Jesus and the Woman at the Well by Edward Burne-Jones. The Samaritans of Nablus, 19001920: Samaritan men with their "intended," the young girls who will be their wives. Such sites could be securely identified as Samaritan in some of those cases, and it is likely in others. Zeno rebuilt the church of St. Procopius in Neapolis (Sichem) and the Samaritans were banned from Mount Gerizim, on whose top a signaling tower was built to alert in case of civil unrest. 316 supports those scholars who see no need to transpose it so that it becomes part of the Nicodemus narrative. The Samaritanhalakhahof marriage and divorce is based on theTorah. [45] During the earlier Assyrian invasions, the Transjordan did experience significant deportations, with entire tribes vanishing; the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Dan, and Naphtali are never again mentioned. [105], Samaritanism is centered on the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe to be the original and unaltered version of the Torah that was given to Moses and the Israelites on Mount Sinai. After the reading, the grooms father and all his family serve the men refreshments. Jewish court of law. 14. 13) also serves. cit. The Deuteronomistic history, written in Judah, portrayed Israel as a sinful kingdom, divinely punished for its idolatry and iniquity by being destroyed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720BCE. The Samaritan Pentateuch differs from the Jewish Masoretic Text as well. Olsson, op. A very good account of her experiences with Samaritan women in the nineteenth Zevit, Ziony. 39) comes to believe in a way that is different from and possibly because of their immediate trust, to be rated higher than a second group (4. "Many people lost faith as a result of the terrible price increases and because they became weary of paying the jizya. concluded from a sample comparing Samaritans to several Jewish populations, all currently living in Israelrepresenting the Beta Israel, Ashkenazi Jews, Iraqi Jews, Libyan Jews, Moroccan Jews, and Yemenite Jews, as well as Israeli Druze and Palestiniansthat "the principal components analysis suggested a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. According to the Chronicon Paschale, the dux Palaestinae Asclepiades, whose troops were reinforced by the Caesarea-based Arcadiani of Rheges, defeated Justa, killed him and sent his head to Zeno. For example, there is a desire to shorten the period ofniddahafter birth. Samaritans (/smrtnz/; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: merm, transl. [51], The archaeological evidence can find no sign of habitation in the Assyrian and Babylonian periods at Mount Gerizim, but indicates the existence of a sacred precinct on the site in the Persian period, by the 5th century BCE. 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. Gerizim to Shiloh and established a rival cult there. 11213. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. [87] According to the historian Fayyad Altif, large numbers of Samaritans converted due to persecution under various Muslim rulers, and because the monotheistic nature of Islam made it easy for them to accept it. [93], In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank during the Six-Day War, and the Samaritans there came under Israeli rule. The state ofniddahis particularly bothersome at festive times, when all the community gathers on Mt. Nov. Test. Crown, Alan D.. "Samaritan Sect." The Samaritans are heavily inbred, with cousin-marriage a frequent phenomenon. There is a six-month trial period before officially joining the Samaritan community to see whether this is a commitment that the woman would like to take. Jesus, the woman, and the divine Spirit have accomplished this task precisely in accordance with the injunction of Gen. pp. Statistical research suggests that the number of pregnancies in childbearing years is higher than the western average and is similar to the statistics for tribal Africa, where contraceptive devices are not used. Gerizim by John Hyrcanus, also refers to the Samaritans as the Cuthaeans. Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. Samaritans accept the. The woman's response to Jesus' request is couched in a form (use of the -clause) that is paralleled in Nicodemus' response to Jesus in 3. p. 176, expresses doubt about the phrase being natural in the situation. Feature Flags: { The religion of this remnant community is likely distorted by the account recorded in the Books of Kings,[47] which claims that the local Israelite religion was perverted with the injection of foreign customs by Assyrian colonists. He thinks it less likely that the clause was not an original part of the evangelist's composition. By the end of the period, Samaritans were mainly centered in Nablus, while other communities persisted in Caesarea, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo, Sarepta, and Ascalon. "house of judgement." It may well be that Samaritan women were used as chattels to cement msalliances. 