“Mount Gerizim,
All the Days of Our Lives”
January /
February 2017
Vol. XVI - No 3
In This Issue ·
Samaritan numbers ·
Congratulations ·
Samaritan Keyboard ·
4 Shehadeh articles ·
Clarification ·
Damascus images ·
American Colony ·
From the Editor ·
Old articles ·
Biblio
On January 1, 2017, the Samaritan Community
numbered 796.
Future Events
It has been 3655 years since the entrance into
the Holy Land
(Samaritan’s typical calendar)
2017
The Eleventh Month 3655 - Friday Evening, January 28, 2017
The Twelfth Month 3655 - Sunday Evening, February 27, 2017
The First Month 3655 - Monday Evening, March 28, 2017
Passover Sacrifice - Monday Evening between the sunsets [7:11 PM]
- April 10, 2017
[Calculated by: Priest
Yakkiir ['Aziz] b. High Priest Jacob b. 'Azzi – Kiriat Luza, Mount Gerizim]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Samaritan
number increase yearly
In the fifth century CE the Israelite Samaritans numbered in the
Land of Israel and abroad almost 1,500,000 - record number.
In 1917, the community numbered only 141 persons, 80 males and
61 females.
In 1.1.2016 in Mount Gerizim and the State of Israel the
community numbered 785 people.
Over 2016, 12 children have been born in the community - 5 males
and 7 females; 3 brides from outside the community joined by marriage to three
young men, one from Mount Gerizim and two from Holon, Israel; 4 died, three
males and one female.
Total
number in 1.1.2017 - 796 persons, 381 of them in Mount Gerizim and 415 in the State
of Israel, 414 males and 382 females.
Distribution by Personal status: Married - 372; Bachelors - 218;
Bachelorettes - 170 - ages 1-78. Widowers -7; Widows- 24; 2 males divorced – 0
female divorced.
Be multiply and fruitful in the Promised Land.
Benyamim
Tsedaka
”A.B. - The Samaritan News“
~~~~~~~~~~
A Son was born to Shifa and Rajaee Altif in
Mount Gerizim, Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Congratulations to the parents and family!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations
On
November 30th 2016 Kobi Cohen
married Jenya Lunyova from Komdomolsk, Poltava Oblast. They now reside in Holon.
Congratulations to the couple!!!
~~~~~~~~~~
Improved free version of the Samaritan keyboard for Windows
Thanks to collaboration with
graphic designer Christophe Silvestre, there's a more improved free version of
the Samaritan keyboard for Windows (1.01 release) that includes full
diacritical support and fixes a lower number UNICODE issue with a RTL / LTR
toggle in some applications. Thanks to the late Yoram Gnat (z"l) for the
work on the open source font. http://rid.olfo.org/keyboard
Jim
Ridolfo
~~~~~~~~~
Four New Articles from Haseeb Shehadah
Read article here https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/hilma.pdf
Read article here https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/four_stories_from_Awarta.pdf
Read article here https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/folk_etymology.pdf
Read article here https://shomron0.tripod.com/articles/some_problems.pdf
~~~~~~
Clarification
on the site at Byzantine and Early Islamic Khirbet Dayr-Sharaf, Neapolis, Palestine
El estado
de la cuestión de Khirbet Dayr-Sharaf en las épocas bizantina e islámica.
Neapolis (Palestina)
Loay
Abu Alsaud, Assistant Professor of Archaeology in
An-Najah National University, Department of Tourism and Archaeology, Nablus, Palestine.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to provide
information on the most significant archaeological site in the Nablus area,
demonstrating the presence of Samaritan archaeology in the landscape
surrounding the city during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. The study
of the site had previously been based on three different sources of
information, those being descriptions of archaeological ruins and findings at
the site, references in literature and inscriptions engraved in stone at the
site. The Samaritan synagogue is not the only one in the region, there being
others in various sites in the Nablus area. In documenting the site it was
necessary to bear in mind that the site had formerly been looted for
antiquities, and the fact that there has been a lack of interest in the site on
the part of Israel, as it does not form part of their historic tradition. In
addition, the site is located in zone C according to the Oslo Agreement of 1993
between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in which Palestinian
lands were divided into zones A, B and C. The fact that Khirbet Dayr Sharaf is
in zone C, means it comes under Israeli military control, preventing
Palestinians from undertaking archaeological excavation without agreement from
Israel; restoration and management of the site as well as any research or
investigation of the archaeological remains also come under this ruling. Due to
this, the site is currently in a state of abandonment and susceptible to
further deterioration.
~~~~~~~~~
Currently on display in our
“Syria: A Living History” exhibition, on now until February 26, 2017. For more
information, please visit: http://ow.ly/JtRD305tsql #SyriaLivingHistory
Inscription Panel
Damascus, Syria, 16th century
Stone, carved and painted
On loan from Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Vorderasiatisches Museum
Niche from a Samaritan House (Detail of a
Digital Reproduction) Damascus, Syria, 16th century
On loan from Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum
für Islamische Kunst
Aga Khan Museum https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/
https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/syria-living-history
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerusalem’s
American Colony and Its Photographic Legacy BY TOM POWERS
[See
page 34]
At
Easter-time in 1914, Lewis Larsson, John Whiting, and Lars Lind traveled to Nablus.
