Another group mentioned a few times in the New Testament is the Samaritans. The ancestors of the Samaritans came from the ten Israelite tribes that rebelled against King Solomon's son Rehoboam and formed a separate kingdom known as Israel, or the northern kingdom. Generally they were of mixed heritage (both Jewish and Gentile), and they had their own temple on Mount Gerizim near Shechem, and their own priests. They followed the laws about the Sabbath in a very strict way, and they said that their holy Mount Gerizim was more important than Mount Zion, where the temple in Jerusalem was located. The Jewish people did not like the Samaritans and believed they were not really part of God's chosen people. The writers of the Gospels, however, record that Jesus reached out to them (Luke 17.11-19; John 4.3-9), and used one as a positive example when explaining to an expert in the Law of Moses what it means to have compassion and to be a neighbor (Luke 10.25-37).

Jesus faced this complicated situation as he tried to preach his message of good news. When he defended the poor and reached out to accept people such as tax collectors, Samaritans, and prostitutes, he offended the local religious leaders. The arguments described by the New Testament writers are mainly between different groups who have different ideas about who can or cannot be part of God's people. The Romans controlled Palestine, but were not very interested in getting involved in these local arguments, unless they led to rebellion against Roman authority.