Samaritans

1
Samaritans
For the parable, see Parable of the Good Samaritan. For other uses, see Samaritan (disambiguation).
Samaritans

Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, West Bank, 2006
Total population
800 (1.1.2012)
[1]
Regions with significant populations
Israel
Palestine
Samaritan communities
Holon
400
Kiryat Luza 350
other cities
~50
Religions
Samaritanism
Scriptures
Samaritan Torah
Samaritan Book of Joshua
Languages
Modern Vernacular
Modern Hebrew, Arabic
Past Vernacular
Arabic, preceded by Aramaic and earlier Hebrew
Liturgical
Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic, Samaritan Arabic
Related ethnic groups
Jews, Palestinian people
The Samaritans (Samaritan Hebrew: Samerim "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah], Jewish
Hebrew: Shomronim, Arabic: Smeriyyn) are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant, descended
from ancient Semitic inhabitants of the region.
Religiously the Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion, the most closely related to
Judaism. Based on the Samaritan Pentateuch, Samaritans assert their worship is the true religion of the ancient
Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to
Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the
Samaritans
2
Babylonian exile.
Ancestrally, Samaritans claim descent from the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph
(son of Jacob)) as well as from the priestly tribe of Levi, who have links to ancient Samaria from the period of their
entry into the land of Canaan, while some suggest that it was from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the
Samaritan polity of Baba Rabba. Samaritans used to include a line of Benjamin tribe, but it went extinct during the
decline period of the Samaritan demographics.
In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called Cutheans (Hebrew: ,
Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq.
[2]
In the Biblical account,
however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria,
[3]
and they worshiped
Nergal.
[4][5]
Modern genetics suggests some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the
Talmud.
Once a large community of over a million in late Roman times, the Samaritans shrank to several tens of thousands in
the wake of the bloody suppression of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 AD) against the Byzantine Christian rulers
and mass conversion to Islam in the Early Muslim period of Palestine.
[6][7]
As of January 1, 2012, the population was 751,
[8]
divided between Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim and the city of
Holon, just outside Tel Aviv. Most Samaritans in Israel today speak Arabic and Hebrew. For liturgical purposes,
Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic, and Samaritan Arabic are used, all written in the Samaritan alphabet, a
variant of the Old Hebrew alphabet, which is distinct from the Hebrew alphabet. Hebrew and later Aramaic were
languages in use by the Jewish and Samaritan inhabitants of Judea prior to the Roman exile.
[9]
Etymology
In Jewish Hebrew, the Samaritans are called Shomronim, which would appear to simply mean "Samarians"
("inhaitants of Samaria", Samaria in Jewish Hebrew being Shomron). In Samaritan Hebrew, however, the Samaritans
call themselves "Samerim", which accodring to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, is derived from the Ancient Hebrew
term amerim/Samerim , meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]."
[10]
Thus, it may suggest
Samaria is named after the Samaritans, rather than the Samaritans being named after Samaria. In Jewish tradition,
Mount Samaria, meaning "Watch Mountain", is named so because watchers used to watch from those mountains for
approaching armies from Egypt from ancient times. Historically, Samaria was the key geographical concentration of
the Samaritan community.
The Ancient Hebrew "amerim/Samerim" (Samerin in Arabic which have the same meaning ),
[11]
which in
the Bible means Guardians (singular ameri/Sameri) comes from the Hebrew root verb S-M-R which means:
"to watch", or "to guard".
That the etymology of the Samaritans' ethnonym in Samaritan Hebrew is dervied from
"Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]" (to protect it from alteration against the Talmudic Rabbinic
school which became the majority of Jews today), as opposed to Samaritans being named after the region of
Samaria, is supported by Christian Church fathers Epiphanius of Salamis in (Panarion), Jerome and Eusibius in
Chronicon and Origen in The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel, and in some Ancient Jewish Talmudic
Bible Interpretations of Midrash Tanhuma on Genesis chapter 36, and Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer chapter 38 Page 21.
Eusebius stressed that Origen the Bishop of Caesaria (home of rabbis graduating college of his time) in Palestine,
had formidable knowledge in Hebrew language and created the Hexapla in which he arranged Greek verses and
Hebrew verses together, and also discovered the Lost Hebrew Psalms and translated them by himself.
Samaritans
3
History and origin
Samaritan sources

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v
t
e
[12]
According to Samaritan tradition, Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of the Israelites from the time that
Joshua conquered Canaan and the tribes of Israel settled the land. The reference to Mount Gerizim derives from the
biblical story of Moses ordering Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel, (the number of which did not include the
priestly tribe of Levi) to the mountains by Nablus and place half of the tribes, six in number, on the top of Mount
Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half in Mount Ebal, the Mount of the Curse. The two mountains
were used to symbolize the significance of the commandments and serve as a warning to whoever disobeyed them
(Deut. 11:29; 27:12; Josh. 8:33).
Samaritans claim they are Israelite descendants of the Northern Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who
survived the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The inscription of Sargon II
records the deportation of a relatively small proportion of the Israelites from Samaria (27,290, according to the
annals),
[13]
so it is quite possible that a sizable population remained
[14]
that could identify themselves as Israelites,
the term that the Samaritans prefer for themselves.
Samaritan historiography places the basic schism from the remaining part of Israel after the tribes of Israel
conquered and returned to the land of Canaan, led by Joshua. After Joshua's death, Eli the priest left the tabernacle
which Moses erected in the desert and established on Mount Gerizim, and built another one under his own rule in the
hills of Shiloh.
Abu l-Fath, who in the 14th century wrote a major work of Samaritan history, comments on Samaritan origins as
follows:
[15]
A terrible civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Pincus
(Phinehas), because Eli son of Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendants of Pincus. He
used to offer sacrifices on an altar of stones. He was 50 years old, endowed with wealth and in charge of the
treasury of the children of Israel...
He offered a sacrifice on the altar, but without salt, as if he were inattentive. When the Great High Priest Ozzi
learned of this, and found the sacrifice was not accepted, he thoroughly disowned him; and it is (even) said
that he rebuked him.
Thereupon he and the group that sympathized with him, rose in revolt and at once he and his followers and his
beasts set off for Shiloh. Thus Israel split in factions. He sent to their leaders saying to them, Anyone who
Samaritans
4
would like to see wonderful things, let him come to me. Then he assembled a large group around him in Shiloh,
and built a Temple for himself there; he constructed a place like the Temple (on Mount Gerizim). He built an
altar, omitting no detailit all corresponded to the original, piece by piece.
At this time the Children of Israel split into three factions. A loyal faction on Mount Gerizim; a heretical
faction that followed false gods; and the faction that followed Eli son of Yafni on Shiloh.
Further, the Samaritan Chronicle Adler, or New Chronicle, believed to have been composed in the 18th century
using earlier chronicles as sources states:
And the children of Israel in his days divided into three groups. One did according to the abominations
of the Gentiles and served other gods; another followed Eli the son of Yafni, although many of them
turned away from him after he had revealed his intentions; and a third remained with the High Priest
Uzzi ben Bukki, the chosen place.
Jewish sources
The emergence of the Samaritans as an ethnic and religious community distinct from other Levant peoples appears to
have occurred at some point after the Assyrian conquest of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel in approximately 721 BC.
The records of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the former kingdom.
