Grace
Theological Journal 5.1 (1984) 47-75
Copyright © 1984 by Grace
Theological Seminary. Cited with permission.
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY
OF THE SAMARITANS
WAYNE A.
BRINDLE
The
development of Samaritanism and its alienation from Juda-
ism was
a process that began with the division of the kingdom of
antagonism,
including the importation of foreign colonists into Sa-
maria by
the
Jews, the building of a rival temple on
and
religious opportunism of the Samaritans, and the destruction of
both the
Samaritan temple and their capital of Shechem by John
Hyrcanus
during the second century B:C. The Samaritan religion
at
the time
of Jesus had become Mosaic and quasi-Sadducean, but
strongly
anti-Jewish. Jesus recognized their heathen origins and the
falsity of
their religious claims.
*
* *
INTRODUCTION
RELATIONS
between the Jews and the Samaritans were always
strained.
Jesus ben Sirach (ca. 180
B.C.) referred to the Samari-
!ans as "the foolish people that
dwell in Shechem" (Sir 50:26). There
is a
tradition that 300 priests and 300 rabbis once gathered in the
temple
court in
in the
Law of Moses. When the Jews wanted to curse Jesus Christ,
they
called him demon-possessed and a Samaritan in one breath
(John 8:48).
The Samaritans are important to biblical
studies for several
reasons:1 (1)
They claim to be the remnant of the
specifically of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, with priests of the
line of
Aaron/Levi. (2) They possess an ancient recension of
the
Pentateuch which. is non-Masoretic
and shows close relationship to a
text type
underlying both the LXX and some Hebrew manuscripts
1 Cf.
Theodore H. Gaster, "Samaritans," IDB,
4.190; and James D. Purvis, The
Samaritan
Pentateuch and the Origin of the Samaritan Sect (
University,
1968) 2-3.
48 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
among the
Dead Sea Scrolls, and are therefore important both for
textual
criticism of the OT as well as the study of the history of
Hebrew. (3)
They appear several times in the NT, especially in Luke,
John, and
Acts, and may provide the background for controversies
related in
Ezra, Nehemiah, and other post-exilic writings. (4) They
provide much
insight into the cosmopolitan nature of Palestinian
religion and
politics before and at the time of Christ. (5) At one time
the
community was large enough to exercise considerable influence in
enough to
be a subject of controversy in Josephus and Rabbinic
literature
(notable among which are many references in the Mishnah
and an
extra tractate in the Talmud).
The principal questions addressed in
this study are: (1) When
did the
Samaritan sect come into existence as a distinct ethnic and
religious
group, with its own traditions and teachings? and (2)
What
was the
development and history of the enmity between Samaritans
and
Jews?
The sources for a history of the
Samaritans are predominantly
anti-Samaritan: 2 Kings 17; Ezra and Nehemiah; Sir 50:25-26; 2 Macc
6:2; the
Assyrian Annals of Sargon; the Elephantine Papyri; the
Mishnah; the
Babylonian Talmud (Masseket Kutim);
the New Testa-
ment (Matthew, Luke, John, Acts); and Josephus
(especially Ant 9,
11, 12, 13,
18, 20).2
Samaritan literature is largely late; the Samaritan
Pentateuch,
however, though copied in the 14th century, dates back
in recensional form at least to the Hasmonean
period (ca. 100-
150 B.C.).
Many of its peculiarities reflect Samaritan religious ten-
dencies, and it is thus an early witness to their
beliefs and claims.
The problem of sources is compounded by
the fact that the name
"Samaritan"
occurs only once in the OT (2 Kgs
the NASB
as "the people of
"Samaritans"
as they appear in the Talmud, Josephus, and the NT,
but
rather to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel before its
captivity by
a
religious people must therefore depend on much more than a simple
identification based on names and geography.
