The Samaritans Research Paper

The origin of the Samaritans is much debated due to elapsed time and their division from the Jews. The Jewish believe that the Samaritans were “descendants of the colonists whom Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, is said to have brought from Cutha, Babylon, Hamath, and other foreign parts after he conquered Samaria in 722 BC . . .” (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible p191) However, the Samaritans disagree with this and claim to be descendants of the native Israelites. Historically, after Samaria collapsed in 722, the population was made up of remaining native Israelites and foreign colonists. Following this, at the “rise of the Samaritan community”, the temple for Yahweh on Mount Gerizim began to be built (Dictionary of New Testament p451). According to Josephus, the “initiative came from the priests who had been excluded from Jerusalem, because their marriages had been rejected as mixed marriages” (Dictionary of New Testament p451).
Holy Places (pilgrimages included) …show more content…
For the Samaritans, this place of importance was Mount Gerizim. They believed that “Mount Gerizim, not Zion, [was] the true chosen place of God prescribed in the Torah” (Dictionary of The New Testament p194). The Jews disagreed with this though and proclaimed that, “Jerusalem/ Zion was the beloved city” that people prayed to throughout the day (Dictionary of the New Testament p326). Both religions also took pilgrimages to these holy places during festivals and special feasts. The Samaritans made pilgrimages to Mount Gerizim on festivals such as “Passover, Pentecost, and Booths” (Dictionary of The New Testament 195) and the Jews “wished to die and be buried [at Zion]”. (Dictionary of The New Testament