Jewish tradition affirms the Assyrian deportations and replacement of the previous inhabitants by forced resettlement
by other peoples, but maintains a different ethnic origin for the Samaritans. The Talmud accounts for a people called
"Cuthim" on a number of occasions, mentioning their arrival by the hands of the Assyrians. According to 2 Kings
[16]
and Josephus
[17]
the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians (Sargon II)
[18]
to Halah, to Gozan on
the Khabur River and to the towns of the Medes. The king of the Assyrians then brought people from Babylon,
Cuthah, Avah, Emath, and Sepharvaim to place in Samaria. Because God sent lions among them to kill them, the
king of the Assyrians sent one of the priests from Bethel to teach the new settlers about God's ordinances. The
eventual result was that the new settlers worshipped both the God of the land and their own gods from the countries
from which they came.
This account is contradicted by the version in Chronicles,
[19]
where, following Samaria's destruction, King Hezekiah
is depicted as endeavouring to draw the Ephraimites and Manassites closer to Judah. Temple repairs at the time of
Josiah were financed by moneys from all "the remnant of Israel" in Samaria, including from Manasseh, Ephraim and
Benjamin.
[20]
Jeremiah likewise speaks of people from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria who brought offerings of
frankincense and grain to the house of the Lord.
[21]
Chronicles makes no mention of an Assyrian resettlement.
[22]
Yitzakh Magen argues that the version of Chronicles is perhaps closer to the historical truth, and that the Assyrian
settlement was unsuccessful, a notable Israelite population remained in Samaria, part of which, following the
conquest of Judah, fled south and settled there as refugees.
[23]
A Midrash (Genesis Rabbah Sect. 94) relates about an encounter between Rabbi Meir and a Samaritan. The story
that developed includes the following dialogue:
Rabbi Meir: What tribe are you from?
The Samaritan: From Joseph.
Rabbi Meir : No!
The Samaritan: From which one then?
Rabbi Meir : From Issachar.
The Samaritan: How do you figure?
Rabbi Meir: For it is written (Gen 46:13): The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. These are the
Samaritans (shamray).
Samaritans
5
Zertal dates the Assyrian onslaught at 721 BC to 647 BC and discusses three waves of imported settlers. He shows
that Mesopotamian pottery in Samaritan territory cluster around the lands of Menasheh and that the type of pottery
found was produced around 689 BC. Some date their split with the Jews to the time of Nehemiah, Ezra, and the
building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Returning exiles considered the Samaritans
to be non-Israelites and, thus, not fit for this religious work.
The Encyclopaedia Judaica (under "Samaritans") summarizes both past and the present views on the Samaritans'
origins. It says:
Until the middle of the 20th century it was customary to believe that the Samaritans originated from a mixture
of the people living in Samaria and other peoples at the time of the conquest of Samaria by Assyria (722721
BC). The Biblical account in II Kings 17 had long been the decisive source for the formulation of historical
accounts of Samaritan origins. Reconsideration of this passage, however, has led to more attention being paid
to the Chronicles of the Samaritans themselves. With the publication of Chronicle II (Sefer ha-Yamim), the
fullest Samaritan version of their own history became available: the chronicles, and a variety of non-Samaritan
materials.
According to the former, the Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and
Manasseh, and until the 17th century AD they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron
through Eleazar and Phinehas. They claim to have continuously occupied their ancient territory and to have
been at peace with other Israelite tribes until the time when Eli disrupted the Northern cult by moving from
Shechem to Shiloh and attracting some northern Israelites to his new followers there. For the Samaritans, this
was the 'schism' par excellence.("Samaritans" in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, Volume 14, op. cit., col. 727.)
Furthermore, to this day the Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Joseph:
The laymen also possess their traditional claims. They are all of the tribe of Joseph, except those of the
tribe of Benjamin, but this traditional branch of people, which, the Chronicles assert, was established at
Gaza in earlier days, seems to have disappeared. There exists an aristocratic feeling amongst the
different families in this community, and some are very proud over their pedigree and the great men it
had produced.(J. A. Montgomery, The Samaritans The Earliest Jewish Sect: Their History, Theology
And Literature, 1907, op. cit., p. 32.)
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea scroll 4Q372 hopes that the northern tribes will return to the land of Joseph. The current dwellers in
the north are referred to as fools, an enemy people. However they are not referred to as foreigners. It goes on to say
that the Samaritans mocked Jerusalem and build a temple on a high place to provoke Israel.
Tensions between the Samaritans and the Judeans
The narratives in Genesis about the rivalries among the twelve sons of Jacob describe tensions between north and
south. Those were temporarily united under the strong kingship of David and Solomon, but at the death of Solomon,
the kingdom split into two: northern Israel with its capital Samaria and southern Judea with its capital Jerusalem.
The Deuteronomistic historians, writing in Judah, saw northern Israel as a sinful kingdom, divinely punished for its
idolatry and iniquity by being destroyed by the Assyrians in 720 BC.
The tensions continued in the postexilic period. Chronicles is more inclusive than Ezra-Nehemiah since for the
Chronicler the ideal is of one Israel with twelve tribes; the Chronicler concentrates on Judah and ignores northern
Israel.
[24]
Wikipedia:Cleanup
Unlike the Chronicler, the Samaritans claimed that they were the true Israel who were descendants of the "Ten Lost
Tribes" taken into Assyrian captivity. They had their own temple on Mount Gerizim and claimed that it was the
original sanctuary. Moreover, they claimed that their version of the Pentateuch was the original and that the Jews had
Samaritans
6
a falsified text produced by Ezra during the Babylonian exile.
Both Jewish and Samaritan religious leaders taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group,
and neither was to enter each other's territories or even to speak to one another. During the New Testament period,
although the tensions went unrecognized by Roman authorities, Josephus reports numerous violent confrontations
between Jews and Samaritans throughout the first half of the first century.
[25]
Rejection by Judeans
Ancient inscription in Samaritan Hebrew. From a
photo c.1900 by the Palestine Exploration Fund.
According to the Jewish version of events, when the Judean exile
ended in 538 BC and the exiles began returning home from Babylon,
they found their former homeland populated by other people who
claimed the land as their own and Jerusalem, their former glorious
capital, in ruins. The inhabitants worshiped the Pagan gods, but when
the then-sparsely populated areas became infested with dangerous wild
beasts, they appealed to the king of Assyria for Israelite priests to
instruct them on how to worship the "God of that country." The result
was a syncretistic religion, in which national groups worshiped the
Hebrew god, but they also served their own gods in accordance with
the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
According to 2Chronicles 36:2223
[26]
, the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great (reigned 559 BC 530 BC),
permitted the return of the exiles to their homeland and ordered the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Zion).
The prophet Isaiah identified Cyrus as "the Lord's Messiah" (Mashiach; see Isaiah 45:1
[27]
). The word "Messiah"
refers to an anointed one, such as a king or priest.
Ezra 4
[28]
says that the local inhabitants of the land offered to assist with the building of the new temple during the
time of Zerubbabel, but their offer was rejected. According to Ezra, this rejection precipitated a further interference
not only with the rebuilding of the temple but also with the reconstruction of Jerusalem.
The text is not clear on this matter, but one possibility is that these "people of the land" were thought of as
Samaritans. We do know that Samaritan and Jewish alienation increased, and that the Samaritans eventually built
their own temple on Mount Gerizim, near Shechem.
The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem took several decades. The project was first led by Sheshbazzar
(about 538 BC), later by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and later still by Haggai and Zechariah (520515 BC). The work
was completed in 515 BC.
The term "Cuthim" applied by Jews to the Samaritans had clear pejorative connotations, implying that they were
interlopers brought in from Kutha in Mesopotamia and rejecting their claim of descent from the ancient Tribes of
Israel.