There, after gaining the confidence of the local Samaritans, they became
probably the first photographers ever to document the colorful Samaritan
Passover ceremony atop Mount Gerizim, as well as other aspects of Samaritan
life. Their work was published in book form in Sweden in 1917 and somewhat
later would result in their third National Geographic article, ―The Last
Israelitish Blood Sacrifice‖ (January 1920). There is an interesting
side-light to this Samaritan involvement, one which may help explain the access
they gained to an otherwise closed community: In the wake of the visit to
Nablus, John Whiting, with his diplomatic connections (he was at that time
between stints as consul), seems to have helped establish contacts between the
Samaritan community and the U.S. State Department and other American
officials—and philanthropists, the upshot of which was a package of economic
aid to the Samaritans!
[From the Editor: The photos that were taken may have been at
different times, since John D. Whiting (1882-1951) says in The Last Israelitish
Blood Sacrifice, that he had been to four (4) Samaritan Passovers, two before
WW1 and two after. His first visit was as a youth and then in 1914 (see page 41
of the NGM)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
From
the Editor
Samaritan Documents Relating to Their History Religion and Life,
John Bowman, Pennsylvania: The Pickwick Press, 1977, p. 50-1
Al-Ma’on:
in Hebrew that is the name for ‘homeland’. A home is not a home except for him
who lives in it; and there is on one in the higher world who dwells in it and
is no one in the higher world who dwells in it and is considered worthy of
worshipping God other than them (the angels). As to their form, it is said to
be divided into two groups; one of them, it is said, is of a unique shape.
There is nothing in existence similar to compare with them, and they are those
who are called the “Cherubim” and no mortal has seen them except the Apostle
according to His saying (Exalted is He), “And he beholds the form of the Lord”.
It is said that their shapes are like those of human
beings; a statement which is unacceptable in two respects: one of them is that
had it been like that, His saying: “And he beholds the form of the Lord”, would
have no meaning or point but His (form), because everyone can see human forms.
The other is the fact of created beings coming into existence from God in the
beginning without a comparable form. So when Wisdom decreed to give them a dwelling
in the noble tabernacle erected by the hand of the Apostle, God (Exalted is He)
commanded him that he should show their likeness to the artificers so that they
should know that there were two cherubim, and the Veil, and that the likeness
thereon be comparable to what was described to him, so that the Angels would
yearn for their image because every kind likes most its own shape and form. And
this is all that research and knowledge could attain in the knowledge of the
form of the upper world.’
This was part of the discourse concerning the Angels from the Samaritan
Abu’l Fath
Of interest mentioned in Bowman’s book, on page 265 is something
quit unique;
‘The Hebrew work Tebah
ark has the same consonants as Taheb. The Samaritan has a literal faith in the
verbal inspiration of the Pentateuch. If one changes the order of the
consonants in tbh (ark) to thb (Taheb) on is not interfering with
the letters, but only with their order. To the Samaritan it would appear that there
is a real indication of a Divine message to be conveyed to us by this
accidental fact that the word ark in Hebrew and the word for the (Samaritan)
Messiah in Aramaic (Taheb) have the same consonants though a different order.’
Concerning
the dating of the Samaritan tin scrolls that were sold to tourists.
It appears that the dating of the small tin scrolls goes back at
least to the spring of 1901 and 1904. [The date of Edward Kirk Warren’s (4.7.1847-1.16.1919)
visit to the Samaritans is 1901 so written in the article, ‘The Samaritans’ in The Acorn Vol, XXVIII, No. 10, February 6, 1919, page 20]
‘The attendants at the Nablus synagogue sell little
tin facsimiles of the case with brief extracts from the texts inside, in
imitation of the original.’
Barton,
William E. The Old World in the New Century: Being the Narrative of a Tour of
the Mediterranean, Egypt and the Holy Land, With Some Information About the
Voyage and Places Visited for the Benefit of Those Who have made the Journey
and Wish to remember it: Those Who Hope to Make the Journey and Wish to Prepare
for it; And Those Who cannot make the Journey and Wish to Read about it. Boston and
Chicago: The Pilgrim Press, 1902 Page 207
‘As we left the synagogue, boys implored us to
purchase little tin and paper models of the Pentateuch, or scraps of inscribed
imitation vellum which they assured us were of great antiquity and value. A
franc or less would purchase these “antiques,” and they made interesting
mementoes, though nothing more.’ A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem: The Story of the Cruise to the World’s
Fourth Sunday-School Convention, held in the City of Jerusalem, and of a Ride
through Palestine, Charles
Gallaudet Trumbull. Philadelphia: The Sunday School Times Company 1905 P.
236
This photograph shown below of High Priest Jacob was taken in
1904 as seen in Trumbull’s book A
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, between pages 282 and 283.
