Josephus tells us that Samaria is seated between Judea and Galilee, and begins at a town called Ginea: see Luke 9:51,52 Luke 17:11. There were two passages from Judea into Galilee; the one was through the midst of Samaria, Luke 9:51; the other through the eastern parts, by the royal valley, by Jordan, in which it is said that Sichem was. By Samaria must not be understood the city of Samaria, built by Omri, but the whole country so called, and possessed by the Assyrians, with a mixture of Jews amongst them. Some think that the evangelist addeth this, to excuse our Saviour for going amongst the Gentiles.
Related Commentaries of John 4:4
John 4:4
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.