32 See Dodd, op. B. Olsson, op. Marriages must result in offspring. [100][101], The Samaritan community in Israel also faces demographic challenges as some young people leave the community and convert to Judaism. pp. 44 It might just be noted that this first group of Samaritans (4. During this eveningthe chapter is read which tells the story of the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. That the meaning of their name signifies Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah], rather than being a toponym referring to the inhabitants of the region of Samaria, was remarked on by a number of Christian Church fathers, including Epiphanius of Salamis in the Panarion, Jerome and Eusebius in the Chronicon and Origen in The Commentary on Saint John's Gospel. } 5338. [12] Strictly speaking, the Samaritans now refer to themselves generally as "Israelite Samaritans."[d]. 1.2.2023 - 84 pages. Samaritans have extremely strict traditions about letting members marry outside of the community, and conversion to Samaritan ideas is rare and lengthy. Montgomery, J. Though some women resentniddahbeing considered a humiliation and say that they take it as part of life, many others dislike the practice, finding the various details of fulfilling this custom degrading and humiliating. 49 R. Simlai, a Palestinian Amora of the third century, interprets Gen. The first major debate about duty to rescue laws took place after the infamous murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964. With better medical care and Samaritan men marrying Jewish women, the demographic status of the community improved throughout the Mandatory period. While some marriages were strained, most couples developed a loyalty based on mutual need. Gerizim. 31 December 1999. Cousin marriages are permitted and may be said to be the Samaritan norm. cit. In 1624, the last Samaritan High Priest of the line of Eleazar son of Aaron died without issue, but according to Samaritan tradition, descendants of Aaron's other son, Ithamar, remained and took over the office. The records of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the former kingdom. Zeno then took for himself Mount Gerizim, and built several edifices, among them a tomb for his recently deceased son, on which he put a cross, so that the Samaritans, worshiping God, would prostrate in front of the tomb. Josephus, Joseph also uses the term "those of Gerizim" ( ), Shlomo Hofman paraphrases their traditional view as follows: "Until that time, the Ark of the Covenant had been kept at the sanctuary of YHWH on Mt. Reproduces legends of the Samaritans from various chronicles and other sources. For the Samaritans in particular, the passing of the al-Hakim Edict by the Fatimid Caliphate in 1021, under which all Jews and Christians in the Southern Levant were ordered to either convert to Islam or leave, along with another notable forced conversion to Islam imposed at the hands of the rebel ibn Firsa,[5] would contribute to their rapid unprecedented decrease, and ultimately almost complete extinction as a separate religious community. .) There are also a significant number of growing communities, families, and individuals around the world who are not indigenous to the Holy Land currently known in Brazil, Sicily, Philippines, Cuba, Canada, and elsewhere who identify with, and observe the Samaritan tenets of faith and traditions. In 1940, the future Israeli president and historian Yitzhak Ben-Zvi wrote an article in which he stated that two thirds of the residents of Nablus and the surrounding neighboring villages were of Samaritan origin. Divorce is permitted where there is considerable conflict, considerable dislike, or physical defect, and in the case of incurable or mental illness. [19], The Macedonian Empire conquered the Levant in the 330s BCE, resulting in both Samaria and Judea coming under Greek rule as the province of Coele-Syria. Of the 12 Samaritan males used in the analysis, 10 (83%) had Y chromosomes belonging to haplogroup J, which includes three of the four Samaritan families. Ben Zvi & The Samaritans . Accounts of Samaritan origins in respectively 2 Kings 17:6,24 and Chronicles, together with statements in both Ezra and Nehemiah differ in important degrees, suppressing or highlighting narrative details according to the various intentions of their authors.[m]. Now women from other religions are allowed in but they must convert to the Samaritan faith before marriage and are expected to follow Samaritan strict religious beliefs and practices . She may have physical contact with neither her children nor her husband. Today, half reside in modern homes at Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim, which is sacred to them, and the rest in the city of Holon, just outside Tel Aviv. Leiden: 1980. The The following statistics help to explain the attitude to the marriage of women among the Samaritan community. The second (heretical) priesthood was at Shiloh, and the priest Eli, a descendant of Itamar, was at its head." Brown, op. Brother and sister marriage is forbidden, as is marriage with a niece or nephew. Marriages to third wives were known and one man, Salamah B. Jacob, is alleged to have married seven times. Gerizim, at whose head stood the legitimate high priest, Uzzi (a descendant of Phineas and of the family Eleazar). [2] Most recently the same group came up with genetic evidence that Samaritans are closely linked to Cohanim, and therefore can be traced back to an Israelite population prior to the Assyrian invasion. In 1963 additional research was undertaken in Nablus and after the Six Day War the statistics were correlated with those fromHolon. 