Bible dictionaries are ideal books for looking up individual Bible words, Bible people and Bible themes. • Samaria and the Samaritans For example, if you look up the entry under “Samaria,” it will not only tell you about the origin of the country of Samaria (the northern kingdom of Israel), but also about Samaritans. In Jesus’ time, Samaritans were people of mixed race who were despised by the Jews. When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, he asked his listeners who, in