Early history according to Samaritan Sources
The Samaritans assert that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that Joshua conquered Israel and the ten tribes settled the land. According to the bible, the story of Mount Gerizim takes us back to the story of the time when Moses ordered Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel 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.
The Samaritans have insisted that they are direct 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 B.C.E. The inscription of Sargon II records the deportation of a relatively small proportion of the Israelites (27,290, according to the annals), so it is quite possible that a sizable population remained that could identify themselves as Israelites, the term that the Samaritans prefer for themselves.
Samaritan historiography would place the basic schism from the remaining part of Israel after the twelve tribes conquered the land of Canaan, lead 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 Shilo (1 Sam 1:1-3; 2:12-17). Thus, he established both an illegitimate priesthood and an illegitimate place of worship.[4]
Abu'l Fath, who in the fourteenth century C.E. wrote the major work of Samaritan history, comments on Samaritan origins as follows:
A terrible civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Phineas, because Eli son of Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendents of Phineas. 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 learnt 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 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 detail - it 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.[5]
Further, the Samaritan Chronicle Adler, or New Chronicle, believed to have been composed in the 18th century C.E. 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, Mount Gerizim Bethel, in the holy city of Shechem.[6]
According to the Samaritans this marked the end of the Age of Divine Favor called רידון (Ridhwan) or רהוּתה (Rahuta), which began with Moses. Thus began the פנוּתה (Fanuta) Era of Divine Disfavor when God looks away from the people. According to the Samaritans the age of divine favor will only return with the coming of the Taheb (Messiah or Restorer). [7]
The Samaritans claim that there are three periods of the deviation of Jews from Israel. The first was during the time of Elijah the Priest. Elijah decided on his own to relocate the Holy Place to Shilo, but this point was rejected from the beginning by the nation. The second controversy started during the split of the ten tribes of Israel from the tribe of Judea due to a dispute about tax payments in the year 928 BC. The third controversy was during the Return to Zion by the Jews from Babylon in the year 538 BC. In that time there was physical fighting between the two sects, with the Jews claiming that the Samaritans informed the Persian King about their intention to build the Second Temple.
The Samaritans never deny that the Assyrians assimilated with them, but they claim that other nations have assimilated into Judaism as well. The fact is that the Assyrian exile was a long process and took many years. The Assyrians who came to Samaria were few in number and most of them have assimilated with the locals. [8] The Samaritans themselves make a clear distinction between their own ancestors and the inhabitants of Samaria. For example, in the part of the Samaritan Chronicle II which corresponds to I Kings 16 of the Hebrew Bible, the biblical account of the founding of Samaria by Omri is followed by a note which explains that the inhabitants of Samaria and its nearby cities were called "Shomronim after the name Shomron." Thus the distinction between the people of Samaria and the Samaritans is clearly maintained in the Samaritan Chronicle II. Put simply, shomronim means the "inhabitants of Samaria" and it has nothing to do with shamerin, "keepers" or "observers" of the Torah, which the Samaritans use for themselves. James Montgomery pointed out that the Samaritans:
call themselves by the ancient geographical appellative, Samerim, which they interpret however as meaning "the Observers", i.e., of the Law.[9]
[edit] Non-Samaritan View of Origins
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 Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and captured its capital city of Samaria. The records of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the region.
Modern Samaritans have always claimed to be the descendants of Israelites of the Northern Kingdom who escaped the deportations. They remained behind during the Babylonian Captivity, and thus introduced none of the religious changes brought about among the Jews during this time.
Jewish tradition maintains a different 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 17 and Josephus (Antiquities 9.277–91), the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians (Sargon II- see special wording of 2 Kings 17 which mentions Shalmaneser in verse 3 but the "king of the Assyrians" from verse 4 onward), to Halah, to Gozan on the Habor 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.
A Midrash (Genesis Rabbah Sect. 94) relates about an encounter between Rabbi Meir and a Samaritan. The story that developed includes the following dialogue:
R. Meir asks the Samaritan: What tribe are you from?
The Samaritan answers: From Joseph.