I. THEORIES OF SAMARITAN ORIGINS
The traditional theories of Samaritan
origins are reduced by
Purvis to
four basic positions:3 (1) the view of the
Samaritans them-
I selves,
that their movement is a perpetuation of the ancient Israelite
2 A. Ge1ston, "Samaritans," New Bible Dictionary (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962) 1132.
3
James D. Purvis, Samaritan Pentateuch, 4-5.
BRINDLE: THE SAMARITANS 49
faith as
it was practised in the pre-monarchical period at Shechem
(ca.
1400-1100 B.C.); (2) the counterclaim of Judaism, that Samari-
tanism is a heresy derived from a corrupt
worship of Yahweh which
developed in
northern
area
about 722 B.C.; (3) an interpretation based on Ezra, Nehemiah,
and
Josephus, that the Samaritans broke away from the Jews in the
Persian
period; and (4) the assertion that a Samaritan schism occurred
in the
early Greek period.
All views demonstrate that there was a
definite schism,4 followed
by a
long period of independent development of the two groups. The
Samaritans
place the schism in the twelfth century B.C., at the time of
Eli. The
Jews date it in the eighth century B.C.
Modern critics have tended to date the
schism much later, but
most have
retained the schism concept. Some scholars, however, have
begun to
question this notion. As Coggins points out:
Two points in particular have remained characteristic of many descrip-
tions: the view of Samaritanism
as a debased form of religion, contain-
ing many syncretistic elements; and the
notion of a schism-with its
twofold connotation, of a definite break that
took place at a specific
moment in history, and of that break as implying
the departure of the
schismatic from the accepted norm. ...It is hoped
that it will become
clear that neither of these features should be taken for granted as
truly
characteristic of the situation.5
Purvis
stresses that "the so-called Samaritan schism, or withdrawal
from the
mainstream of Judaism, was not so much an event as a
process--a
process extending over several centuries and involving a
series of
events which eventually brought about estrangement between
the two
communities."6 Historians have tended to select one event
and to
declare that it was this that caused the emergence of the
Samaritan sect. They have also disagreed as to which element of
Samaritanism represents its crucial distinction from Judaism. The
as
Samaritans, for example, say that worship at Gerizim
rather than
elsewhere has
always been the determining factor. The Jews regard
the
intermarriage of Assyrian colonists and northern Israelites and
the
development of a syncretistic religion as the origin of the heresy.
Others refer
to the erection of a temple on
tion of the post-Pentateuchal
scriptures, as the crucial event.
The thesis of this article is that the
origin of Samaritanism was
indeed a
process--a process which began at least with the division of
the
kingdom (by ca. 931 B.C.) and continued through each successive
4 R. J. Coggins,
Samaritans and Jews (Oxford: Blackwell, 1975) 7.
5 Ibid., 4.
6 Purvis, Samaritan Pentateuch, 5.
50 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
incident,
including the importation of foreign colonists and the build-
ing of the Gerizim
temple, right up to their final excommunication by
the Jews
about A.D. 300. Thus even in NT times the process of
estrangement was still going on, although the sect could surely be
considered
distinct once it had its own temple and worship on
Gerizim.
Most modern critics tend to minimize the
OT's witness to the
origin of
the Samaritan people and religion, assuming that such
"Jewish"
accounts are too prejudiced to be reliable. This attitude
must be
avoided, however, since the statements of Jesus Christ show
that he
also recognized the dubiousness of their origins and the false-
hood of
their religious claims.
II. THE SAMARITAN ACCOUNT
The Samaritans claim to be the true children
of
remained
faithful to the Law of Moses.7 The Torah in their hands is
"the true, original and faultless Torah in all its sentences,
pronuncia-
tions, and its style."8
The Samaritans claim to be descendants
of the tribe of Joseph,
and thus
descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. Their priests are
from the
house of Levi, descendants of Aaron. When
Shechem, in
the valley between
The high
priest at the time was Eleazar, son of Aaron, who
also lived
in Shechem. Six years after the entrance into the land, Joshua
built
the
Tabernacle on Gerizim, where all worship of the
Israelites was
centered.
