A common misinterpretation views this resettlement as immediately creating a purely pagan Samaritan identity without acknowledging the gradual intermarriage with remaining Israelites and the complex religious syncretism that developed over time, as later verses reveal their fear of the Lord leading to partial worship mixed with idolatry; others erroneously use it to fuel ethnic superiority claims against Samaritans, ignoring the prophetic context of Israel's judgment for idolatry and God's broader redemptive plan.
II Kings 17:24
King James Version (1769)
24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
This verse describes the Assyrian king's strategy following the conquest and deportation of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, resettling foreigners from conquered regions like Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim into Samaria's cities to repopulate and secure the territory, marking the beginning of a mixed ethnic population that would later form the Samaritans and contribute to religious and cultural tensions with the returning Judeans.