Does the Samaritan community in Nablus have a Torah Scroll written by Aaron’s great-grandson? A small group of Samaritans—they now number fewer than 300—continues to live in ancient Shechem (modern Nablus on the West Bank) at the foot of their holy mountain, Mt. Gerizim. They claim to have the oldest Torah (the Pentateuch, or five […]
When the Ta‘âmireh bedouin penetrated the Daliyeh cave (as described in the previous article by Paul Lapp) they found within more than 300 skeletons lying on or covered by mats. The bones were mixed with fragments of manuscripts. These manuscripts were not burial documents, but everyday business records. The artifacts found in the cave were […]
A Jewish offshoot or a pagan cult? The best-known incident in the Bible regarding the Samaritans is of course the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37: A priest and a Levite both pass by a man who has been robbed and beaten. The Samaritan, however, stops and takes care of him. Then, as […]
From Text to Tradition The Samaritan Schism Historical Surveys James D. Purvis, and Eric Meyers. “Exile and Return: From the Babylonian Destruction to the Reconstruction of the Jewish State.” Part III Primary Sources Ezra 4- The Samaritans and the Temple Josephus, Antiquities XI, 297-303- The High Priest and the Samaritans Esdras 2- Opposition to the […]
Josephus provides an account of the building of the Temple which supplements that in Ezra. However, it clearly draws on 1 Esdras while at the same time including other traditions which expand the narrative. Aspects of his account must therefore be seen as independent of that preserved in the Bible, and with careful evaluation certain […]
Samaritan origins were described in 2 Kings. Later Rabbis would call them “lion converts,” that is, converts against their will, and further argue against their Jewish status based on this account. 17-24 The king of Assyria brought (people) from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim, 74 and he settled them in the towns of Samaria 75 […]
A terrible civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Phineas, because Eli son Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendents of Phineas. He used to offer sacrifice on the altar of stones. He was 50 years old, endowed with wealth and in charge of […]
The Greek text of 1 Esdras provides an alternative or expanded version of Ezra 4-7-24. This text relates the attempt of the Samaritans to stop the Judeans from building the Temple and the city walls. 2-16 But in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, Shimshai the scribe, and the […]
Josephus, based on sources not known to us, supplies information about the relations of the leaders of the priesthood of Judea and the Samaritans in the later Persian Period. We see that by this time the families had entered into relationships cemented by marriage. He also makes clear the violent conflicts that divided the priesthood […]
Greco-Roman Period Already before the rebuilding of the Temple commenced, the Samaritans, a mixed people made up of descendants of the North Israelites who were left in the land after the exile by Assyria in 722 B.C.E. and foreigners brought in by the Assyrians, asked to participate. Because of their questionable lineage, they were rebuffed […]