After Joshua's death there was a
succession of kings (called
M<yFpw, "judges," by the Jews), the
last of whom was Samson. Eleazar
was
succeeded at Gerizim by Phinehas,
Abishua, Shesha, Bacha, and
Uzzi.
When Uzzi
became high priest at the age of 23, Eli (a descendant
of Ithamar rather than of Eleazar10), then 60 years
old, was director
of
revenues and tithes and director of the sacrifices on the stone altar
outside the
Tabernacle.11 Eli became rich
through revenues and jealous
of Uzzi, and he decided to take the high-priesthood away from Uzzi.
7
Jacob, Son of Aaron, "The History and Religion of the Samaritans," BSac 63
(1906) 393.
8 Ibid.
9 John
MacDonald, The Theology of the Samaritans (
1964) 16.
10 Purvis, Samaritan Pentateuch, 88, n. 1.
11
Jacob, "History," 395.
BRINDLE: THE SAMARITANS 51
About the time of Eli, foreigners began
to enter
teach the
people sorcery and magic. Even a large number of priests
learned it
and left the ways of God. Eli was one of these, and he
gathered a
group of supporters. One day Uzzi the high priest
rebuked
Eli for some
fault in his sacrificial work, and Eli with his followers
immediately
apostatlzed.12 Some of Israel followed Uzzi
(especially
the
tribes of Joseph), and some followed Eli (especially
Benjamin).
Eli moved to
he made
a counterfeit ark and tabernacle and set up a rival sanctuary.
He claimed
that God had commanded the tabernacle to be moved to
follow Eli
because of his sorcery, and a deep dissension began to
grow
between the two groups. Thus, for a time there were two sanc-
tuaries and two priesthoods (one descended from Phinehas, the other
from Ithamar), and the first division on religious grounds in
was
created.13 The Samaritans thereafter rejected the claims of the
Ithamar branch of priests in
favor of the sons of Phinehas. As a result
of
Eli's defection,
of Uzzi, the genuine high priest; (2) the followers of Eli;
and (3) many
of
various tribes who lapsed into paganism.
This is the only schism that the
Samaritans know.14 Eli's act
ended the
era of divine favor (htAUkra, "Rahuta
") and initiated the age
of
divine wrath (htAUnPA, "Panuta
").
One day God told Uzzi
to put all of the vessels and furniture of
the
tabernacle into a nearby cave, after which the cave miraculously
closed up,
engulfing the entire sanctuary. The next day, the cave and
its
contents completely disappeared (not to be found again until the
Taheb or
Messiah comes).15
About this time, Samuel, a descendant of
Korah, came to live
with Eli
at
and
witchcraft. When Eli died, the people made Samuel their ruler.
The
Philistines took advantage of the corruption and division to
attack
Saul.
Saul determined to punish the tribes of
Joseph because they did
not
follow Samuel's cult in
destroyed the
remaining altar on Gerizim, killed the high priest Shisha
(son of Uzzi), and destroyed many
of the tribe.16 They began to
12
Ibid.,397.
13
MacDonald, Theology, 17.
14 Purvis, Samaritan Pentateuch, 88, n. I.
15
MacDonald, Theology, 17.
16
Jacob, "History," 406-7.