Assyrian account of the conquest and settlement of Samaria
However, the following account of the Assyrian kings, which was among the archaeological discoveries in Babylon,
differs from the Samaritan account, and confirms much of the Jewish Biblical account but may differ in regard to the
ethnicity of the foreigners settled in Samaria by Assyria. At one point it is simply said that they were from Arabia,
while at another, that they were brought from a number of countries conquered by Sargon II:
[the Samar]ians [who had agreed with a hostile king]...I fought with them and decisively defeated
them]....carried off as spoil. 50 chariots for my royal force ...[the rest of them I settled in the midst of
Assyria]....The Tamudi, Ibadidi, Marsimani and Hayappa, who live in distant Arabia, in the desert, who
knew neither overseer nor commander, who never brought tribute to any king--with the help of Ashshur
my lord, I defeated them. I deported the rest of them. I settled them in Samaria/Samerina.(Sargon II
Samaritans
7
Inscriptions, COS 2.118A, p. 293)
Also,
The inhabitants of Samaria/Samerina, who agreed [and plotted] with a king [hostile to] me, not to do
service and not to bring tribute [to Ashshur] and who did battle, I fought against them with the power of
the great gods, my lords. I counted as spoil 27,280 people, together with their chariots, and gods, in
which they trusted. I formed a unit with 200 of [their] chariots for my royal force. I settled the rest of
them in the midst of Assyria. I repopulated Samaria/Samerina more than before. I brought into it people
from countries conquered by my hands. I appointed my eunuch as governor over them. And I counted
them as Assyrians.(Nimrud Prisms, COS 2.118D, pp. 295-296)
Further history
Temple on Mount Gerizim
Archaeological excavations at Mount Gerizim indicate that a Samaritan temple was built there in the first half of the
5th century BC. The date of the schism between Samaritans and Jews is unknown, but by the early 4th century BC
the communities seem to have had distinctive practices and communal separation.
According to Samaritans, it was on Mount Gerizim that Abraham was commanded by God to offer Isaac, his son, as
a sacrifice Genesis 22:2
[29]
. In both narratives, God then causes the sacrifice to be interrupted, explaining that this
was the ultimate test of Abraham's obedience, as a result of which all the world would receive blessing.
The Torah mentions the place where God shall choose to establish His name (Deut 12:5), and Judaism takes this to
refer to Jerusalem. However, the Samaritan text speaks of the place where God has chosen to establish His name,
and Samaritans identify it as Mount Gerizim, making it the focus of their spiritual values.
The legitimacy of the Samaritan temple was attacked by Jewish scholars including Andronicus ben Meshullam.
In the Christian Bible, the Gospel of John relates an encounter between a Samaritan woman and Jesus in which she
asserts that the mountain was the center of their worship John 4:20
[30]
.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Hellenization
In the 2nd century BC a series of events led to a revolution of some Judeans against Antiochus IV.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes was on the throne of the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 163 BC. His policy was to Hellenize
his entire kingdom and standardize religious observance. According to 1 Maccabees 1:41-50 he proclaimed himself
the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him.
The universal peril led the Samaritans, eager for safety, to repudiate all connection and kinship with the Jews. The
request was granted. This was put forth as the final breach between the two groups, being alleged at a much later
date in the Christian Bible (John 4:9), "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."
Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175164 BC):
the Samaritan temple was renamed either Zeus Hellenios (willingly by the Samaritans according to
Josephus) or, more likely, Zeus Xenios, (unwillingly in accord with 2 Macc. 6:2) Bromiley, 4.304).
Josephus Book 12, Chapter 5 quotes the Samaritans as saying:
We therefore beseech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give order to Apolonius, the governor of this
part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of thy affairs, to give us no disturbances, nor to lay to
our charge what the Jews are accused for, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs,
but let our temple which at present hath no name at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius.
Shortly afterwards, the Greek king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews of Israel to violate their
ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and
dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as the
Samaritans
8
inhabitants of the latter place had requested. II Maccabees 6:12
This Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim was destroyed by John Hyrcanus in about 128 BC, having existed about
200 years. Only a few stone remnants of it exist today.
164 BC and after
During the Hellenistic period, Samaria was largely divided between a Hellenizing faction based in Samaria
(Sebastaea) and a pious faction, led by the High Priest and based largely around Shechem and the rural areas.
Samaria was a largely autonomous state nominally dependent on the Seleucid Empire until around 129 BC, when the
Jewish Hasmonean king Yohanan Girhan (John Hyrcanus) destroyed the Samaritan temple and devastated Samaria.
Roman period
Samaritan worship centre on Mount Gerizim.
From a photo c.1900 by the Palestine Exploration
Fund.
Under the Roman Empire, Samaria was a part of the Roman-ruled
province of Judaea.
Samaritans appear briefly in the Christian gospels, most notably in the
account of the Samaritan woman at the well and the parable of the
Good Samaritan. In the latter, told to Jews, a Samaritan helps a
wounded Jew even though Jews and Samaritans despised each other.
This period is considered as something of a golden age for the
Samaritan community, the population thought to number up to a
million. The Temple of Gerizim was rebuilt after the Bar Kochba
revolt against the Romans, around 135 AD. Much of Samaritan liturgy was set by the high priest Baba Rabba in the
4th century.
A building excavated on Delos, dating to the 2nd century BC, is commonly identified as a Samaritan synagogue,
which would make it the oldest known Jewish or Samaritan synagogue. On the other hand, Matassa argues that,
although there is evidence of Samaritans on Delos, there is no evidence the building was a synagogue.
There were some Samaritans in the Persian Empire, where they served in the Sassanid army.
Byzantine times
According to Samaritan sources, Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno (who ruled 474-491 and whom the sources call "Zait
the King of Edom") persecuted the Samaritans. The Emperor went to Sichem (Neapolis), gathered the elders and
asked them to convert; when they refused, Zeno had many Samaritans killed, and re-built the synagogue to a church.
Zeno then took for himself Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritans worshipped God, and built several edifices, among
whom a tomb for his recently deceased son, on which he put a cross, so that the Samaritans, worshipping God,
would prostrate in front of the tomb. Later, in 484, the Samaritans revolted. The rebels attacked Sichem, burnt five
churches built on Samaritan holy places and cut the finger of bishop Terebinthus, who was officiating the ceremony
of Pentecost. They elected a Justa (or Justasa/Justasus) as their king and moved to Caesarea, where a noteworthy
Samaritan community lived. Here several Christians were killed and the church of St. Sebastian was destroyed. Justa
celebrated the victory with games in the circus. According to John Malalas, the dux Palaestinae Asclepiades, whose
troops were reinforced by the Caesarea-based Arcadiani of Rheges, defeated Justa, killed him and sent his head to
Zeno.
[31]
According to Procopius, Terebinthus went to Zeno to ask for revenge; the Emperor personally went to
Samaria to quell the rebellion.
[32]
Modern historians believe that the order of the facts preserved by Samaritan sources should be inverted, as the
persecution of Zeno was a consequence of the rebellion rather than its cause, and should have happened after 484,
around 489. Zeno rebuilt the church of St. Procopius in Neapolis (Sichem) and the Samaritans were banned from
Mount Gerizim, on whose top a signalling tower was built to alert in case of civil unrest.
[33]
Samaritans
9
Under a charismatic, messianic figure named Julianus ben Sabar (or ben Sahir), the Samaritans launched a war to
create their own independent state in 529. With the help of the Ghassanid Arabs, Emperor Justinian I crushed the
revolt; tens of thousands of Samaritans died or were enslaved. The Samaritan faith was virtually outlawed thereafter
by the Christian Byzantine Empire; from a population once at least in the hundreds of thousands, the Samaritan
community dwindled to near extinction.
