Mythologies of the Samaritan Tribe

Samaritans (/səˈmærɪtənz/; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ, romanized: Šā̊merīm; Hebrew: שומרונים, romanized: Šomronim; Arabic: السامريون, romanized: as-Sāmiriyyūn), often preferring to be called Israelite Samaritans, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah. They are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism. According to their tradition, the Samaritans' ancestors, the Israelites, settled in Canaan in the 17th century BCE. The Samaritans claim descent from the Israelites who were not subject to the Assyrian captivity. Regarding the Samaritan Pentateuch as the unaltered Torah, the Samaritans view Judaism as a closely related faith, but claim that Judaism fundamentally alters the original Israelite religion. The most notable theological divide between Jewish and Samaritan doctrine concerns the holiest site, which the Jews believe is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and which Samaritans identify as Mount Gerizim near modern Nablus and ancient Shechem in the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 16:6.^[5] Both Jews and Samaritans assert that the Binding of Isaac occurred at their respective holy sites, identifying them as Moriah. Samaritans attribute their schism with the Jews to Eli, who was the penultimate Israelite shophet and a priest in Shiloh in 1 Samuel 1; in Samaritan belief, he is accused of establishing a worship site in Shiloh with himself as High Priest in opposition to the one on Mount Gerizim. Once a large community, the Samaritan population shrank significantly in the wake of the Samaritan revolts, which were brutally suppressed by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. Their numbers were further reduced by Christianization under the Byzantines and later by Islamization following the Arab conquest of the Levant. In the 12th century, the Jewish explorer and writer Benjamin of Tudela estimated that only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in Palestine and Syria. As of 2024, the Samaritan community numbered around 900 people, split between Israel (some 460 in Holon) and the West Bank (some 380 in Kiryat Luza). The Samaritans in Kiryat Luza speak South Levantine Arabic, while those in Holon primarily speak Modern Hebrew. For liturgical purposes, they also use Samaritan Hebrew and Samaritan Aramaic, both of which are written in the Samaritan script. According to Samaritan tradition, the position of the community's leading Samaritan High Priest has continued without interruption for the last 3600 years, beginning with the Hebrew prophet Aaron. Since 2013, the 133rd Samaritan High Priest has been Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach. In censuses, Israeli law classifies the Samaritans as a distinct religious community. However, Rabbinic literature rejected the Samaritans' Halakhic Jewishness because they refused to renounce their belief that Mount Gerizim was the historical holy site of the Israelites. All Samaritans in both Holon and Kiryat Luza have Israeli citizenship, but those in Kiryat Luza also hold Palestinian citizenship; the latter group are not subject to mandatory conscription. Around the world, there are significant and growing numbers of communities, families, and individuals who, despite not being part of the Samaritan community, identify with and observe the tenets and traditions of the Samaritans' ethnic religion. The largest community outside the Levant, the "Shomrey HaTorah" of Brazil (generally known as "Neo-Samaritans Worldwide"), had approximately hundreds of members as of February 2020.

The origins of the Samaritans remain a topic of scholarly debate. According to their tradition, they descend from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, survivors of the Assyrian conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel around 720 BCE. Unlike the Ten Lost Tribes, they were not deported by the Assyrians. Instead, they continued to inhabit their homeland and preserved their ancient traditions. Jewish narratives, however, claim that the Samaritans descend from foreign populations resettled in the region by the Assyrians. This claim aligns with accounts in 2 Kings 17, which describes a mixed population introduced into Samaria. Despite this divergence, archaeological evidence suggests continuity in the region’s population, with only partial Assyrian deportations. Samaritanism centers on the Torah, which they consider the unaltered word of God. Their sacred text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, differs from the Jewish Torah in several aspects, most notably in identifying Mount Gerizim—not Jerusalem—as the holiest site for worship. Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim is the true location of significant biblical events, such as the Binding of Isaac. Their religious practices emphasize strict observance of the Torah’s laws, including Sabbath observance, ritual purity, and the celebration of festivals such as Passover, which includes the traditional sacrifice of lambs on Mount Gerizim. Unlike Rabbinic Judaism, the Samaritans reject the authority of the Talmud and other post-Torah texts. The Samaritan population has experienced dramatic declines over centuries due to persecution, forced conversions, and wars. The Byzantine Empire’s suppression of Samaritan revolts in the 6th century marked a turning point, leading to substantial population losses. Later, under Islamic rule, economic hardships and forced conversions further diminished their numbers. By the 19th century, the Samaritan community had dwindled to fewer than 150 individuals.