R. Meir : No!
The Samaritan: From which one then?
R. Meir : From Issachar.
The Samaritan: How do you know?
R. Meir: For it is written (Gen 46:13): The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. These are the Samaritans (shamray).[10]
Zertal dates the Assyrian onslaught at 721 BC to 647 BC and discusses three waves of imported settlers. He shows that Mesopotamian pottery in Samarian territory cluster around the lands of Menasheh and that the type of pottery found was produced around 689 BC.
Modern DNA evidence validates both local and foreign origins for the Samaritans. One genetic study (Shen, et al., 2004) concluded from Y chromosome analysis that Samaritans descend from the Israelites (including Kohen, or priests). Other evidence using mitochondrial DNA analysis shows descent from Assyrians and other foreign women.
Some date their split with the Jews to the time of Nehemiah, Ezra, and the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Returning exiles considered the Samaritans to be non-Jews and, thus, not fit for this religious work.
[edit] End of the Judean Exile
Ancient inscription in Samaritan Hebrew. From a photo c.1900 by the Palestine Exploration Fund.When the exile ended in 538 BC and the exiles returned home again, they found that their former homeland was now populated by other people who had claimed this land as their own and that their former glorious capital still lay in ruins.
According to 2 Chronicles 36.22–23, the Persian Emperor Cyrus, who returned the exiles to their homeland, explicitly ordered the people to rebuild the temple. The prophet Second Isaiah identified Cyrus as "The Lord's anointed" (meshiach; see Isa 45.1). The temple was rebuilt over a period of several decades.
2 Chr 36:22-23 in the KJV says:
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
The project was first led by Sheshbazzar (about 538 BC), later by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and later still by Haggai and Zechariah (520–515 BC).
Ezra 4 tells us how 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 antagonism continued to increase, and that the Samaritans eventually built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, perhaps around 330 B.C.
The Temple was completed in 515 BC.
Ezra 6:15-16 in the KJV says:
15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,
The Samaritans built their rival Temple on Mount Gerizim, near Shechem.
[edit] Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim
The precise date of the schism between Samaritans and Jews is unknown, but was certainly complete by the end of the fourth century BC. Archaeological excavations at Mount Gerizim suggest that a Samaritan temple was built there c. 330BC, and when Alexander the Great (356-323) was in the region, he is said to have visited Samaria and not Jerusalem. 1
It is said [8] that Abraham offered Isaac (Gen 22:2) on Mount Gerizim.
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.
As the Samaritan woman informed Jesus, the mountain was the center of their worship (John 4:20).
[edit] Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Hellenization
In the second century B.C. a particularly bitter series of events eventually led to a revolution.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes was on the throne of the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 163 BC. His determined policy was to Hellenize his entire kingdom and standardize religious observance. He proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him (1 Maccabees 1:41-50). A major obstacle to his ambition was the fidelity of the Jews to their historic religion. article3jerusalem
The universal peril led the Samaritans, eager for safety, to repudiate all connection and kinship with the Jews. They sent ambassadors and an epistle asking to be recognized as belonging to the Greek party, and to have their temple on Mt. Gerizim named "The Temple of Jupiter Hellenius." [source citation needed] The request was granted. This was evidently the final breach between the two groups indicated in John 4:9, "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 2
Several centuries before the birth of Jesus, the Samaritans had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim to rival the one in Jerusalem. Here, they offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic code. Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175-164 B.C.):
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). 3
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.
II Maccabees 6:1-2 says:
Shortly afterwards, the king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews 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 inhabitants of the latter place had requested.
In 167 BC the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is known as the "abomination of desolation." 4
The authority of the high priesthood was severely damaged when first Jason and then Meneleus bought their office from Antiochus.
The persecution and death of faithful Jewish persons who refused to worship and kiss Antiochus’ image eventually led to a revolt led by Judas Maccabeus and his family.
Judas's priestly family, the Hasmoneans, introduced a dynasty that ruled during a period of conflict, with tensions arising both from within the family as well as from external enemies.
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.
[edit] 164 BC and after
During the Hellenistic period, Samaria (like Judea) 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.