After the Muslim Conquests
Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma ben Tabia, the
High Priest of the Samaritans, Nablus, c. 1920.
Interior of the Synagogue of the Samaritans in
Nablus, c. 1920.
By the time of the Muslim Conquests, Samaritans were living in an
area stretching between Egypt, Syria, and Iran. Like other
non-Muslims in the empire, such as Jews, Samaritans were considered
to be People of the Book.
Their minority status was protected by the Muslim rulers, and they had
the right to practice their religion, but, as dhimmi, adult males had to
pay the jizya or "protection tax".
It has been suggested that they were forced to wear red colored turbans
as a result of the terms of a document known as the Pact of Umar II,
but this stipulation is not explicitly mentioned in the document, the
authenticity has been questioned by contemporary scholars, and the
tradition cannot be independently verified.
During the Crusades, Samaritans, like the other non-Latin Christian
inhabitants of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, were second-class citizens,
but they were tolerated and perhaps favoured because they were docile
and had been mentioned positively in the Christian New Testament.
[34]
Over the centuries of Byzantine, Arab and Turkish rule, the Samaritans
suffered many hardships which included forced conversion to
Christianity, forced conversion to Islam, harsh religious decrees,
massacre and persecution.
While the majority of the Samaritan population in Damascus was
killed or converted during the reign of the Ottoman Pasha Mardam Beq
in the early 17th century, the remainder of the Samaritan communities
from Damascus and the other cities where they had a presence moved
to Shechem, due to its close proximity to Mount Gerizim.
The Shechem community endured because most of the surviving
diaspora returned, and they have maintained a tiny presence there to
this day. In 1624, the last Samaritan High Priest of the line of Eleazar
son of Aaron died without issue, but descendants of Aaron's other son,
Ithamar, remained and took over the office.
The situation of the Samaritan community improved significantly
during the British Mandate of Palestine. At that time, they began to
work in the public sector, like many other groups. During the thirties
one of the Samaritans, Tawfeek Khadir al-Kahen, was nominated as
member of the Shechem Municipality. The censuses of 1922 and 1931
recorded 163 and 182 Samaritans in Palestine, respectively. The majority of them lived in Nablus.
Samaritans
10
Samaritan origins of Palestinian Muslims in Nablus
Much of the local Palestinian population of Nablus is believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to
Islam. According to the historian Fayyad Altif, large numbers of Samaritans converted due to persecution under
various Muslim rulers, and because the monotheistic nature of Islam made it easy for them to accept it. The
Samaritans themselves describe the Ottoman period as the worst period in their modern history, as many Samaritan
families were forced to convert their religion to Islam during that time.
[]
Even today, certain Nabulsi family names
such as Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others, are associated with Samaritan ancestry.
For the Samaritans in particular, the passing of the al-Hakem Edict by the Fatimids in 1021, under which all Jews
and Christians in the Fatimid ruled southern Levant were ordered to either convert to Islam or leave, along with
another notable forced conversion to Islam imposed at the hands of the rebel Ibn Firsa, would contribute to their
rapid unprecedented decrease, and ultimately almost complete extinction as a separate religious community. As a
result, they have decreased from more than a million in late Roman (Byzantine) times to 150 people by the end of
the Ottoman Era.
In 1940, the future Israeli president and historian Yitzhak Ben-Zvi wrote an article in which he stated that two thirds
of the residents of Nablus and the surrounding neighboring villages are of Samaritan origin. He mentioned the name
of several Palestinian Muslim families as having Samaritan origins, including the Buwarda and Kasem families, who
protected Samaritans from Muslim persecution in the 1850s. He further claimed that these families had written
records testifying to their Samaritan ancestry, which were maintained by their priests and elders.
Genetic studies
Demographic investigation
Demographic investigations of the Samaritan community were carried out in the 1960s. Detailed pedigrees of the last
13 generations show that the Samaritans comprise four lineages:
The Tsedakah lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Manasseh
The Joshua-Marhiv lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Ephraim
The Danfi lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Ephraim
The priestly Cohen lineage from the tribe of Levi.
Y-DNA and mtDNA comparisons
Recently several genetic studies on Samaritan population were made using haplogroup comparisons as well as
wide-genome genetic studies. Of the 12 Samaritan males used in the analysis, 10 (83%) had Y chromosomes
belonging to haplogroup J, which includes three of the four Samaritan families. The Joshua-Marhiv family belongs
to haplogroup J1, while the Danfi and Tsedakah families belong to haplogroup J2, and can be further distinguished
by M67, the derived allele of which has been found in the Danfi family. The only Samaritan family not found in
haplogroup J was the Cohen family (Tradition: Tribe of Levi) which was found in haplogroup E3b1a M78. This
article predated the change of the classification of haplogroup E3b1-M78 to E3b1a-M78 and the further subdivision
of E3b1a-M78 into 6 subclades based on the research of Cruciani, et al.
The 2004 article on the genetic ancestry of the Samaritans by Shen et al. concluded from a sample comparing
Samaritans to several Jewish populations, all currently living in Israelrepresenting Ethiopian Jews, Ashkenazi
Jews, Iraqi Jews, Libyan Jews, Moroccan Jews, and Yemenite Jews, as well as Israeli Druze and Palestinian
Arabsthat the principal components analysis suggested a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages.
Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in what is today identified as the paternally inherited
Israelite high priesthood (Cohanim) with a common ancestor projected to the time of the Assyrian conquest of the
kingdom of Israel.
[]
Samaritans
11
Archaeologists Aharoni, et al., estimated that this "exile of peoples to and from Israel under the Assyrians" took
place during ca. 734 BC to 712 BC.
[35]
The authors speculated that when the Assyrians conquered the northern
kingdom of Israel, resulting in the exile of many of the Israelites, a subgroup of the Israelites that remained in the
Land of Israel "married Assyrian and female exiles relocated from other conquered lands, which was a typical
Assyrian policy to obliterate national identities." The study goes on to say that "Such a scenario could explain why
Samaritan Y chromosome lineages cluster tightly with Jewish Y lineages, while their mitochondrial lineages are
closest to Iraqi Jewish and Palestinian mtDNA sequences." Non-Jewish Iraqis were not sampled in this study;
however, mitochondrial lineages of Jewish communities tend to correlate with their non-Jewish host populations,
unlike paternal lineages which almost always correspond to Israelite lineages.
Genetic differences between the Samaritans and neighboring Jewish and non-Jewish populations are corroborated in
that study of 7,280 bp of non-recombining Y-chromosome and 5,622 bp of coding and hypervariable segment
(HVS-I) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Comparative sequence analysis was carried out on 12 Samaritan
Y-chromosome and mtDNA samples from 9 male and 7 female Samaritans separated by at least two
generations.
[citation needed]
The four Samaritan families clustered to four distinct Y-chromosome haplogroups
according to their patrilineal identity. Of the 16 Samaritan mtDNA samples, 14 carry either of two mitochondrial
haplotypes that are rare or absent among other worldwide ethnic groups.
[citation needed]
Modern times
Samaritan and the Samaritan Torah
As of January 1, 2012, there were 751 Samaritans, half of whom reside
in their modern homes at Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim, which is
sacred to them, and the rest in the city of Holon, just outside Tel Aviv.
There are also four Samaritan families residing in Binyamina-Giv'at
Ada, Matan and Ashdod.
After the end of the British Mandate of Palestine and the subsequent
establishment of the State of Israel, some of the Samaritans who were
living in Jaffa emigrated to the West Bank and lived in Nablus. But by
the late 1950s, around 100 Samaritans left the West Bank for Israel
under an agreement with the Jordanian authorities.