The Samaritans are a religious sect of ethnic Jews living near Mount Gerizim, Nablus, Hebron, and the West Bank in Israel. This community differs from mainstream Judaism by claiming that followers only accept the five books of Moses (Torah), and not the books of the Prophets or later texts. Referring to themselves as "keepers (guardians) of the Torah" (shomrei ha-torah), their rituals and practices are claimed to be the most ancient and valid of Jewish tradition. Hebrew shomerim may have led to the Latinized 'Samaritans'. King Solomon (r. 970-931 BCE), in building the first Temple in Jerusalem, conscripted labor from the twelve tribes of Israel. In this sense, many may have compared him to Pharaoh. Upon his death, ten of the tribes petitioned his son to stop the conscription, but he refused. Under the leadership of Jeroboam, these ten tribes seceded to the north and created an independent kingdom of Israel. Not wanting to lose pilgrims for the major festivals in Jerusalem, he built two temples, at Dan and Bethel. In each, he installed a 'golden calf' to worship. The city of Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom. The two tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as the capital. In 2 Kings, the reigns are evaluated by whether 'Jeroboam’s sin' remained in the land; only three Southern kings allegedly made any attempt to rid the land of idolatry. The ancient Assyrian Empire had existed in various phases from c. 2000 to 600 BCE in the area known as Mesopotamia. Nineveh became the capital city. During the Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 900 BCE), expansion began, particularly toward the west. In control of the southern Levant, Egypt sponsored local rebellions in the area, but Sargon II (722-705 BCE) ended the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Recorded on the walls of the palace at Dur-Sharrukin, his inscription states: "In my first year ... I carried away the people of Samaria ... to the number of 27,290 ... the city I rebuilt. I made it greater than it was before."

Samaritan, member of a community, now nearly extinct, that claims to be related by blood to those Israelites of ancient Samaria who were not deported by the Assyrian conquerors of the kingdom of Israel in 722 bce. The Samaritans call themselves Bene Yisrael (“Children of Israel”), or Shamerim (“Observant Ones”), for their sole norm of religious observance is the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament). Jews call them simply Shomronim (Samaritans); in the Talmud (rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary), they are called Kutim, suggesting that they are rather descendants of Mesopotamian Cuthaeans, who settled in Samaria after the Assyrian conquest. Among the most significant differences between the Samaritans and the Jews is the site which they believe God chose for his dwelling. While the Jews hold that God chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Samaritans believe he chose Mount Gerizim near Shechem. After the Babylonian Exile, the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim, and the Jews built a temple on Mount Zion (see Temple of Jerusalem). This remained a considerable matter of dispute between the two communities, and, in the 2nd century bce, the temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the Maccabean ruler John Hyrcanus (reigned 135/134–104 bce). The low esteem that Jews had for the Samaritans was the background of Christ’s famous parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). By the 20th century the Samaritan population dwindled to fewer than 200 individuals, but it grew steadily to about 800 in the 2010s. Only in recent years have men been allowed to marry women from outside the community, although women who marry outside the community remain ostracized. The Samaritans are somewhat evenly distributed between a village on Mount Gerizim, which is also the residence of the high priest, and the city of Holon, where a synagogue is maintained, just south of Tel Aviv–Yafo. They pray in an ancient dialect of Hebrew but speak Arabic as their vernacular; Samaritans in Holon also speak modern Israeli Hebrew.

Samaritanism is related to Judaism in that it accepts the Torah as its holy book. Samaritans consider themselves to be the true followers of the ancient Israelite religious line. The Samaritan temple was on Mt. Gerizim near Shechem (modern Nablus), where dwindling numbers of Samaritans still live and worship today. Passages in the Hebrew Bible indicate that Mt. Gerizim has a legitimate (albeit obscure) claim to sanctity through its association with those who visited it. Abraham and Joseph both visited Shechem (Gen. 12:6–7, 13:18–20), as did Joseph (Gen. 37:12–14 and Josh. 24:32). In Deuteronomy (11:29 and 27:12), Moses commanded the Israelites to bless Mt. Gerizim when they entered the land of Canaan. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan they built an altar on Mt. Ebal (opposite Mt. Gerizim), and six of the tribes faced Mt. Gerizim while blessing the people of Israel as Moses commanded (Josh.8:30–33). Throughout Samaritan history, Samaritans have lived near Mt. Gerizim (Pummer 1968, 8). After the fall of Samaria (724 b.c.e.), the Assyrian conquerors sent much of the population into exile to be resettled in various parts in the Assyrian empire. Towards the end of the seventh century b.c.e., Josiah tried to reform the cult in Jerusalem and, from then on, the stories and laws of the five first books of the Bible (the Torah, or Pentateuch) were at the heart of Jewish monotheism. The Samaritan tradition maintains that its Torah (the Samaritikon) dates to the time of Moses and that it was copied by Abiša ben Phineas shortly after the Israelite entered the land of Canaan. However, modern literary analysis and criticism does not support this position. In fact, there are two main versions of the Torah: the Jewish version and the Samaritan version, and they are almost the same, which can only mean that both derive from the same original. While the Torah is a composite of traditions from both northern and southern Israel, the center of literary activity was Judaean, starting with the work of the Yahwists and ending with the editorial work of the Judaean diaspora.

