We all know the expression Good Samaritan, and many of us know the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans emerged as a distinct group of people following the exchange of populations caused by the Assyrian invasion of Israel in about 722 BC. They adopted their own form of Judaism and were later negatively portrayed by the Temple priesthood. Jesus objected, and said that the Samaritans are good people. Many believed that they were demon-possessed (John 8:28) and rejected Jesus because they thought that he was Samaritan. All this hostility led to their alliance with the Romans against Judea.
Following Judea’s final defeat by the Romans in about 135 AD, the Samaritans began their golden age. They rebuilt their temple on Mount Gerizim, gathered over a million adherents. and established communities in Damascus, Gaza, Cairo and elsewhere. But their nation became ruled by the Byzantine Christians and, in a series of persecutions which culminated in the destruction of their temple in 529, decimated them. Their territory had consisted of what is now about two thirds of the area referred to as the West Bank, the other third being Judea.
Despite some cultural revivals over the centuries, the Muslim rule that followed the Byzantines proved even more brutal. The 800 or so now remaining Samaritans have been courted by the Palestinian Authority and persecuted by them at the same time. Most have fled to Israel where they now live in peace.
Because they observe only the first five books of the Bible, they are neither Christians nor Jews. But they are people of the biblical faith, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, like Christians and Jews. The word “Samaritan” means “keepers of the law” in ancient Hebrew. Many Bible scholars believe that their scriptures are the closest to the originals. Assuming that this is so, they are truly Good Samaritans, indeed.
End Note: John the Baptist is buried in Samaria. Saint Jerome (c.347-420) saw miracles there. Today the grave lies beneath the Nabi Yahya Mosque.
Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett
Following Judea’s final defeat by the Romans in about 135 AD, the Samaritans began their golden age. They rebuilt their temple on Mount Gerizim, gathered over a million adherents. and established communities in Damascus, Gaza, Cairo and elsewhere. But their nation became ruled by the Byzantine Christians and, in a series of persecutions which culminated in the destruction of their temple in 529, decimated them. Their territory had consisted of what is now about two thirds of the area referred to as the West Bank, the other third being Judea.
Despite some cultural revivals over the centuries, the Muslim rule that followed the Byzantines proved even more brutal. The 800 or so now remaining Samaritans have been courted by the Palestinian Authority and persecuted by them at the same time. Most have fled to Israel where they now live in peace.
Because they observe only the first five books of the Bible, they are neither Christians nor Jews. But they are people of the biblical faith, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, like Christians and Jews. The word “Samaritan” means “keepers of the law” in ancient Hebrew. Many Bible scholars believe that their scriptures are the closest to the originals. Assuming that this is so, they are truly Good Samaritans, indeed.
End Note: John the Baptist is buried in Samaria. Saint Jerome (c.347-420) saw miracles there. Today the grave lies beneath the Nabi Yahya Mosque.
Copyright 2015, Mark L. Bennett
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