Until the 1980s, most of the Samaritans resided in the Samarian town
of Nablus below Mount Gerizim. They relocated to the mountain itself
near the Israeli settlement neighborhood of Har Brakha as a result of
violence during the First Intifada (19871990). Consequently, all that
is left of the Samaritan community in Nablus/Shechem itself is an
abandoned synagogue. The Israeli army maintains a presence in the
area.
Samaritans
12
During the entire week following the
Feast of the Passover, the Samaritans
remain encamped on Mount Gerizim.
On the last day of the encampment
they begin at dawn a pilgrimage to
the crest of the sacred mount. Before
setting forth on this pilgrimage,
however, the men spread their cloths
and repeat the creed and the story of
the Creation in silence, after which,
in loud voice they read the Book of
Genesis and the first quarter of the
Book of Exodus, ending with the
story of the Passover and the flight
from Egypt John D. WhitingThe
National Geographic Magazine, Jan
1920
Relations of Samaritans with Jewish Israelis and Muslim and Christian
Palestinians in neighboring areas have been mixed. In 1954, Israeli President
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi fostered a Samaritan enclave in Holon, Israel. Samaritans living
in both Israel and in the West Bank enjoy Israeli citizenship. Samaritans in the
Palestinian Authority-ruled territories are a minority in the midst of a Muslim
majority, although the Samaritans are a recognized minority along with
Christians and Jews. In Israel the Samaritans operate without the status of a
recognised religion. They had a reserved seat in the Palestinian Legislative
Council in the election of 1996, but they no longer have one. Palestinian
Samaritans have been granted passports by both Israel and the Palestinian
Authority.
Samaritan communities tend to be more politically aligned with Israel, regardless
of whether they live in Jewish-majority or Arab-majority areas.
[36]
However,
Al-Kahen Wasef al-Samery, a Samaritan leader, declared in 1960 that Israel is an
enemy for them as it is an enemy for the Arabs. The Samaritans in Nablus often
try to show the differences between them and the Jews, more so than those who
live in Holon. Samaritans have stated that the military authorities do not treat
them as a minority. On the contrary, they felt that they were treated like West
Bank Arabs.
[37]
Prior to 1948, the Samaritans were divided politically into two
factions. The first was led by Sadaqa al-Kahen, who supported the Palestinian
Arab leader Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, while the second faction was led by
Wasef al-kahen, who supported another Palestinian Arab leader, Ragheb
Nashashibi.
As a small community physically divided between neighbors in a hostile region,
Samaritans have been hesitant overtly to take sides in the ArabIsraeli conflict,
fearing that doing so could lead to negative repercussions. While the Samaritan communities in both the West Bank's
Nablus and Israeli Holon have assimilated to the surrounding culture, Hebrew has become the primary domestic
language for Samaritans. Samaritans who are Israeli citizens are drafted into the military, along with the Jewish
citizens of Israel.
One of the biggest problems facing the community today is the issue of continuity. With such a small population,
divided into only four families (Cohen, Tsedakah, Danfi and Marhib) (a fifth family died out in the second-last
century
Which century? See this discussion.
and a general refusal to accept converts, there has been a history of genetic
disease within the group due to the small gene pool. To counter this, the Samaritan community has recently agreed
that men from the community may marry non-Samaritan (primarily, Israeli Jewish) women, provided that the women
agree to follow Samaritan religious practices. There is a six-month trial period prior to officially joining the
Samaritan community to see whether this is a commitment that the woman would like to take. This often poses a
problem for the women, who are typically less than eager to adopt the strict interpretation of Biblical (Levitical) laws
regarding menstruation, by which they must live in a separate dwelling during their periods and after childbirth.
There have been a few instances of intermarriage. In addition, all marriages within the Samaritan community are first
approved by a geneticist at Tel HaShomer Hospital, in order to prevent the spread of genetic disease. In meetings
arranged by "international marriage agencies", a small number of Ukrainian women have recently been allowed to
marry into the community in an effort to expand the gene pool.
The head of the community is the Samaritan High Priest, who is selected by age from the priestly family, and resides
on Mount Gerizim. The current high priest is Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach who assumed the office in 2013.
Samaritans
13
Samaritanism
Samaritans, from a photo c. 1900 by the Palestine
Exploration Fund.
The Samaritan religion is based on some of the same books used as the
basis of mainstream Judaism, but differs from the latter. Samaritan
scriptures include the Samaritan version of the Torah, the Memar
Markah, the Samaritan liturgy, and Samaritan law codes and biblical
commentaries. Samaritans appear to have texts of the Torah as old as
the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint; scholars have various theories
concerning the actual relationships between these three texts.
Samaritans pray before the Holy Rock on Mount
Gerizim
Religious beliefs
There is one God, YHWH, the same God recognized by the Hebrew
prophets.
The Torah was given by God to Moses.
Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by
Israel's God.
Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be
resurrected by Taheb, a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say
Moses).
Paradise (heaven).
The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of
tradition; scholars are secondary to the priesthood.
The authority of post-Torah sections of the Tanakh, and classical
Jewish rabbinical works (the Talmud, comprising the Mishnah and
the Gemara) is rejected.
They have a significantly different version of the Ten
Commandments (for example, their 10th commandment is about the
sanctity of Mount Gerizim).
The Samaritans retained the Ancient Hebrew script, the high priesthood, animal sacrifices, the eating of lambs at
Passover, and the celebration of Aviv in spring as the New Year. Yom Teruah (the biblical name for Rosh
Hashanah), at the beginning of Tishrei, is not considered a new year as it is in Judaism. Their main Torah text differs
from the Masoretic Text, as well. Some differences are doctrinal: for example, the Samaritan Torah explicitly states
that Mount Gerizim is "the place that God has chosen" for the Temple, as opposed to the Jewish Torah that refers to
"the place that God will choose". Other differences are minor and seem more or less accidental.
Samaritans
14
Relationship to mainstream Judaism
The Samaritan Mezuzah engraved above the front
door
Samaritans refer to themselves as Bene Yisrael ("Children of Israel")
which is a term used by all Jewish denominations as a name for the
Jewish people as a whole. They however do not refer to themselves as
Yehudim (Judeans), the standard Hebrew name for Jews, considering
the latter to denote only mainstream Jews.
The Talmudic attitude expressed in tractate Kutim is that they are to be
treated as Jews in matters where their practice coincides with the
mainstream but are treated as non-Jews where their practice differs.
Since the 19th century, mainstream Judaism has regarded the
Samaritans as a Jewish sect and the term Samaritan Jews has been used
for them.
[38]
Religious texts
Samaritan law is not the same as halakha (Rabbinical Jewish law). The
Samaritans have several groups of religious texts, which correspond to
Jewish halakhah. A few examples of such texts are:
Torah
Samaritan Pentateuch: only inspired text. (Contains about 6,000
variations from the Masoretic text. Most are minor.)
Historical writings
Samaritan Chronicle, The Tolidah (Creation to the time of
Abishah)
Samaritan Chronicle, The Chronicle of Joshua (Israel during the time of divine favor) (4th century, in Arabic
and Aramaic)
Samaritan Chronicle, Adler (Israel from the time of divine disfavor until the exile)
Hagiographical texts
Samaritan Halakhic Text, The Hillukh (Code of halakhah, marriage, circumcision, etc.)