[edit] Roman times
Samaritans fared badly under the Roman Empire, when Samaria was part of the Roman province of Judea. However, this period was also something of a golden age for the Samaritan community. The Temple of Gerizim was rebuilt after the Bar Kochba revolt, around 135 AD. Much of Samaritan liturgy was set by the high priest Baba Rabba in the fourth century.
There were some Samaritans in the Persian Empire, where they served in the Sassanid army.
Samaritan cultic center on Mount Gerizim. From a photo c.1900 by the Palestine Exploration Fund.
[edit] Jesus and Samaritans
[edit] [26 A.D.] Jesus criticizes the Samaritan worship
The dates listed below in bold type, have been taken from "The Chronological Bible" King James Version by Edward Reese, 1977:
26 A.D. In John 4:19-26 Jesus criticizes the Samaritan worship:
19. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 A.D. Jesus restricts where His disciples are to go. Jesus tells His disciples not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. Matthew 10:5–7 says::
5. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
29 A.D. After His death and resurrection Jesus authorizes his disciples to go and teach all nations. Matthew 28:18–20 says:
18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
[edit] 35-36 A.D. The Samaritans receive the Holy Ghost
The dates listed below in bold type, have been taken from "The Chronological Bible" King James Version by Edward Reese, 1977:
35-36 A.D. Philip goes to the city of Samaria and preaches Christ. Acts 8:4-8 says:
4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8. And there was great joy in that city.
35-36 A.D. Peter and John go to Samaria lay hands on the Samaritans that they might receive The Holy Ghost. Acts 8:12-17 says:
12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16. (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
[edit] Byzantine times
Later, under the Christian Byzantine Emperor Zeno in the late fifth century, Samaritans and Jews were massacred, and the Temple on Mt. Gerizim was again destroyed. This period is considered the worst for 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 AD. 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.
[edit] Under Islam
At the time of Muslim conquest Samaritans were dispersed from Egypt to Syria. They were considered as Dhimmis. Many Samaritans converted to Islam during that period. [10] During the crusades Samaritans, Muslim and Jews alike were persecuted by the Crusaders. [[11]] 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.
In the past, the Samaritans are believed to have numbered several hundred thousand, but persecution and assimilation have reduced their numbers drastically. In 1919, an illustrated National Geographic report on the community stated that their numbers were less than 150.
[edit] Modern times
Samaritan and the Samaritan TorahSamaritans now number a total of 705,[1] half of whom reside in their modern homes on Mount Gerizim, which is sacred to them, and the rest in the town of Holon, just outside Tel Aviv.
Until the 1980s, most of the Samaritans resided in the Palestinian town of Nablus below Mount Gerizim. They relocated to the mountain itself as a result of the First Intifada (1987-1990), and all that is left of the community in Nablus itself is an abandoned synagogue. In 2001, the Israeli army set up an artillery battery on Gerizim.
Relations of Samaritans with Jewish Israelis and Palestinians in neighboring areas have been mixed. In 1954, Israeli President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi created a Samaritan enclave in Holon but Israeli Samaritans today complain of being treated as "pagans and strangers" by orthodox Jews.[citation needed] Those living in Israel have Israeli citizenship. Samaritans in the Palestinian territories are a recognized minority; 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.
As a small community divided between two mutually hostile neighbors, the Samaritans are generally unwilling to take sides in the conflict, fearing that whatever side they take could lead to repercussions from the other.
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 last century) 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. 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. Nevertheless, 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 2004 the Samaritan high priest, Saloum Cohen, died and was replaced by Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq. The Samaritan high priest is selected by age from the priestly family, and resides on Mount Gerizim.
[edit] DNA testing of Samaritans
Genetic and 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 Tsdaka lineage, which is claimed to have descended from the tribe of Menasseh
The Joshua-Marhiv and Danfi lineages, claiming descent from the tribe of Ephraim
The priestly Cohen lineage from the tribe of Levi.