‘..and the young men were busy selling
little models of the Pentatuch for all they could get out of them.’ The Hoosier
Girl Abroad, a Diary of Seventy-Seven Days Attending the World’s Fourth Sunday
School Convention, in Jerusalem, 1904 by Anna Robinson Black, Terre Haute, Ind.: C.W. Brown, 1904, Page
100
It should also be mentioned that Prof. Frederic
Samuel Goodrich of Albion, Michigan was treasurer of the Samaritan Committee
visited the Samaritans in 1914
~~~~~~~~~~
The Medical Missionary, Vol, XXIII no. 5, May 1914 p.129
We are pleased to give in this number a report of
an address by Mr. E. K. Warren relating to a-movement to preserve the remnant
of the Samaritan nation which will be read with interest. A number of prominent
men have taken an interest in this movement, and a Samaritan Committee has been
organized to take the oversight of the work of assisting this remarkable people
so miraculously preserved. A school has been established in this little
community, and is doing a good work. Means are needed for its support, and
other efforts are being made and projected in their behalf. This is not an
effort to convert this little company to the Christian faith, but to conserve them
as faithful witnesses for the veracity of the Bible. The committee will be
happy to communicate with any who may be interested in this project, and to
afford any information. Donations will be gratefully received. The officers
are, Mr. E. K. Warren, Three Oaks, Mich., chairman; Prof. F. S. Goodrich, Albion, Mich., secretary.
The Medical Missionary, Vol, XXIII no. 5, May 1914 p.130-131
In conjunction with the visit of Mr. English was that of the genial
and brotherly Sunday-school leader, Mr. E.K. Warren, for many years chairman of
the executive committee of the World's Sunday School Association. Mr. Warren
has acted very prominently in promoting at least three of the last World's
Conventions. A few years before the great Jerusalem meeting, Mr. Warren visited
the Samaritan colony consisting of the few genuine survivors of the northern
kingdom of Israel. These people live at Nablus, ancient Shechem, and number about one
hundred and fifty souls. They existed in the depths of poverty and destitution,
and yet adhered very tenaciously to their ancient religion and its customs. Mr.
Warren induced the high priest of this colony with others to attend the
Jerusalem convention where they were introduced. He has conceived a great
interest in this unique people as the conservators of evidence of the
authenticity of the Scriptural record, and has done much for them to bring them
before the world in this capacity, and also to improve their condition.
~~~~
The Medical Missionary, Vol, XXIII no. 5, May 1914 p.149- 154
THE MIRACULOUS
PRESERVATION OF THE SAMARITAN NATION
E.
K. WARREN [Taken from an address in the Sanitarium Chapel.]
First permit me to say that my
education and early experience has come to me largely through the Sunday
school. My early home was in the forests of Michigan, where there was organized
a little Sunday school and of that Sunday school I have been a member for more
than fifty years, having been elected superintendent for life some years ago.
When a boy of twelve or thirteen, I was a member of the young men's class,
consisting of five girls and myself. During this changing period of my life, I
was held in the Sunday school by a loving mother and a superintendent that had
strength of character and the good sense necessary to keep me there, and so many
things in my after life have hinged upon this fact, that I wish to emphasize it
and the value of attendance upon Sunday school and the study of God's word.
In
regard to the Samaritans of whom I am to speak, most people are ready to confess
that they know but little. We know of the allusions made to them in the
gospels, of the Parable of the good Samaritan, of Jesus visiting with the woman
at the well, and the Samaritan city, of his rejection at the Samaritan village
where he and his disciples sought entertainment and of the fact that the Jews
and Samaritans had no dealings with each other.
[photo left] Tent on the Jericho
Road.
Permit me to answer
these questions catechetically as follows:
They
do exist today. They are planted right where they have been for the past two or
three thousand years. They are not doing much of anything. Their circumstances
are those of the most object poverty, and obscurity, and from a human view
point there is not much in the future that serves to encourage them. But it is
not sufficient for us to judge of such matters from the human view point alone.
Let us rather seek to discover God's purpose and blessing in the solution of
such questions. To my mind there is a great "mine" of Bible study for
us in the circumstances of these unique people, all undiscovered and unused,
and yet ready to be brought forth and utilized in confirming our faith in the
Bible that God has given us. They are living exhibits of the truthfulness of
the Scriptures. To many people nowadays, the Bible is an old book becoming
obsolete, a sort of "back number" as we express it, because of the
many claims and assertions of modern science and investigation, but in these
people we have an absolute, living example in the year 1914, a positive
testimony of the truthfulness of the Bible record from the call of Abraham,
down to the present moment, and is it not worth our while to recognize this
wonderful testimony and to have a part in preserving this living exhibit for
its value in relation to Bible truth?
My first introduction to
this people was that of many other travelers. Fourteen or fifteen years ago,
with Mrs. Warren and our children, we were journeying through Palestine from
Jerusalem to Damascus on horseback, and palanquin. We came to the ancient
Shechem, modern Nablus with Mt. Gerizim on one hand and Mt. Ebal on the other.
[photo] Samaritan
children.
