Going Down to Samaria

A Fascinating Question

Today a good friend asked me a fascinating Bible study question: "Why does Luke say that Philip went down to Samaria" as he traveled from Jerusalem (Acts 8:5)?" Luke tells us that the man who was vandalized in the parable of the Good Samaritan was also going "down from Jerusalem" (Luke 10:30). Now a map reveals that the city of Samaria was situated north of Jerusalem, not south. Knowing this, you would expect Luke to say that Philip when up to Samaria, not down.

The Geography

The answer to this fascinating question raises two important factors. The first is a matter of geography. To describe a journey from City A to City B, the Bible uses the words "up" and "down" to specify the elevation of a city, not to specify whether a person was traveling north or south. The city of Jerusalem sits at a high elevation on the Judean plateau, which rises as much as 2,500 feet above sea-level. For this reason, a traveler would always descend down in elevation when moving from Jerusalem to another city. But "up" and "down" alludes to more than geography.

The Jewish Mindset

The second factor regards the Jewish mindset. Jews revered Jerusalem as the site of God's Temple. As a result, they considered a journey to Jerusalem to be a spiritual ascent. David asked, “Who may ascend [go up] into the hill of the Lord” (Psalm 24:3)? In fact, the title "A Song of Ascent" is given to fifteen Old Testament Psalms (Psalm 120-134). Many scholars believe that Jewish worshipers sang these Psalms as they journeyed up to Jerusalem to observe their annual festivals, such as Passover, Tabernacles and Pentecost.

The Conclusion

When Luke says that Philip traveled down from Jerusalem to Samaria, he is giving an accurate report. Not only does this report correctly portray the topographical elevation, but it also correctly portrays the Jewish mindset regarding Jerusalem as a the Holy City.