3.The Wedding Ceremony The official ceremony when the Ketuba (marriage contract) that contains all of the marriage agreements and rules from the Torah, is read by one of the priests. The surviving brother could evade the obligation by the ceremony of aliah. [90] Even today, certain Nabulsi family names such as Al-Amad, Al-Samri, Maslamani, Yaish, and Shaksheer among others, are associated with Samaritan ancestry.[87][90]. The Good Samaritan laws in Georgia protect various groups when an AED must be used. "the written Torah." B. Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Samaritans in the Palestinian Authority-ruled territories are a minority in the midst of a Muslim majority. [84], The Samaritan community in Egypt shrank as a result of Ottoman persecution of Samaritans who worked for the Mamluk government and the majority of them converting to Islam. Acts 15:23 says that Paul and Barnabas were "being brought on their way by the church" and that they passed through "Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles". At every social event theniddahwomen sit together in a special corner and they take no active part. The Temple of Gerizim was rebuilt after the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans, around 136CE. Rabbinic literature rejected Samaritans unless they renounced Mount Gerizim as the historical Israelite holy site. The meeting at the well touches off a discussion about water, and this discussion leads into one on worship. 18: 15). 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. Matters were further complicated in 331 BCE, when the Samaritans rose up in rebellion and murdered the Macedonian-appointed prefect, Andromachus resulting in a brutal appraisal by the army.[53]. 45 In Jesus' reference to food is used and not which would give the more natural meaning. 22 Jacob's request for a wife (Rachel) is linked to the fact that his presence has meant an abundance of water in the wells. [83], The majority of Samaritan families in the 19th century lived in Harat el-Somra, a crowded neighborhood in Nablus' southwest. In meetings arranged by "international marriage agencies",[99] a small number of women from Russia and Ukraine who agree to observe Samaritan religious practices have been allowed to marry into the Qiryat Luza Samaritan community in an effort to expand the gene pool. In the 2nd century BCE, a series of events led to a revolution by a faction of Judeans against Antiochus IV. The Emperor went to Neapolis (Shechem), gathered the elders and asked them to convert to Christianity; when they refused, Zeno had many Samaritans killed, and re-built the synagogue as a church. [14][15][16], Josephus uses several terms for the Samaritans, which he appears to use interchangeably. p. 171, Olsson, op. The Samaritans, whether they live inHolon, Israel, or Nablus (Shechem), Palestinian Authority, are bound by the law of the respective authority. Samaritans living in both Israel and in the West Bank have Israeli citizenship. The Bible Defines Marriage as a Covenant God sketched his original plan for marriage in Genesis 2:24 when one man (Adam) and one woman (Eve) united together to become one flesh: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. On Tuesday evening the whole community , men and women,gather together for the wedding. If a woman isniddahduringA seven-day festival to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (eight days outside Israel) beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. cit. The 10th Congress of the Socit dEtudes Samaritaines will take place in Budapest, July 18-23, 2021. Bid also compares the Rabbinic Each one of the readers, stand after finishing his verse, and bless thegrooms family. The "groom" is about seven-years-old, the "bride" about five. Since their wishes are considered, some marry later. His special name calls attention to the surprising nature of his activity. See De Fuga 1978. Some scholars have claimed there's no evidence to support the settlement of foreigners in the area,[45] however, others disagree. Bultmann, R., Das Evangelium des Johannes (19th ed., Gttingen, 1968), p. 142Google Scholar, rightly sees the woman's question, Can this be the Messiah? as put from the people's standpoint and not as an expression of her doubt. Episode 91: Israel at 75: Voices of Protest. However, Samaria was a larger and more populated area, and even if the Assyrians did deport 30,000 people as they claimed, many would have remained in the area. Recently several marriages with Jewish women have been permitted, so long as the woman takes on the principles of the Samaritan religion. After the birth of a daughter, she is impure for eighty days. (, "Since they attach great importance to their identity as the true Israelites, they added a note that their self-identification is not 'Samaritans', but 'Israelites whose center of life is Mt. The Septuagint, the Targum Onkelos and the Peshitta all paraphrase Num. For this, another woman from the extended family comes into the house for a fixed period. In other words, a double meaning is probably intended. [t] The Samaritan version of the Book of Joshua also differs from the Jewish version, which focuses on Shiloh. Formats. [24], Modern genetic studies support the Samaritan narrative that they descend from indigenous Israelites. Of the latter, 228 were married, 290 were single and twenty-six were divorced or widowed. 