samaritans

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samaritans - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Samaritans
  the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon
  (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other
  places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the
  original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into
  captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These
  strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still
  remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old
  idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
  
    After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem
  refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the
  temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They
  erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however,
  destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another
  at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans
  continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings
  with the Samaritans" (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord
  was in contempt called "a Samaritan" (John 8:48). Many of the
  Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25;
  9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small
  population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in
  Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of
  their fathers. They are the "smallest and oldest sect in the
  world."