Samaritans were Israelites who lived in the northern kingdom, but there is only one mention of them in the OT (2 Kings 17:29). The word “Samaritan” as used in the NT referred to an Israelite sect whose central sanctuary was on Mount Gerizim during intertestament times. These Samaritans are best known through the mention of them in the gospel narratives. It is impossible to write an accurate history of the Samaritans because their records are so scanty; the references to them are also highly contradictory. Their history began after the Assyrian capture of the city of Samaria in 721 b.c., and the deportation of 27,290 of Israel’s population (these figures are taken from Sargon’s record of the conquest). Their present-day traditions (which are not authenticated by documents from Biblical times) go back to Adam. Their major historic break with the Israelite tradition came at the time of this Assyrian conquest of Pal. Samaritans believed that Joshua built a sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim, which was the center for all early Israelite worship. They dated the religious break with the Jews to the time of Eli, whom they accused of erecting a rival sanctuary at Shiloh. For a brief time there were two sanctuaries and two priesthoods. The Philistines soon destroyed the Shiloh sanctuary, and Saul persecuted the Joseph tribes, depriving them of their sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim. Their tradition says that for a time they fled to Bashan. The Samaritans recorded little about the decline of the city of Samaria except to imply that this was a political, rather than a religious loss. Shechem, not Samaria, had always been and would continue to be their holy city. They modified the story of the lion plague (2 Kings 17:24-33) by adding that the Assyrian king also permitted them to reinstitute their worship on Mt. Gerizim. Their history as recorded by Jewish sources describes Samaritans as descendants of the colonists whom the Assyrians planted in the northern kingdom, who intermarried with the Israelite population that the Assyrians had left in the land. More likely they were the pure descendants of the Israelites left in the land, for Samaritan theology shows no sign of the influence of paganism among the colonists sent by the Assyrians. If there was intermarriage, the children became true Israelites. Furthermore, shortly after the Assyrian conquest of Samaria, men from Manasseh, Zebulun, and Asher went to King Hezekiah’s great Passover in Jerusalem (2 Chron 30:10, 11). The city of Samaria was located in the tribe of Manasseh. As late as the time of Josiah, Manasseh and Ephraim contributed to the repairs on the Jerusalem Temple (34:9). These two tribes became the core of the later Samaritan population. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel treated the northern tribes as an integral part of covenant Israel. Ezekiel insisted on blending them with Judah as a common restored covenant people. When Zerubbabel was building a new temple, the descendants of the foreigners brought in by Esar-haddon asked to take part, claiming that they were true Yahweh worshipers (Ezra 4:2), but they were refused. Later, foreigners from many places (4:9, 10) joined in a petition to Artaxerxes against Jerusalem, but Darius gave the Jews permission to continue to rebuild the Temple. Nothing was said regarding the Samaritans for they were not involved in this episode. The objection was raised by foreigners working together as a political block against Jerusalem. When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem as a special representative of the Pers. crown, he was opposed by Sanballat, the governor of the Pers. subprovince of Samaria (Neh 2:10-6:14; 13:28). When Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, apparently he added it to the province of Samaria. Sanballat recognized that Nehemiah was creating a new political unit around the city of Jerusalem and this territory would, of course, be taken from Sanballat. Both Sanballat and his partner Tobiah of Rabbath-ammon were Yahweh worshipers. This, therefore, was primarily a political struggle, not a religious issue. It may, however, have ended as a religious schism, if one follows the reasoning of the historians who date the Samaritan break to this feud.