ISB ~ John 4 v7 - 42

Centuries of animosity between Jews and Samaritans loom in the background of this episode. It began with the devastation of northern Palestine by Assyria in the eighth century B.C., when masses of Israelites were deported out of the land and foreign peoples were forcibly resettled in the region (2 Kings 17:6, 24-41). According to the Jews of southern Palestine, the remaining Israelites (Samaritans) had defiled themselves by assimilating the practices of these pagan peoples and intermarrying with them. The enmity between Jews and Samaritans was very much alive in NT times, and both groups took steps to avoid interaction with one another, especially in matters of food and drink.