2868, stresses the thoroughly Jewish character of John and tentatively supports Cullmann's view that its appeal may have been primarily among Jews who were somewhat non-conformist in their beliefs. Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening. p. 373, discusses the woman's surprise at Jesus kindness in asking her for a drink. Marriage to Jewish women is appealing because it opens the gene pool, thereby avoiding genetic problems caused by too close a relationship. 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. Skilled in witchcraft, she invented the art of music, made idols and taught idolatry to Noahs contemporaries (Asatir,pitron3: 2030). on Ben Zvi & The Samaritans . Christ tells the apostles that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that they would be his witnesses in "Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.". (Leviticus 15:1924). However, in all religious matters they are recognized as a religious community. While the position of Samaritan women in the matter of divorce is not halakhically clear, it appears to be inferior to that of the male. 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 721BCE. 12 It is remarkable, for example, that in examining the Old Testament background of the expression living water they concentrate on the symbols, Wisdom, Torah, Spirit, and ignore the figurative use of water in regard to women (for which, see below). [13] Those widowed or divorced had to remarry. Their request, however, to be associated in the rebuilding of the Temple was rejected, presumably on grounds similar to those cited by Jesus (in John's gospel), You worship what you do not know. Further back in time, Josiah extended his reforms to Bethel and other Samaritan cities (II Kings 23. [85] The Matari family relocated from Gaza to Nablus at about the same time that the Marhiv family moved back from Sarafand, Lebanon. Bid, I. R. M. Principles [70], 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. The priests usually sit at the front of the square while the couple will seat on the high stage. Later, in 484, the Samaritans revolted. The Samaritan narrative reveals John's skilful use of the biblical proverbial tradition. Samaritan halakhic texts and compares them. The status of women and the Samaritan attitude to women are most evidently affected by the laws ofniddah,the biblical rules of which (including problems of secondary contamination) are strictly observed by women who regard themselves as observant of the laws of theTorah. There were no longer any Samaritans in either Gaza or Damascus; only a handful remained in Gaza. According to the Hebrew Bible, they were temporarily united under a United Monarchy, but after the death of Solomon, the kingdom split in two, the northern Kingdom of Israel with its last capital city Samaria and the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital, Jerusalem. In their own language the Samaritans call themselves Shamerim (), meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers", and in Arabic (Arabic: , romanized:al-Smiriyyn). [103] The current high priest is Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach who assumed the office on 19 April 2013. As a result, the ulama ceased their preaching against Samaritans. The Age of the Tannaim (Cambridge, Mass., 1966)Google Scholar, I, 366 n. 4, thinks that R. Simlai's interpretation was directed against Christians as heretics. 29 Brown, , Driver, and Briggs, , Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford, 1907), p. 545Google Scholar, explain as the showers of MarchApril that are important for strengthening and maturing the crops. While the Samaritans have no fixed conversion process, it is obligatory for a Jewish woman entering the community to live with the Samaritans for six months to learn all their rules and customs. stigmatized the Samaritans in the eyes of the Jews of Judah, and doubtless historical and cultural developments furthered the cleavage and gave them a distinctive group identity. It is the woman who recognizes Jesus as a Jewish prophet and who, because of this recognition, comments on both traditions. [57], Hyrcanus' campaign of destruction was the watershed moment which confirmed hostile relations between Jews and Samaritans. cit. Presumably these peoples joined the remnant that was left in Samaria. They were also expected to care for their parents in their old age. If not, the man could divorce his wife and try to reach this end through a new wife. Kitab al-Tarikh of Abul Fath. Aleph-Beth Samaritan News 16 (1990), 511512. (. This scene sets the stage for the classic biblical meet-cute: Rebekah and Isaac's marriage broker (Genesis 24:10-27), Rachel and Jacob (Genesis 29:1-12), Zipporah and . of Samaritan Halachah. Sources The Bible Judaism emerged later with those who followed the example of Eli.