Of the 12 Samaritan males, 10 (83%) belong to haplogroup J, which captures three of the four Samaritan families. The family Joshua-Marhiv belongs to subhaplogroup J1, while families Danfi and Tsdaka belong to subhaplogroup J2, and can be further distinguished by M67, the derived allele of which has been found in the Danfi family.
Genetic differences between the Samaritans and neighboring Jewish and non-Jewish populations are corroborated in the present study of 7,280 bp of nonrecombining 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. In addition, 18–20 male individuals were analyzed, each representing Ethiopian, Ashkenazi, Iraqi, Libyan, Moroccan, and Yemenite Jews, as well as Druze and Palestinians, all currently living in Israel. 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.
Principal component analysis suggests a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in the paternally-inherited Israelite high priesthood (Cohanim) at the time of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel. [11]
[edit] Religion
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 Judaism, but these religions are not identical. 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.
[edit] Religious beliefs
There is one God, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets;
Their view of God is the same as the Jewish biblical view of God;
The Torah was dictated 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);
They possess a belief in Paradise (heaven);
The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of tradition; unlike Judaism, there is no distinction between the priesthood and the scholars;
The authority of classical Jewish rabbinical works, the Mishnah, and the Talmuds are rejected;
Samaritans reject Jewish codes of law;
They have a significantly different version of the Ten Commandments (for example, their 10th commandment is about the sanctity of Mt. Gerizim).
The Samaritans retained the Ancient Hebrew script, the high priesthood, animal sacrifices, the actual 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, their Torah explicitly mentions that "the place that God will choose" is Mount Gerizim. Other differences seem more or less accidental.
[edit] Religious Texts
Samaritan law is not the same as halakha (Rabbinical Jewish law). The Samaritans have several groups of religious texts, which equate to Jewish halakhah. A few examples of such texts are:
Torah
Samaritan Pentateuch - only inspired text. (Contains about 6000 variations from the original Hebrew texts. 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) (Fourth 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, circumsion, etc.)
Al-Asatir - legendendary Aramaic texts form 11th 12th centuries, containing:
Haggadic Midrash, Abu'l Hasan al-Suri
Haggadic Midrash, Memar Markah - 3rd or 4th century theological treaties attributted to Hakkam Markha
Haggadic Midrash, Pinkhas on the Taheb
Haggadic Midrash, Molad Maseh (On the birth of Moses)
Defter, prayer book of psalms and hymns. [12]
[edit] List of the Samaritan High Priests (from 1613)
See a complete listing of the Samaritan High Priests
Line of Eleazar:
1613-1624 Shelemiah ben Pinhas
Line of Ithamar:
1624-1650 Tsedaka ben Tabia Ha'abta'ai
1650-1694 Yitzhaq ben Tsedaka
1694-1732 Abraham ben Yitzhaq
1732-1752 Tabia ben Yiszhaq ben Avraham
1752-1787 Levi ben Avraham
1787-1855 Shalma ben Tabia
1855-1874 Amram ben Shalma
1874-1916 Yaacov ben Aaharon ben Shalma
1916-1932 Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma ben Tabia
1933-1943 Matzliach ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq ben Shalma
1943-1961 Abrisha ben Phinhas ben Yittzhaq ben Shalma
1961-1980 Amram ben Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma
1980-1982 Asher ben Matzliach ben Phinhas
1982-1984 Phinhas ben Matzliach ben Phinhas
1984-1987 Yaacov ben Ezzi ben Yaacov ben Aaharon
1987-1998 Yosseph ben Ab-Hisda ben Yaacov ben Aaharon
1998- 2001 Levi ben Abisha ben Phinhas ben Yitzhaq
2001- 2004 Shalom ben Amram ben Yitzhaq (Saum Is'haq al-Samiri)
from 2004 Elazar ben Tsedaka ben Yitzhaq (he is the 131-st Samaritan High Priest)
[edit] Samaritans in the Gospels
The Christian Gospels thrice mention good deeds by Samaritans. Jesus teaches that actions speak louder than ethnic identity or pious appearances:
The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Begins in Luke 10:33.