Samaritan Halakhic Text, the Kitab at-Tabbah (Halacha and interpretation of some verses and chapters from
the Torah, written by Abu Al Hassan 12th century CE)
Samaritan Halakhic Text, the Kitab al-Kafi (Book of Halakhah, written by Yosef Al Ascar 14th century AD)
Al-Asatirlegendary Aramaic texts form 11th 12th centuries, containing:
Haggadic Midrash, Abu'l Hasan al-Suri
Haggadic Midrash, Memar Markah3rd or 4th century theological treaties attributed to Hakkam Markha
Haggadic Midrash, Pinkhas on the Taheb
Haggadic Midrash, Molad Maseh (On the birth of Moses)
Samaritans
15
Entrance to a modern Samaritan synagogue in the
city of Holon, Israel
Defter, prayer book of psalms and hymns.
[39]
Christian sources: New Testament
Samaria or Samaritans are mentioned in the New Testament books of
Matthew, Luke, John and Acts. The Gospel of Mark contains no
mention of Samaritans or Samaria. The best known reference to the
Samaritans is the Parable of the Good Samaritan, found in the book of
Luke. The following references are found:
When instructing his disciples as to how they should spread the
word, Jesus tells them not to visit any Gentile or Samaritan city, but instead go to the "lost sheep of Israel".
Matthew 10:5-6
[40]
A Samaritan village rejects a request from Jesus for hospitality because the villagers did not want to facilitate a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a practice which they saw as a violation of the Law of Moses. Luke 9:51-53
[41]
The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:30-37
[42]
.
Jesus healed ten lepers, of whom only one returned to praise God, and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:11-19, esp.
17:16
[43]
Jesus asks a Samaritan woman of Sychar for water from Jacob's Well. Thereafter many of the Samaritans from
her town become followers of Jesus. This woman considered herself and her people to be Israelites, descendants
of Jacob. John 4:4-42
[44]
Jesus is accused of being a Samaritan and being demon-possessed. He denies having a demon, but makes no
comment on the Samaritan accusation. John 8:48
[45]
Christ tells them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and that they would be
his witnesses in "Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8
[46]
The Apostles are being persecuted. Philip preaches the Gospel to a city in Samaria; and the Apostles in Jerusalem
hear about it. So they send the Apostles Peter and John to pray for and lay hands on the baptized believers, who
then receive the Holy Spirit (vs. 17). They then return to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel "in many villages of the
Samaritans". Acts 8:1-25
[47]
Acts 9:31
[48]
says that at that time the churches had "rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria".
Acts 15:2-3
[49]
says that Paul and Barnabas were "being brought on their way by the church" and that they passed
through "Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles". (Phoenicia in several other English
versions).
The rest of the New Testament makes no specific mention of Samaria or Samaritans.
Media
The Samaritan News, a monthly magazine started in 1969, is written in Samaritan, Hebrew, Arabic, and English and
deals with current and historical issues with which the Samaritan community is concerned. The Samaritan Update is
a bi-monthly e-newsletter for Samaritan Studies.
[50]
References
[1] (http:/ / www.thesamaritanupdate. com/ ) Retrieved 8 January 2013.
[2] "Cutheans were a very early race, widely extended and powerful. That from Assyria they extended to India, China, Arabia Petraea and
Abyssinia," Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record By Henry Burgess - Kessinger Publishing, May 1, 2003 - p.481 (http:/ / books.
google.com/ books?id=yKZ87hSOJkQC& pg=PA481& lpg=PA481& dq=from+ Assyria+ they+ extended+ to+ India,+ China,+ Arabia+
Petrea+ and+ Abyssinia& source=bl& ots=Gpliyy5DPR& sig=nT6UhIJ8SDpkVihfCylgMb1lnuY& hl=en& sa=X&
ei=Fv_sT-GAH4SS9gT43sSxDQ& ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=from Assyria they extended to India, China, Arabia Petrea and
Samaritans
16
Abyssinia& f=false)
[3] Yitzhak Magen,'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded
Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E., Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157ff.p.177
n.13.
[4] (2 Kings, 17:30). "According to the rabbis, his emblem was a cock".
[5] Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 17:30 (http:/ / clarke. biblecommenter. com/ 2_kings/ 17. htm)
[6] M. Levy-Rubin, "New evidence relating to the process of Islamization in Palestine in the Early Muslim Period - The Case of Samaria", in:
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 43 (3), p. 257-276, 2000, Springer
[7] Fattal, A.(1958) Le statut lgal des non-Musulman en pays d'Islam, Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, p. 72-73.
[8] http:/ / www. thesamaritanupdate.com/
[9] "The Samaritans' Passover sacrifice" (http:/ / www. ynetnews. com/ articles/ 0,7340,L-3394699,00. html), Ynetnews, May 2, 2007
[10] David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 5:941 (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992).
[11] [11] Japanese "Samurai" and English "mesmerized" hold same meaning to Hebrew/Arabic "Sameri". Japanese samurai from verb samorapu to be
on the lookout for something., while English mesmerized - having your attention fixated as though by a spell
[www.thefreedictionary.com/mesmerized]
[12] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Juddom& action=edit
[13] [13] Sg II Nimrud Prism IV:25-41
[14] [14] Encyclopdia Britannica, 11th Ed., v. 24, p. 109 (London, 1910)
[15] The Keepers, An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans, by Robert T. Anderson and Terry Giles, Hendrickson
Publishing, 2002, pages 11-12
[16] 2 Kings 17.
[17] Josephus, Antiquities 9.27791).
[18] See the wording of 2 Kings 17 which mentions Shalmaneser in verse 3 but the "king of the Assyrians" from verse 4 onward.
[19] Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded
Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E., Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212
.p.187'The author of Chronicles conceals the information that is given prominence in Kings, and vice versa.' 'The books of Ezra and Nehemiah
adopt a narrow sectarian approach that seeks to maintain the uniqueness and racial purity of the exiles in Babylonia, while Chronicles is more
broad-minded and views the Israelite nation as a great people that includes all the tribes, both Judah and Israel.'
[20] [20] 2 Chr 34:9.
[21] [21] Jer.41.5
[22] Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded
Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E., Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212
.p.186
[23] Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded
Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E., Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212.
p.187.
[24] [24] Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" page 363, 2009.
[25] [25] Mark A. Powell, "Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey" 'Ch.01 The People of Palestine at the
Time of Jesus', Baker Academic, 2009.
[26] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ bibleversefinder/ ?book=2%20Chronicles& verse=36:2223& src=HE
[27] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ bibleversefinder/ ?book=Isaiah& verse=45:1& src=HE
[28] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ bibleversefinder/ ?book=Ezra& verse=4& src=HE
[29] http:/ / blb. org/ cgi-bin/ index. pl?type=pf& translation=NIV& handref=Genesis+ 22%3A2
[30] http:/ / blb. org/ cgi-bin/ index. pl?type=pf& translation=NIV& handref=John+ 4%3A20
[31] [31] Malalas, 15.
[32] Procopius, Buildings, 5.7.
[33] Alan David Crown, The Samaritans, Mohr Siebeck, 1989, ISBN 3-16-145237-2, pp. 72-73.
[34] Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Frankish period", in The Samaritans, ed. Alan D. Cross (Tbingen, 1989), pp. 86-87.
[35] Yohanan Aharoni, Michael Avi-Yonah, Anson F. Rainey, Ze'ev Safrai, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 3rd Edition, Macmillan Publishing: New
York, 1993, p. 115. A posthumous publication of the work of Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, in collaboration
with Anson F. Rainey and Ze'ev Safrai.