In
order that we may see more clearly the significance of that scene, let us think
of the marvelous talk Jesus had with the woman at the well; how he sought to
level down the barriers which separated men. presenting God as the father of all
men, the Gospel as a means of salvation to all men. It is remarkable that it
was to this poor Samaritan woman that Jesus first announced himself as the
"Messiah of God," and the people who brought from our Saviour's lips
that wonderful confession, are certainly worth our while.
In
the years that have followed that remarkable convention at Jerusalem, I have
given any assistance that I could to this people. Dr. Wm. E. Barton, of Oak
Park. 111., has visited them and has translated some of their history into the
English language, and other travelers have also been of assistance in bringing
this people out of their obscurity. There are less than one hundred and fifty
of them remaining and there are more men than women. They are gradually dying
out, preserved through all these centuries by God's providence for some great
purpose. To me, they are like the wounded man left half dead by the wayside who
was rescued by the "good Samaritan" and it now becomes our privilege
to act the part which the Samaritan acted in the days of our Saviour; "the
priest, and the Levite," and the nations of the earth pass by and leave
them lying there, a living testimony to the truths of God's word throughout all
its historical bearing.
In
making some of the earlier preparations for the world's Sunday school
convention in Zurich, I had some correspondence with the high priest thinking
that it might be wise to reproduce in some measure what took place in
Jerusalem. In response to my communication, I received a large sheet of paper
or parchment written on one side in Arabic and signed by the high priest and
sixteen other men. It read as follows:
Nablus,
Feb. 6, 1913. "To Our Dear Friend Mr. Warren:
"I
sent you a letter before this in which, according to your kind request, I
explained to you plainly the needs of our Samaritan congregation. I have lately
received from your friend, Mr. Jacob, in Jerusalem, a letter in which he says
that you have asked him to let me know that my presence in the Sunday school
convention with some of our congregation will better serve our interests; and
to ask me whether our religion allows us to travel. In reply to your kind
invitation I am sorry to say that the time of the meeting of the convention
will be the time of the celebration of our Passover. To leave its celebration
is a breach of God's covenant. Neither can we celebrate it in any other place
than Mt. Gerizim. Another thing is that my old age does not help me to travel;
and those
[photo
is not as described] Tomb of Patriarch Joseph.
"I
and my congregation thank you very much. We have sent you this letter and
petition signed by the chief men of our congregation who unite in supplication
for your safety and well being.
"With kindest
regards and respect, we are yours truly."
(Signatures
and Seals.)
I
presented this document to the Sunday school convention and regard it as
invaluable as a remarkable historical document, produced by a nation more than
4,000 years of age, appointing me as a representative to plead their cause be
fore the Christian
representatives of all the nations of the world.
Many of the members of
this convention, including Mr. H. T. Heinz, of Pittsburg, were making extended
journeys into the Orient, the Far East and around the world. There were also
representatives in the convention from the Far East. Professor Goodrich, of
Albion, with thirty or forty others, was contemplating a visit to Palestine. I
urged these people to take pains to become as thoroughly familiar with the
conditions of the Samaritans as possible. I provided him with letters of
introduction to the high priest. When Prof. Goodrich and his party reached
Jacob's well, they found a delegation consisting of the three priests standing
there to receive them. They extended to them a cordial welcome and showed them
all they could of their present situation, and of their past history, led them
up Gerizim, and showed them the sacred place where they hold the passover every
year. Though subject to the ridicule of the Moslems and many strangers, they go
about their regular performance of their ancient customs and usages.
Our effort in their
behalf is to enable them to maintain their standing as Samaritans. They are too
valuable to be lost. God has in a remarkable manner preserved these people as
genuine witnesses of the authenticity and reliability of the Bible record.
Among other things
which they showed this party, was an ancient manuscript said to have been
written by the son of Eleazer, the high priest, only four generations from
Aaron, which is undoubtedly the oldest Hebrew manuscript in existence. They
rightfully hold this manuscript to be above all price. At this convention, a
Samaritan committee was organized, of which Prof. F. S. Goodrich was made secretary and
treasurer, and I was appointed chairman; the object of this committee is to
assist the Samaritans in maintaining their national life and in exhibiting to
the world the precious treasures which they hold. They needed a school among
other things and a school has been "organized by our committee and is
being carried forward in their midst. A letter received from the high priest
this morning, informs me that there are twenty-four boys and young men in the
men's department, and an effort is being made to rent a building for a girl's
department.
~~~~~
The Medical Missionary Vol. XXIII, No. 6, June 1914 p. 176-177
PURPOSES OF THE SAMARITAN COMMITTEE
As
concerning the Samaritan nation and the efforts to assist them in appearing in
their proper character before the world, concerning which Mr. E. K. Warren
spoke in our last number, we give here an abstract of the communication sent by
Mr. Warren as Chairman of the Samaritan Committee to the Samaritan high priest
Jacob, son of Aaron, under date of October 7, 1913. "Dear Friend:
"While you have
not heard from me directly, I have given much thought and attention to the
plans which I hope will be laid for the assistance of the Samaritan nation. In
order that you may quite fully understand our desire and object in assisting
your people I wish to make the following statement of our purpose:
"From the time
that I first visited your congregation in 1901, I have taken much interest in
your people, in devising -ways in which we might extend practical brotherly
assistance to your nation. One of the first steps in this direction was
inviting you with some of your members to the World's Sunday School Convention
in Jerusalem. This called the attention of a large number of Christians from
all parts of the world to your people and somewhat to their condition. This
visit has been followed by correspondence and by the visit of some of my
friends to your people, among them Dr. Wm. E. Barton, who have in many ways
manifested a great interest in your people. You have showed your appreciation
of this interest by appointing me the representative of the Samaritan
congregation or nation at the World's Sunday School Convention in Zurich.