Jesus asks the Samaritan Woman of Sychar for water from Jacob's Well. (John, chapter 4).
Jesus healed 10 Lepers, of which only one returned to praise God, and he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:11-19)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is accused of being a Samaritan and being demon-possessed. (John 8:48)
Luke has the parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of the Samaritan Leper, but it also contains a story (Luke 9:51-53) of a Samaritan village denying hospitality to Jesus and his disciples, because they did not want to facilitate a pilgrimage to Jerusalem - a practice which they saw as a violation of the Law of Moses.
In Matthew 10:5, Jesus forbids his disciples to visit any Samaritan city.
The Gospel of Mark contains no mention of Samaritans, either positive or negative.
[edit] Samaritans in Samaritan sources
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 (722/1 B.C.E.). 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 C.E. they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas. They claim to have continuously occupied their ancient territory in central Palestine 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 cult there. For the Samaritans, this was the 'schism' par excellence.("Samaritans" in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, Volume 14, op. cit., col. 727.)
”
Furthermore, even to this day the Samaritans still 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 petty 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.) ”
[edit] Samaritan media
The Samaritans have a monthly magazine started in 1969 called A.B.-The Samaritan News, which is written in Samaritan, Hebrew, Arabic and English and deals with current and historical issues with which the Samaritan community is concerned.
[edit] Literature
Zertal, Adam. “The Wedge-Shaped Decorated Bowl and the Origin of the Samaritans, “Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 276. (Nov., 1989), pp. 77-84.
Cornel Heinsdorff: Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage (= Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, Bd. 67), Berlin/ New York 2003
[edit] References
^ a b Israeli sings for her estranged people, By Matti Friedman, Associated Press Writer, Sun Mar 18, 2:45 PM ET [1]
^ The Samaritans' Passover sacrifice, Ynetnews 05.02.07
^ The Emergence of the Samaritan Community (Lecture given by Professor Abraham Tal at Mandelbaum House, August 2001) [2]
^ The Emergence of the Samaritan Community (Lecture given by Professor Abraham Tal at Mandelbaum House, August 2001) [3]
^ 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
^ Ibed. page 12
^ Ibed. page 13
^ The Impact of Regional Political and Social developments on the Samaritan Minority, by Dror Amstel-Ben-Gurion University Israel 2006 [4]
^ Samaritans or Samarians, The "Samaritan" Error In The Qur'an?, M S M Saifullah, ‘Abdurrahman Robert Squires, ‘Abdullah David, Elias Karim & Muhammad Ghoniem, Islamic Awareness, First Composed: 1st May 1999, Last Updated: 26th November 2006 [5]
^ The Emergence of the Samaritan Community (Lecture given by Professor Abraham Tal at Mandelbaum House, August 2001) [6]
^ Reconstruction of Patrilineages and Matrilineages of Samaritans and Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation, Hum Mutat 24:248–260, 2004, [7]
^ Samaritan Documents, Relating To Their History, Religion and Life, translated and edited by John Bowman, Pittsburgh Original Texts & Translations Series Number 2, 1977
[edit] See also
Samaria
Good Samaritan
Mount Gerizim
Holon
Binyamina
Abu Sa'id al-Afif
[edit] Footnotes
Samaritans:History
NIV English translation of John
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman / A Samaritan Woman Approaches:1.
What is the Abomination of Desolation?
Nat Geo Utsav: More Weddings & Another Funeral: Samaritan Wedding This is the brief of prog broadcasted by Nat Geo Channel, the anchor Hakeem Kae-Kazim is in Holon, near Israel's cosmopolitan city of Tel Aviv, to meet a community called the Samaritans. Believed to be one of the smallest and oldest religious sects in the world, the community numbers only about 650 people, divided between Holon and the Arab city of Nablus in the Palestinian Authority. Carried out in accordance with the Samaritans strict interpretation of the Torah, the holy Jewish book, the wedding ritual has changed little down the centuries, and Hakeem finds himself witnessing a ritual that has remained relatively unchanged for over 3,000 years.
Topic: Samartians the Northern Israelitie tribes (Read 6694 times)