[36] Samaritans (http:/ / www. everyculture. com/ Africa-Middle-East/ Samaritans. html), World Culture Encyclopedia
[37] The Samaritans in Nablus after 1967 (http:/ / www. zajel. org/ article_view. asp?newsID=4427& cat=18), An-Najah National University
[38] Shulamit Sela, The Head of the Rabbanite, Karaite and Samaritan Jews: On the History of a Title, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London, Vol. 57, No. 2 (1994), pp. 255-267
[39] Samaritan Documents, Relating To Their History, Religion and Life, translated and edited by John Bowman, Pittsburgh Original Texts &
Translations Series Number 2, 1977.
[40] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Matthew+ 10%3A5-6& version=ESV
[41] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Luke+ 9%3A51-53& version=ESV
Samaritans
17
[42] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Luke+ 10%3A30-37& version=ESV
[43] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Luke+ 17%3A11-19%2C+ esp. + 17%3A16& version=ESV
[44] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=John+ 4%3A4-42& version=ESV
[45] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=John+ 8%3A48& version=ESV
[46] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Acts+ 1%3A8& version=ESV
[47] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Acts+ 8%3A1-25& version=ESV
[48] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Acts+ 9%3A31& version=ESV
[49] http:/ / www.biblegateway. com/ passage/ ?search=Acts+ 15%3A2-3& version=ESV
[50] The Samaritan News (http:/ / www. thesamaritanupdate. com/ )
Further reading
Montgomery, James Alan (2006) [1907]. The Samaritans, the Earliest Jewish Sect. The Bohlen Lectures for
1906. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock. ISBN1-59752-965-6.
Thomson, J. E. H. (1919). Tha Samaritans: Their Testimony to the Religion of Israel. Edinburgh & London:
Oliver and Boyd.
Gaster, Moses (1925). The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines and Literature. The Schweich Lectures for 1923.
Oxford University Press.
Macdonald, John (1964). The Theology of the Samaritans. New Testament Library. London: SCM Press.
Purvis, James D. (1968). The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origin of the Samaritan Sect. Harvard Semitic
Monographs 2. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Bowman, John (1975). The Samaritan Problem. Pickwick Press.
Coggins, R. J. (1975). Samaritans and Jews: The Origins of Samaritanism Reconsidered. Growing Points in
Theology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Pummer, Reinhard (1987). The Samaritans. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN90-04-07891-6.
Hjelm, Ingrid (2000). Samaritans and Early Judaism: A Literary Analysis. Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament. Supplement Series, 303. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN1-84127-072-5.
Hjelm, Ingrid, "Mt Gerezim and Samaritans in Recent Research", in Samaritans: Past and Present: Current
Studies, Edited by Mor, Menachem; Reiterer, Friedrich V.; Winkler, Waltraud (Berlin, New York) (DE
GRUYTER) 2010, Pages 2544, eBook ISBN 978-3-11-021283-9, Print ISBN 978-3-11-019497-5 (http:/ / www.
reference-global. com/ doi/ abs/ 10. 1515/ 9783110212839. 1. 25)
Anderson, Robert T.; Giles, Terry (2002) [2002 (http:/ / books. google. com. au/ books?id=TIcWAoiRhgAC&
printsec=frontcover& dq=Anderson,+ Robert+ T. ;+ Giles,+ Terry+ (2002). + The+ Keepers:+ An+ Introduction+
to+ the+ History+ and+ Culture+ of+ the+ Samaritans& source=bl& ots=IkA7UnygTs&
sig=DTx8YvqeDHtUes5e3eoLdc0jv9c& hl=en& ei=FZ4cTMWWGY7JceTulZgN& sa=X& oi=book_result&
ct=result& resnum=6& ved=0CCoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage& q=Anderson, Robert T. ; Giles, Terry (2002). The
Keepers: An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans& f=false). The Keepers: An Introduction
to the History and Culture of the Samaritans. Hendrickson Publishing. ISBN1-56563-519-1. ]
Anderson, Robert T., Giles, Terry, "Tradition kept: the literature of the Samaritans"(Hendrickson Publishers,
2005) (http:/ / books. google. com. au/ books?id=onFolAET0C8C& printsec=frontcover& dq=Tradition+ kept:+
the+ literature+ of+ the+ Samaritans& source=bl& ots=lK_nJOlFkv& sig=36noOuETqaJ6oHylhTVe60iebz0&
hl=en& ei=OqkcTJPLF8HQcZWE-J8N& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1&
ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q& f=false)
Crown, Alan David (2005) [1984]. A Bibliography of the Samaritans: Revised Expanded and Annotated (3rd ed.).
Scarecrow Press. ISBN0-8108-5659-X.
Heinsdorff, Cornel (2003). Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur
lateinischen Evangelienvorlage (= Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, Bd. 67), Berlin/New
York. ISBN 3-11-017851-6
Zertal, Adam (1989). "The Wedge-Shaped Decorated Bowl and the Origin of the Samaritans". Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 276. (November 1989), pp.7784.
Samaritans
18
External links
Samaritan view
The Samaritan Update (http:/ / www.
thesamaritanupdate. com)
Jewish view
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1911:
"Samaritans" (http:/ / www.
jewishencyclopedia.com/ view.
jsp?artid=110& letter=S#429)
Tablet magazine (http:/ / www.
tabletmag. com/ news-and-politics/
33879/ good-samaritans/ ) How Israel's
smallest religious minority offers Jews a
glimpse of what might have been
Independent views
"The Origin and Nature of the
Samaritans and their Relationship to
Second Temple Jewish Sects" (http:/ /
www.adath-shalom. ca/
samaritan_origin. htm), David Steinberg
"Samaritans" (http:/ / www. livius. org/
saa-san/ samaria/ samaritans. htm)
(theory on the Samaritan-Jewish
tensions), Jona Lendering
"Guards of Mount Gerizim" (http:/ /
www.jewishmag. co. il/ 78mag/
samaritans/ samaritans. htm), Alex Maist
Books and other information
"The Samaritans the earliest Jewish sect" (http:/ / www. houseofdavid. ca/ sam_mont. htm), by
James A Montgomery (http:/ / www. archives. upenn. edu/ people/ 1800s/ montgomery_james_a.
html)
"The Samaritans the earliest Jewish sect" (http:/ / www. google. com/
books?id=eIhtAAAAMAAJ), also accessible via Google Books
"Bibliography" (http:/ / www. houseofdavid. ca/ sam_int. htm#bib), James A Montgomery
Samaritan Museum (http:/ / www. samaritans-museum. com/ ), "Gerizim" (English language)
"The Messianic Hope of the Samaritans" by Jacob, Son of Aaron, High Priest of the Samaritans,
Chicago, 1907 (http:/ / sacred-texts. com/ journals/ oc/ mhs. htm)
"Josephus' attitude towards the Samaritans" from "Studies in Hellenistic Judaism" By Louis H.