[29][30][l]. Divorcing one's spouse was required if he or she was involved in sexual scandal. For this Evangelist, Jesus is the Word become flesh, hence at every moment comprising, living, the Scriptures in their entirety. For Daube's discussion of John's method and other comparable modes of interpreting material in antiquity, see The influence of interpretation on writing, Buffalo Law Review xx (197071), 4159, on John, 49, 50. New York: 1968. Daube's interpretation is based on the significance of the clause o which he translates as meaning that Jews do not use sc. [f][g] These Khouthaioi were in fact Hellenistic Phoenicians/Sidonians. By the time of Antiochus III the Great, the temple "town" had reached 30 dunams in size. on some Samaritan practices relating to marriage. Eli is also held to have created a duplicate of the Ark of the Covenant, which eventually made its way to the Judahite sanctuary in Jerusalem. Jesus affirms the Jewish position, saying "You [that is, the Samaritans] worship what you do not know," although he also says, "a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem."[114]. 2. He states that the description of them at 2 Kings 17:24[22] as foreigners is tendentious and intended to ostracize the Samaritans from those Israelites who returned from the Babylonian exile in 520BCE. bate life tobecome a woman. In the phrase it is interesting that is understood. There is no womens section in the Samaritan synagogue. Another story involves Miriam, the daughter of the High Priest Eleazar, who fled Nablus to avoid being married to the child of her guardian after the death of her father. For example, food and drink are not handed to them, but put in a special bowl on the floor. by C. A. Evans and Shemaryahu Talmon, 547572. While they do not consider themselves Jews, the Samaritans draw their beliefs from the Torah. The story implies that prostitution was not unknown among Samaritan women, a view apparently borne out by the tale of the Samaritan woman in John 4, though this story may be much misunderstood, the five husbands being thebaalimof the five nations of2 Kings 17:2441. Some differences are doctrinal: for example, the Samaritan Torah explicitly states that Mount Gerizim is "the place that God has chosen" to establish his name, as opposed to the Jewish Torah that refers to "the place that God chooses". Fearful of influences that will impinge upon their traditions, Samaritans are reluctant to involve themselves with non-Samaritans, but their children attend Israeli state schools, and the males serve in the Israeli army, though the women are exempt from military service. [24] In reality, the surviving Samaritans almost definitely continued to practice Yahwism, thus the religious reforms of later Judean kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah find no difficulty in extending to the northern populace who did not live within the borders of Judah-proper. [k], The Israeli biblical scholar Shemaryahu Talmon has supported the Samaritan tradition that they are mainly descended from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who remained in Israel after the Assyrian conquest. The Contribution of Variants Due to Graphic Similarity between MT and SP to Textual Criticism of the HB. / Hila Dayfani, The Samaritan Day of Atonement . According to 1 Maccabees 1:41-50 he proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him. All. Children - Jewish law and custom commanded from children absolute respect, honor, and reverence for both their father and their mother. When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against pp. In this connection it is interesting to observe that the Deuteronomic influence on the book of Jeremiah would have meant that Jeremiah was interpreted as a prophet like Moses. 15960. These laws do not protect against "gross negligence" or willful . 1 (in a comparison of Samuel to Moses), Indeed Scripture alludes to this likeness in the verse: A prophet will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me (Deut. However, onomastic evidence suggests the existence of a distinct northern culture. 22, 26 and 4. It is difficult to make general judgements about the status of women in the Samaritan sect as there is little historical information available. 24. With such a small population, divided into only four families or houses (Cohen, Tsedakah, Danafi, and Marhiv, with the Matar family dying out in 1968),[98][s] and a general refusal to accept converts, it is common for Samaritans to marry within their extended families, even first cousins.

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