"From that time
I have given the matter a great deal of thought and spoken of it much in personal
conversation and also in public, seeking to awaken as wide an interest in your
people as possible.
''
The first public meeting in behalf of this enterprise was held in the main
salon of the steamer Canopic. This meeting was well attended and a great deal
of interest was taken by those present. An offering toward the fund of the
Samaritan Committee was taken.
"At
the Zurich Convention, I took the opportunity for a brief presentation of your
needs and our hope of being able to render practical assistance and also your
request for a school, together with a statement of the manner in which your
nation is preserving the ancient worship of Israel. A special meeting was held
during the convention in the interests of your people. About three hundred were
present, some of whom had recently visited your community, including Principal
Rexford of Canada, and Professor F. S. Goodrich, of Michigan. This company you
and your associates met and welcomed at Jacob's Well and I appreciate the
hospitality and courtesy which you bestowed upon them. This company, fresh from
their visit to you, greatly helped in awakening an interest in your people.
"We formed
there what is to be known as the Samaritan Committee, of which Prof. F. S.
Goodrich, of Albion, Michigan, was chosen Secretary and Treasurer and E. K.
Warren, of Three Oaks, Michigan, was chosen Chairman, and the further working
out of plans was delegated to this committee.
''
Let me say here that it has not been in the minds of the members of this
committee or of others with whom I have consulted to in any way interfere with
or question your religious belief. Our committee is organized for the purpose
of serving your nation in the same-spirit that the good Samaritan went to the
assistance and relief of the man who had fallen among thieves, as given in the
Parables of our Lord Jesus Christ. So far as the religious instruction in the
school is concerned, this will be in your care as high priest, either to give
the instruction, or to designate those who shall give it. Our present thought
is that the Arabic, Samaritan and Hebrew languages shall be taught in your
school. You have asked that the English language be included, but on further
consideration we have thought it best to start the school in the languages
above mentioned. It is our desire that the girls receive such education as is
suited to them as well as the boys, and this I understand to be satisfactory to
your people. Our reason for not including the English language in your school
may be stated as follows:
"The Samaritans
stand as the sole representatives of the Northern kingdom as the Jews stand for
the Southern kingdom. The Samaritans have preserved a continued line of the
priesthood and have maintained at the cost of suffering and sacrifice your
worship on Gerizim, and thus the preservation of your people intact as a
nation, is a most valuable consideration from a historical and religious point
of view to all people and the line of education and effort to be made until the
Lord more clearly shows the way, is found in the preservation of the Samaritan
nation as such. It is important that there should not creep in among your
people any division, but that from the least to the greatest, every- man, woman
and child shall stand for the unity of the Samaritan nation.
"I
am stating these hopes and purposes of the Committee in order that you and your
people may grasp your portion of the responsibility of this effort which I
believe is of great interest, not only to the Samaritans, Jews and Christians,
but to all people of the world.'
"Sincerely your
friend,
"E. K. Warren."
~~~~
The Medical Missionary Vol. XXIII, No. 7, July 1914 p. 195-197
THE SAMARITANS OF
BIBLE TIMES
Mr. E. K. Warren, who, with others, has become
interested in the remnant of the ancient Israel or the Northern Kingdom, as
differentiated from the Southern or Judean kingdom, has furnished our columns
with much that is of interest concerning the modern remnant of that people as
it now exists in Nablus, and there is very much of thrilling interest that centers
in that little company and their unique history, extending as it does away back
to the immediate descendants of David.
But the object of
this article is to speak of the Samaritans
as they are represented in the Old and New Testaments. We have become
more or less tinctured with the prejudices exhibited by the Jews toward their
neighbors. To the self-righteous Pharisees they were but despicable
"dogs," with whom no communication was to be held. The Samaritans
aspired to participation in the Jewish religion, but were met with the severest
rebuffs at each attempt at affiliation made by them. At the time of the
Restoration, after the seventy years' captivity, the Samaritan tribes came
forward with offers of assistance in the work of rebuilding, and they offered
the plea that they worshipped the same God as the Jews and had faithfully
preserved that worship through many years of discouragement, but their offer
was forcibly rejected. Perhaps it ought to have been rejected.
