Samaritans
“Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4:9)
The term ‘Samaritan’ has several meanings according to context. Originally, it simply meant an inhabitant of the city of Samaria which was founded by King Omri c.876 B.C.E. to be the new capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. By extension it came to signify the whole region, so virtually a synonym for Israel. The Kingdom of Israel was overthrown by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. when a large section of the population was deported, replaced by peoples from other nations, many of whom intermarried with some of the remaining Israelites. Hence, ‘Samaritan’ now denoted, in common usage, a member of a mixed race.
The Assyrians attempted in vain to subdue the Southern Kingdom of Judah. However, the Babylonians, who followed the Assyrians as the leading military power, succeeded where Assyria had failed. The city of Jerusalem, including its Temple, was destroyed in 587 B.C., the leaders and a proportion of the citizens being exiled to Babylon. In turn, the Babylonian Empire succumbed to the growing power of Persia. The Persians allowed the exiles (if they wished) to return to their own land. Many did.
The Old Testament writers ascribed the granting of resettlement of the Jews to the direct working of God through the Persian king Cyrus, though in fact clemency towards conquered nations was the normal practice of the Persians. With urging from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the Temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem; under Nehemiah, the city walls were strengthened.
Many incidents led to the rift between Jews and Samaritans which developed over a long period and was total by the end of the second century B.C.E. Undoubtedly a major cause was the rejection by the Jews of an offer from the Samaritans to help with the restoration work in Jerusalem. The refusal was based on the rigid policy of supposed racial purity imposed by the prophet Ezra. Reaction to this policy is typified by the Book of Ruth, in which it was shown that even King David was a product of mixed blood. Jewishness was determined by faithfulness to the Law more than ethnicity.
There is an interesting modern parallel: referring to the impetus for Scottish independence, a recent letter in the Daily Mail from a Scottish woman said the results of her DNA ancestry test showed that she is an amalgam of people from all corners of the British Isles, which she thinks is probably true of most Scots.
The Samaritan Religion
In the period following the deportation by the Assyrians a section of the population (no doubt some of the original community who had not been deported) desired to practise their traditional religious observances but were in need of instruction. A plea to the Assyrian king led to the return of one of the exiled priests – or more than one, according to the Jewish historian Josephus – to provide that instruction. The resultant religion was based solely on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible).
Moses was venerated in much the same way as Muslims view Mohammed and worship was centred on Mount Gerizim, near to the original capital of Shechem. A temple erected on Gerizim, possibly as early as 450 B.C.E. and no later than 330 B.C.E., was destroyed by the Hasmonean priest-king John Hyrcanus – date uncertain but late second century B.C.E. The Samaritans were never reconciled to the dominance of Jerusalem, ‘the city of David’.
The Hebrew and Samaritan texts of the Pentateuch (though linguistically related) differ in many respects. Both scripts derive from the old Phoenician alphabet, but diverged significantly. In content, there are considerable variations, due either to copying errors or to deliberate bias, one way or the other.
Throughout the periods of Greek and Roman domination of Palestine (separated by a century of Jewish independence following the Macca-bean revolt) the Samaritans faced much opposition. Incidents of persecution included the sacking of Shechem by Alexander the Great and deportation to Egypt under Ptolemy. They were subjected to much ridicule, being referred to as “the stupid people living in Shechem” (Ecclesiasticus 50: 26). In A.D. 35 Pontius Pilate was responsible for the slaughter of a number of Samaritans on Mount Gerizim, for which act he was recalled to Rome.
The geographical setting of New Testament Palestine is Galilee in the north and Judea in the south, with Samaria in the middle. Contact between Galilee and Judea was usually achieved by going around rather than through Samaria. When Jesus first sent out his disciples (Matthew 10), he told them not to enter any Samaritan villages. Later, he accompanied them in entering Samaritan territory (Luke 9) but a discouraging response led the disciples to suggest “calling down fire from heaven” upon the recalcitrant Samaritans, earning a rebuke from Jesus.
In chapter 10 of Luke we read the well-known story of the Good Samaritan which inspired the eponymous suicide-prevention and befriending charity, a humanitarian aid organisation (Samaritan’s Purse) and a novel (Jericho Road by Claud Cockburn, 1974). An ancient building situated half-way between Jerusalem and Jericho is reputed to be the ‘Inn of the Good Samaritan’ and is so named; a museum was opened on the site in 2009.
Another account illustrating a Samaritan in a good light is in chapter 17 of Luke; the healing of the ten lepers, only one of whom returned to thank Jesus – and he was a Samaritan. Actually, as the incident occurred in a village on the border of Samaria, the other nine could also have been Samaritans!
The attitude of Jesus to the Samaritans is demonstrated in the telling of his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar (John 4). His willingness to engage in conversation with her astonished his disciples. Although he expressed the Jewish view that Jerusalem rather than Gerizim was the preferred centre of worship, he indicated that both sites would be superseded. In his allusion to her multiple relationships with men he emphasised the link of morality with religion. As a result of this conversation, and the recounting of it by her in the town, Jesus stayed there for two days and influenced many of the inhabitants. It is perhaps not surprising that soon after this incident we read (in chapter 8) that it was rumoured that Jesus himself must have been a Samaritan.
As demonstrated in Acts the early church, notably Philip, had considerable success in evangelising the Samaritans. In chapter eight we meet a ‘bad’ Samaritan: a sorcerer Simon aka ‘Simon Magus’. At first influenced and baptised by Philip, whom he for a while assisted, he later sought spiritual powers by offering money to Peter, thus giving rise to the sin of ‘simony’: the attempt to obtain ecclesiastical preferment through purchase.
Throughout the last two millennia the Samaritan community has repeatedly encountered great opposition, even persecution, from Jews, Christians, Arabs and others, leading to a decline in their numbers. However, in 1841, when the population was only a little over one hundred, a threat of extermination by Muslims was averted by the intervention of the chief rabbi of Jerusalem; since then relations have improved. The refusal to marry outside the small community risked problems due to interbreeding. However, since the 1930s marriage with Jewish women has been allowed and the population has grown to several thousands.
According to Unesco: “The Samaritans on Mount Gerizim represent the smallest, most ancient, living ethnic community in the world, bound together by a profound and rigid religious belief”. Having survived a difficult past they have learned to live harmoniously with their neighbours and believe they are uniquely placed to be a bridge for peace between the peoples of the Middle East.
Norman Moore