Feldman (http:/ / books. google. co. il/ books?id=pACJYw0bg3QC& pg=PA115& lpg=PA115&
dq=curtius+ alecander+ samaritans& source=bl& ots=GB6tZ5iv4B&
sig=Coq2_HG7AB88kgbc4IRpmqUR4wY& hl=en& ei=Nt3RSuj7D9LK_gb8uKjZAg& sa=X&
oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=& f=false)
Web Site about the Samaritans life (http:/ / www. shomronim. com)
Photographic links
"Samaritans at Mount Grizim near Nablus and the West Bank" (http:/ / www. edkaprov. com/
samaritans), Edward Kaprov photojournalist
"Passover at Samaritans. Mount Grizim, West Bank" (http:/ / seagull-gull. livejournal. com/
353493.html), Inna Kalinina, journalist
"Samaritans in Nablus and the West Bank" (http:/ / www. rbenninghaus. de/ samaritans. htm),
Rdiger Benninghaus
Article Sources and Contributors
19
Article Sources and Contributors
Samaritans Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=599669956 Contributors: .:Ajvol:., 165.121.208.xxx, 23prootie, ALargeElk, APH, Adam Bishop, Adam keller, Adamgold33,
Adoniscik, Aksi great, Al-Andalus, All Worlds, AnakngAraw, Anarchistica, AndreaPersephone, Angel ivanov angelov, Angr, Anthony Appleyard, Archaeogenetics, Arif3000, ArwinJ, Aslbsl,
Astaines, Athanasius1, Atubeileh, Audiobooks, AusCanBri, Ausir, Awewe, Barbula, Barticus88, Ben tetuan, Biglovinb, Bigturtle, BilCat, Billposer, Bissinger, Bob Burkhardt, BobJones11,
Bobblewik, Bondegezou, Bongwarrior, Bookmastaflex, BradBeattie, Branddobbe, Brando130, Brentford, Brian C. Chao, Briangotts, Bus stop, C30698, CWY2190, Caduon, Caesar Rodney,
Cailil, Calbaer, Carl.bunderson, Catgut, Ccerf, Cema, Cfortunato, Chesnok, Chicken Wing, Chiton magnificus, Choster, Clr324, Colenso, Cometstyles, ComfyKem, CommonsDelinker,
Conversion script, Cplakidas, Crushti, Cuchullain, Curb Chain, Cush, DHimmelspach, Dalai lama ding dong, Dale Arnett, Dance21c, Danny, Das Baz, Dasani, David Betesh, DavidA,
Davidsteinberg, Davshul, Dawynn, DerRichter, Dfink, Discospinster, DiverDave, DjR, Djathinkimacowboy, DocWatson42, Dogface, Donama, Dougweller, Dpwkbw, DragonflySixtyseven,
Driftwoodzebulin, Drsmoo, Eagerto, Eddylyons, Editor2020, Edkaprov, Edward, Eh90, EhavEliyahu, Ekozie, Eliyak, Eliz81, Ellokn, Emersoni, Ems2, Ender's Shadow Snr, Enki H., Epf,
Erkin2008, Estel, Eudaemonic3, Ewawer, Ezra Wax, FDuffy, Fab1uk, Feline Hymnic, Feraudyh, Fjmustak, Floccinauci, Foobaz, Former user 2, Fr33kman, Fratrep, Fschlomka, FunkMonk,
GeorgeA, Gerrit, Gilabrand, Gilgamesh, Gnarlodious, Gogo Dodo, GoingBatty, Gonalo-Manuel, Good Olfactory, Goustien, Gpvos, GraemeL, Greyshark09, Gringo300, Griswaldo, Gurch,
HIZKIAH, HaleakalAri, Hammurobert, Hibbleton, Hibernian, Historicist, Hkp-avniel, Homsar2, Howard McCay, Humus sapiens, HusaynIbnAli, Hvn0413, HyernLee, IZAK, Ian Pitchford,
Icairns, IceKarma, Ineuw, Irnshahr, Isnow, JBogdan, JLCA, JPaulThomas, Jandalhandler, Jarble, Jayjg, Jdavidb, Jeandr du Toit, Jemiljan, Jenks24, JetLover, Jheald, Jim1138, Jnothman,
JoanneB, Johnwcowan, JonHarder, Jonathan Gro, Jonbobsmith, Jonney2000, Jonpaulusa, Josephf, Joshua811f, Joyson Konkani, Joyson Prabhu, Kathovo, Kbdank71, Kchishol1970, Kdebem,
Kenshin, Kingpin13, Kissekatt, Koavf, Komusou, Kordas, Kuratowski's Ghost, Lacrimosus, LarryGilbert, Laval, Leadwind, Leonardo Alves, Lev, Likearolingston, LilHelpa, Liz, Llywrch,
Look2See1, Lothar von Richthofen, Lukobe, M.O.X, MacCambridge, Macrakis, Magnus Manske, Mak13, Marawe, MarcoLittel, Materialscientist, Maximus Rex, Mayz, Mhym, Micahbrwn,
Michael C Price, Michael Hardy, Michael Richters, Michael1408, Michelle J. Kinnucan, MikeWazowski, Mimihitam, Mintleaf, Miotroyo, MisterPook, Misty MH, Mitsukai, Modernist, Mogism,
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Nono64, Nowa, Nullstein, Nxm9267, O.Koslowski, O.W.J. te Nijbroek, Olivier, One.tenth, OneVeryBadMan, OneVoice, Ortensia, Orthogonal, Osiris, Ossipewsk, Otisjimmy1, PatGallacher,
Patrick, Pavel Vozenilek, Peter Erwin, PhishRCool, PiCo, PiMaster3, Pjacobi, Ploversegg, Quintote, RK, RLM1961, RabeaMalah, Rapscallion, Ravichandar84, Raymond, Rcog, RedWolf,
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Vanjagenije, Viibird, Viriditas, Vishnu2011, Vuvar1, Wachholder0, Wavelength, Wayward, Wclark, Weatherman667, Wesley, Wikieditor14, Wile E. Heresiarch, William Allen Simpson,
Wmahan, Xanzzibar, Xphilosopherking, Yahel Guhan, Yahnatan, Yoconst, Yonatan, Yoshiah ap, Youngamerican, Zero0000, Zfr, Zoeperkoe, Zyido, 590 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Samaritans marking Passover on Mount Gerizim, West Bank - 20060418.jpg Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritans_marking_Passover_on_Mount_Gerizim,_West_Bank_-_20060418.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: Edkaprov (Edward Kaprov).
File:Flag of Israel.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Israel.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: The Provisional Council of State Proclamation of the
Flag of the State of Israel of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag. The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flag
is not precisely specified by the above legislation. The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today, although individual flags can and do vary. The flag
legislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm 160 cm. However, the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained).
File:Flag of Palestine.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Palestine.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Orionist, previous versions by Makaristos,
Mysid, etc.
Image:Menora.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Menora.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Marcin n
Image:Star of David.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Star_of_David.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Zscout370
File:Samaritan inscription.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritan_inscription.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Palestine Exploration Fund
File:Gerizim2.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gerizim2.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Chesdovi, Christophe cag, Editor at Large, Ejdzej, G.dallorto,
Hanay, Hhmb, Jerome Charles Potts, 1 anonymous edits
File:The High Priest of the Samaritans with the Codex Nablus c. 192.jpg Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_High_Priest_of_the_Samaritans_with_the_Codex_Nablus_c._192.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Ian Pitchford, Iustinus, Scewing
File:Interior of the Synagogue of the Samaritans Nablus c. 1920.jpg Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Interior_of_the_Synagogue_of_the_Samaritans_Nablus_c._1920.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Ian Pitchford, Scewing
File:Shomroni tora2.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Shomroni_tora2.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Christophe cag
File:Samaritan Pilgrimage 1920.JPG Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritan_Pilgrimage_1920.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: John D. Whiting
File:Samaritans.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritans.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Auntof6, Chesdovi, Christophe cag, Editor at Large, Ejdzej,
G.dallorto, Hanay, Man vyi, Thuresson, 1 anonymous edits
File:Samaritan Passover prayer 1920.JPG Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritan_Passover_prayer_1920.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors:
Ravichandar84
File:Samaritan doorpost.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Samaritan_doorpost.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Shuki
File:Bitknest2.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bitknest2.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Original uploader was Mikel Lejarza at
es.wikipedia
License
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