Origin
of the Samaritans
A
few words concerning the origin of this people will be in place here. After the
division of the kingdom succeeding the days of Solomon there
follows a continuous record of strife, internal and external, during a history
that is characterized by apostasy and unfaithfulness, and at many times the
most astounding wickedness and idolatry. The people and the land were given
into captivity and were reduced to abject submission. But they were restive
under such subjection and gave their captors no small trouble. In order to
forestall these outbreaks of insubordination the king of Assyria. Esarhaddon,
determined to remove the people of the Samaritan kingdom to his Eastern
provinces where they could be more easily kept under surveillance, and to fill
the vacant places with people from those countries into which the people of
Israel were taken. The (to some people) troublesome question of what became of
the "lost ten tribes" is thus settled.
Not a clean sweep
was made in this transportation, for only the more wealthy and influential
people were transported, while many of the indigent toilers were left in the
land of Samaria. The people who were moved in sought to affiliate with the
religious customs of the country to which they had come, but God did not accept
their uncouth attempts to imitate his worship, and trouble resulted to them.
They then sent back to their old country and begged that one of the priests of
Israel be sent to teach them how to conduct the worship acceptably. This was
done, and the worship was established on Mount Gerizim, where, until after the
days of Christ, it was carried on, and where to this day it is still
perpetuated. These Syrians .sought amalgamation with the people of Israel, and
thus the Samaritans became, as a whole, a mixed race—the blood of Israel was
blended with that of the people of Mesopotamia, and this mixture became very
obnoxious to the Jews. It is recorded of this people who came from the East
that "They feared the Lord, and served their own gods," doubtless not
knowing into whose hands they might fall next. This sort of a religion seems to
have satisfied them through all the years, though probably there were many
devout hearts who looked eagerly for the Messiah and desired better relations
to God. The purity of the race has been preserved by this remnant already
spoken of, who were of the priestly or Levitical tribe, and did not intermarry
with the Syrian strangers.
At
the Time of the Saviour
The relations
between the Jews and Samaritans had settled down to a chronic hatred cherished
on both sides; all communications were barricaded by the Jews who steadfastly
refused comity with them. But the glimpses we have of these people in the New
Testament record, if considered, would place them in a more favorable situation
than were their proud and self-satisfied neighbors. Jesus and the apostles
frequently traversed Samaritan territory, and did not fail to give to the
people the light of saving grace. It is worth remembering that the first effort
of Jesus to propagate his teachings, except by personal contact. so far as is
recorded, was to the people of Sychar where he assented to an earnest
invitation to tarry with them for two days in which many were led to believe.
Meeting the
Samaritan woman at the well, he astonished his disciples by engaging in
conversation with "the woman;" for it was not customary for a man of
standing to spend much time in conversation with women, especially a Jewish
teacher with Samaritan women. Jesus did not recognize their conventionalities
which ignored the rights of all men to light and life. Indeed, it was to this despised woman that he first announced who he was. Others
had confessed the truth, but to her astonished sense this gracious Teacher, who
searched her life and heart with eyes of loving critic(ism, declared himself to
be the long-expected Messiah, the Saviour of the world. He announced the coming
of the time when the barriers which had so long debarred people from the light
and salvation provided by Heaven were to be swept away and the open door of
hope and mercy would welcome all the earth.
And
He Was a Samaritan
When the lepers were
healed, but one bethought himself to offer thanks for the great blessing that
had come to them, "and he was a Samaritan." The Saviour had an appreciation of
the superior disposition of the Samaritans when he stated that beautiful
parable that has so charmed all succeeding generations that the name "Good
Samaritan" is a common term in all Bible language. The priest of holy
orders, and the Levite of sanctimonious standing, had no feeling of pity for
the poor wretch who was unknown to them all, but the Samaritan recognized in
him a brother in dire need, and at his own discomfort undertook to relieve him.
According to the
Saviour's commission Judea was first to have the Gospel offered her, and then
it was to go to Samaria, and thence to "the uttermost parts of the
earth." After the awful rejection of the Gospel by the Jewish leaders
which resulted in the death of Stephen, and the first general persecution of
Christians. Philip went to Samaria and there preached and healed, and the
record says, "The people with one accord gave heed unto those things which
Philip spoke . . .
"And There Was
Great Joy in That City"
After their
prejudices had been removed by divine power, Peter and John took great delight
in preaching to the Samaritans, and no doubt a large ingathering of souls
resulted. It is true that the Saviour at one time felt the prejudice of the
people at the Samaritan village where he and his weary disciples applied for
entertainment, and though the hot indignation of the Jewish disciples,
especially of John, resented the insult, Jesus rebuked the spirit which would
have burned up the whole community, and "went to another village."
These people were but following out the prevailing embargo of relations imposed
upon them by the Jews themselves. Jesus could have patience with them for he ''
came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
We sometimes fall
into the way of despising people just because others despise them, without really
knowing what or why we are doing. From all that we can gather from the New
Testament references to the Samaritans, they were a hospitable, kind people,
given to acts of kindness, grateful and appreciative of anything that was done
for them and especially grateful to anyone who would afford to them the
ordinary recognition to which as human beings they were certainly entitled.
They were very susceptible to the Gospel, and doubtless many of them in those
early days embraced the faith of the Saviour.
~~~~
The Medical Missionary Vol. XXIII, No. 8, August 1914 p. 227
The article appearing in our July number entitled
"The Samaritans of Bible
Times" has attracted some attention and there have been inquiries for it,
so that a reprint has been published and may be obtained in desired quantities
by addressing this office.
