1. Acts 8:5 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How did the Jews differ from the Samaritans?

Acts 8:5 (ESV)

5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

The differences are big, but at the same time there is also similarities: they read the five books of Moses (the so-called Samaritan Pentateuch), they know circumcision and the confession The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and the ten words. They also celebrate Passover and the Jewish feasts. They also expect that God will give a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18; Acts 3:22–23).

Mount Gerizim is for the Samaritans what Mount Zion is for the Jews, and this formed a great dispute between Samaritans and Jews (John 4:20).