52 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
worship in
their homes, and many moved to
of
After Saul
died, David came to Shechem and became king of all
When David
decided to build a temple in
at Gerizim, Yaire, told him that he
would have to build it on
"
friend of
this high priest (cf. 1 Sam 21:1-7) and had always offered
his
tithes at Gerizim, refrained from building the temple
and left,it for
his son
to do. Solomon built the temple in
people
astray from God. Jeroboam later rebelled and led
further
astray. He made his capital in Sabastaba17 (Sebaste,
later
called
There were now three groups of
Israelites: (1) the Samaritans,
who kept
themselves distinct from the rest and called themselves
MyriM;wo, keepers of the Law; (2) the Israelites
of the north, who fol-
lowed
Jeroboam; and (3) the tribe of
other
tribes, who followed the line of David.18
Assyria finally captured the
people. An Assynan named
Israelite
(of the tribe of Joseph) bought the city and it became known
as
Some of the
followers of Uzzi were also taken into captivity by
the
Assyrians. Later, Nebuchadnezzar deported people from all tribes
(including the tribe of Joseph) to
beasts. So
Cyrus sent the "Samaritan" high priest Abdullah (or
Abdel20),
along with a host of descendants of Joseph, back to the
Land.
Abdullah wanted to build a sanctuary on Gerizim, but Zerub-
babel the Jew wanted to rebuild in
the
Torah, whereas the Jews appealed to David and Solomon. Cyrus
sided with
the Samaritans, honored Sanballat their governor, and
allowed many
from the tribe of Joseph to return and to build a
temple on Gerizim.
Enmity between the tribes of Joseph and
Judah continued to
grow. Zerubbabel bribed the King of Persia to allow the Jews to
build a
temple in
sion to destroy what they had built. This caused yet greater division.
17 Ibid., 414; actually, it was Herod the Great who gave it the
name Sebaste, which
is
Greek for Augustus.
18
MacDonald, Theology, 18.
19
Jacob, "History ," 415.
20 Ay. L., "Samaritans," Encyclopaedia
Judaica, 14.728.
BRINDLE: THE SAMARITANS 53
Ezra (the
"accursed Ezra,,21) finally obtained a second
decree
(through Esther and by means of witchcraft) from King Ashoresh
(Ahasuerus) to rebuild the temple and the city of
exercise
authority over all the Land. Since the Jews had lost the
Torah and
all their books, Ezra began to collect legends and narra-
tives and invented many things which never
occurred. He falsely
claimed (in
2 Kings 17) that the Samaritans were Gentiles with false
gods (cf.
Ezra 4). He also invented the idea, popular among later
rabbis,
that the Samaritans call Ashina (or Ashima) their god, whereas
in
reality they simply substitute the word "Shimeh"
(from Mwe,
"name")
for
YHWH, in the same way that the Jews use the substitution word,
ynAdoxE, "Adonai,,).22
Ezra wrote in the "Assyrian" language (Aramaic),
whereas the
Samaritans retained Hebrew. Ezra was wicked and cor-
rupted the Jews even more, and by persecutions
and lies caused much
of the
hatred between the Jews and Samaritans. These persecutions
kept the
Samaritan nation small, but Samaritans still claim to carry
out the
ancient customs according to the Mosaic Law.23
Thus, Judaism is an extension of Eli's
heresy through Samuel,
Saul, David,
the Judean monarchy, and Ezra, with the rival cult
shifting from
Shiloh to
tradition on
which to base it. The true Samaritan claims were dis-
missed with
slander and persecution.
Several things may be said concerning
this account by the
Samaritans of their own history. Purvis declares that "to accept the
Samaritan
claim at face value would be extraordinarily naive."24 Most
of
their sources are extremely late, although their later chronicles do
make use
of earlier ones.25
In their favor, however, is the fact
that at regular intervals before
the divided
monarchy, all twelve tribes gathered at Shechem to wor-
ship
their common God.26 It was to Shechem that
Rehoboam went to
be
anointed king of all
as his
first capital (1 Kgs
mountain in
Deuteronomy (
Jeroboam also corrupted the priesthood
by making priests of
non-Levites (1 Kgs
any of
the legitimate priests decided to separate from Jeroboam's
21 Gaster, "Samaritans,"191.
22
Jacob, "History," 424.
23
Ibid.,426.
24 Purvis, Samaritan Pentateuch, 92.
25
Ibid.,90.
26 Salo W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the
Jews, 2nd ed. (