~~~~~~~~~~
Proceedings of the Church Missionary
Society for Africa and the East. Ninety-Fourth Year, 1892-93 London: Church Missionary House, 1893. p. 68-69
A quiet year is reported by the Rev. J. Huber; the
schools, Bible depot, classes, and visiting were conducted without opposition
or interference by the local authorities. Unhappily there was no medical
missionary at Gaza during the greater part of the year, but this need has now
been supplied by the arrival of Rev. B. Sterling.
NABLOUS (DENIS CROFTON MISSION).
The Church Services in this bigoted Mohammedan city
are (Nablous) attended by between thirty and forty souls, and classes are held,
as at the other stations, in the schoolroom and in the homes of the Protestant
Christians for the study of the Scriptures. The schools contain 46 children, of
whom 24 are Protestants, 33 Greek, 5 Jews, and 4 Samaritans. Of the Samaritans
Miss E. G. Reeve says :—
The Samaritan remnant lives here, 140 in number.
They are a tall fair- haired race, and interesting in their antiquity. They
observe the law of Moses most scrupulously, and recognize the Pentateuch only
as the Word of God. The High Priest came to visit me, and when I questioned him
as to his opinion of Jesus of Nazareth, he replied that Moses had foretold that
a prophet should arise and call himself Messiah, and that prophet should be “crucified.”
This statement I could not accept, and I gave him the Bible, asking to what
passage he referred. He hesitated, so I showed him Deut. xviii. 19, and he then
read verse 20 : “Even that prophet shall die.” And that was all the ground he
had for saying it had been foretold by Moses that Jesus should be crucified. I
asked if the yearly Passover sacrifice took away sin. He replied, “No ; that
sacrifice is merely commemorative. We expect to purge our sin by prayer, to
enter heaven by prayer, and by the intercession of Moses.” One longs for this
interesting people, that the veil may be lifted from their hearts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samaritan Passover Encampment on
Mount Gerizim page 208 in Missionary Journeys through Bible Lands; Italy, Greece, Egypt, Palestine,
Syria, Asia Minor and other countries, Including a Description of Religious and
Social Conditions in Palestine and Syria, Personal Missionary Experiences, and
a Discussion of Missionary Methods by Smith, F. G.
(Frederick George 1880-1947) Anderson, Indiana: Gospel Trumpet Company, 1915
~~~~~~~~~~~
THE SAMARITAN MESSIAH.*
WHEN the
Assyrians seized the land of Israel and carried away captive the flower of its
people, they filled their places with various folk from the East. See Ezra iv.
9 fol. The religious condition resulting was a queer admixture of Eastern
heathenism and Hebrew faith.
The efforts
of Zerubbabel and Joshua to rebuild the temple after the return from Babylon
was greeted by an offer of help from this hybrid community, the Samaritans,—an
offer unceremoniously rejected. This led to serious opposition from the
Samaritans; and later when Ezra arrived on the scene of the restored and
struggling community, he applied such severe tests that the Samaritans were
driven out and established a new sect who held that Gerizim was the center of
the religious world instead of Jerusalem. From that day onward “there were no
dealings between the Jews and the Samaritans.” But the latter had the Pentateuch,
and were not without a Messianic hope. See John iv. 25. The pamphlet under
review is an interesting witness to the persistent survival of a prejudice. At
Nablous exists to-day a handful of this ancient community, born in strife,
nurtured in hate, maintaining, as they did in the time of Christ, that Gerizim,
not Jerusalem, is the religious world's Mecca, and patiently waiting for the
Messiah.
The
Messianic hope here outlined is based on the nineteenth chapter of Deuteronomy,
said by the author not to be found in the scriptures of the Jews. This hope of
the coming prophet is supported by ten reasons, though it would be hard for a
modern mind to find either reasons or reasoning in this rabbinical output. In
reply to questions put by Mr. Barton, who writes an introduction to the
pamphlet, the author says further that the Messiah will be a prophet, but not
in any sense a Son of God; that the promise of the seed of the woman has no
Messianic significance whatever; that there is nothing in prophecy to indicate
whether or not the Messiah will be of the priestly line; that the Passover will
continue after the Messiah has come. The pamphlet is well illustrated, and will
prove a very interesting half-hour's reading. J. H. STEVENSON. Vanderbilt
University.
*The Messianic
Hope of the Samaritans. By Jacob, son of Aaron, High Priest of the Samaritans.
Translated from the Arabic by Abdulla Ben Kori, Professor of Arabic at the
Pacific University. Edited, with an Introduction, by William Eleazer Barton.
Reprinted from The Open Court, May and September, 1907. Price, 25 cents.
The Methodist Review Quarterly Edited by Gross Alexander, April, 1909 P. 388-9
~~~~~~~~
A Visit to Bible Lands
Chapter 14.
By The Rev.
