king of Israel (1 Ki. 16:25-26). Omri bought the hill, Samaria, from Shemer for approximately $3,800, and named the city which he built on that site Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the previous owner (1 Ki. 16:24). This city became the capital of Israel until the carrying away of the northern tribes into captivity.

The city of Samaria figured prominently in Old Testament history being mentioned about 100 times. King Ahab built a temple and an altar to Baal at Samaria (1 Ki. 16:32), and at least 400 prophets of Baal ate at his table (1 Ki. 18:19).

The city was captured by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. (2 Ki. 17:5-18), and during the Assyrian captivity, the name Samaria came to be used to denote the whole region between Galilee and Judaea. According to Assyrian accounts, 27,280 Israelites were taken into captivity (2 Ki. 17:6). The king of Assyria sent colonists, who dwelt in the land and began to intermarry with the Jewish remnant that was left in Samaria (2 Ki. 17:24). Because of their pagan practices, the Lord began to judge this mixed multitude by sending lions among them (2 Ki. 17:25). The king of Assyria responded by sending one of the exiled Jewish priests back to Samaria to teach the people the manner of the God of the Jews (2 Ki. 17:26-28). This did not stop the colonists from worshiping their pagan gods, though (2 Ki. 17:29-41). They simply incorporated their pagan rituals into the Jewish religion. The result was a very corrupt form of Judaism.

When the devout Jews were allowed to come back to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, they refused to allow the Samaritans to help them because they had corrupted themselves (Ezra 4:1-3). The Samaritans had corrupted the Hebrew bloodline as well as perverted the Jewish worship.

This split between the Samaritans and the Jews widened until the days of Jesus' ministry. Devout Jews would not associate with or even talk to a Samaritan (Jn. 4:9,27). The Samaritans had erected their own temple on Mt. Gerizim (Jn. 4:20-21) to which this woman at Jacob's well referred. Verse 25 does show that the Samaritans did share with the Jews a belief in a coming Messiah (see note 1 at Lk. 9:53, p. 245).