C. J. Helmich
Nablus
Nablus,
ancient Shechem, a flat-roofed city, save for a few modern red-tile,
gable-roofed buildings has a population of 20,000, 800 of whom are Christian
(Catholic). Our noon-day meal awaits us in “The Palestine Hotel” and is quite
elaborate even of not up to American standards, and certainly the best the
proprietor could do. From the second story balcony of the Hotel we see Ebal and
Gerizim rise as sentinels, the latter disclosing an old building on its summit
close to the spot where the Samaritans still off the Passover Sacrifice.
Samaritan
Quarters.
The little
Samaritan section of Nablus, with its 120 survivors living under filthy,
crowded conditions, with streets narrow and winding, has a strange appeal
nevertheless. Remember this is Saturday, the Jewish and Samaritan Sabbath. In
the courtyard of the Synagogue we wait until a priest arrives to open one lock
on the triple-barred door of the tiny synagogue. The other two priests have to
be disturbed from a service elsewhere in order to unlock their third of the
door. We are permitted to view the ancient scroll of the Law- the Pentateuch
(said to have been copied by the third son of Aaron) priced by the Senior Rabbi
at a fabulous sum. The favor to us is exceedingly great it itself, so that the
taking of pictures is not allowed on the Sabbath. Here then is the community of
that diminishing band of Samaritans, living a narrow, self-centered life.
Two words,
conservative and exclusive, sum up what we have seen. The Samaritan tradition
certainly is being doggedly maintained. Leaving the stifling confines of
Samaritanism, we return to the Hotel….
The Wachovia Moravian (Winston-Salem, N.C., Vol. LI, No. 6, June
1932, p. 11, 12
~~~~~~~~~~~
Biblio
Bonnard, Christophe.
Crown, Alan D.
The Samaritans, their Literature and the Codicology of their Manuscripts, Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 1996-97, Volume 15. Pp. 87-104
Durward, J.T.
Holy Land and Holy
Writ, Wisconsin:
The Pilgrim Publishing Company 1913
Elton, Benjamin J.
Why is Samaritan Bread Like Pork? A neo-Structuralist Reading of Shevi’it 8:10
Evans, Jane D.
From Mountain to Icon: Mt. Gerizim on Provincial Coins from Neapolis, Samaria in Near Eastern Archaeology 74:2 (2011) p. 170-182
Finkel, Joshua
“Jewish, Christian, and Samaritan Influences on Arabia in The Macdonald Presentation Volume New York: Books For Libraries Press, Inc. 1968, pp. 145-166
Hensel, Benedirkt
Abstract:
[Judah and Samaria. On the Relationship of Two Post-Exilic
YHWH-Communities.]
Published in German.
Benedikt Hensel presents in this volume new insights on the emergence of the
Old Testament and Judaism. Starting with the Mt. Gerizim Yahwists, who were
later identified as “Samaritans”, the author investigates their relationship to
their Judean counterparts in the post-exile period (600–100 BCE) by using all
the currently available Samarian archaeological, iconographic, numismatic and
epigraphical sources. He also simultaneously evaluates the literary testimonies
of the Old Testament and later Jewish traditions, esp. Ezra-Nehemiah, the books
of the Chronicles and 2 Kings 17. The religious-sociological and -political
developments hereby demonstrated lead to the conclusion that there were two
Yawhistic communities in Judah and Samaria existing side-by-side and in
communication with one another in post-exile Palestine.
Hjelm, Ingrid
Lost
and Found? A Non-Jewish Israel from the Merneptah Stele to the Byzantine Period in History, Archaeology and the Bible
Forty Years After “Historicity” Routledge, 2016
Huang, JengZen
A
Quantitative Study of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions in the
Hebrew Bible. Thesis – University of Toronto 2015
Levy, David B
Merrony, Mark W.
Socio-economic aspects of the Byzantine mosaic pavements of Phoenicia
and northern Palestine Thesis 2002
Rambach, A. D’Ottone
Manuscripts as Mirrirs of
a Multilingal and Multicultrual Society. The Case of the Damascus find in Convivencia in Byzantium?
Cultural Exchanges in a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Lingual Society, edited by B. Crostini-S. La Porta, Trier, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag,
2013 (Bochumer Altertumswissenschaftliches Colloquium; Bd. 96), pp. 63-88
Scott, Jennie
A Pilgrimage to Canaan, Iowa: Perkins Bros. Co. 1908
Seaton, Daniel P.
The Land of Promise, or the Bible Land and Its
Revelation: Illustrated with Several Engravings of Some of the Most Important
Places in Palestine and Syria. Philadelphia:
Publishing House of the A,M.E. Church 1895
Tigchelaar, Eibert
Post-2002
Dead Sea Scrolls Fishy Fragments- or Forgeries?
Trumbull, Charles
Gallaudet
A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem: The Story of the Cruise to the World’s
Fourth Sunday-School Convention, held in the City of Jerusalem, and of a Ride
through Palestine, Philadelphia: The Sunday School Times Company 1905
Zeron, Alexander
‘Einige Bemerkungen
Zu M. F. Collins, the Hidden Vessels in Samaritan Traditions"’ in Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume
4, Issue 2, pages 165 – 168 Publication Year : 1973
~~~~~~~~~
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