Samaritanism asserts itself as the truly preserved form of the monotheistic faith that the Israelites kept underMoses. Samaritan belief also holds that the Israelites' original holy site wasMount Gerizim,[3][7] and thatJerusalem only attained importance under Israelite dissenters who had followedEli to the city ofShiloh; the Israelites who remained at Mount Gerizim would become the Samaritans in theKingdom of Israel, whereas the Israelites who departed would become theJews in theKingdom of Judah. Mount Gerizim is likewise revered by Samaritans as the location where theBinding of Isaac took place; this beliefcontrasts with the Jewish belief that the Binding occurred at Jerusalem'sTemple Mount.
As of 2025, there are approximately 900[8] registered communal Samaritans. Samaritans believe that this small population is a prophecy fulfilled from a scriptural passage that says, "You will be left few in number."[9][10] Samaritans hope for a future time when a prophet known as the "Taheb" (Restorer) will perform three signs, an era of Divine favour will return, the hiddentabernacle of Moses will be miraculously revealed, and Mount Gerizim will be restored to its former glory.[11][12]
Samaritanism holds that the summit ofMount Gerizim is the true location of God's Holy Place. Samaritans trace their history as a separate entity to a period soon after the Israelites' entry into thePromised Land. Samaritan historiography traces the schism toHigh PriestEli leaving Mount Gerizim, where stood the first Israelite altar inCanaan, and building a competing altar in nearbyShiloh. The dissenting group of Israelites who had followed Eli to Shiloh would be the ones who in later years would head south to settleJerusalem (the Jews), whereas the Israelites who stayed on Mount Gerizim, in Samaria, would become known as the Samaritans.[13]
Abu l-Fath, who wrote a major work of Samaritan history in the 14th century, comments on Samaritan origins as follows:[13]
A terrible civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Pincus (Phinehas), because Eli son of Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendants of Pincus. He used to offer sacrifices on an altar of stones. He was 50 years old, endowed with wealth and in charge of the treasury of the Children of Israel. ...
He offered a sacrifice on the altar, but without salt, as if he were inattentive. When the Great High Priest Ozzi learned of this, and found the sacrifice was not accepted, he thoroughly disowned him; and it is (even) said that he rebuked him.
Thereupon he and the group that sympathized with him, rose in revolt and at once he and his followers and his beasts set off for Shiloh. Thus Israel split in factions. He sent to their leaders saying to them,Anyone who would like to see wonderful things, let him come to me. Then he assembled a large group around him in Shiloh, and built a Temple for himself there; he constructed a place like the Temple [onMount Gerizim]. He built an altar, omitting no detail—it all corresponded to the original, piece by piece.
At this time the Children of Israel split into three factions. A loyal faction on Mount Gerizim; a heretical faction that followed false gods; and the faction that followed Eli son of Yafni in Shiloh.
Further, theSamaritan New Chronicle orAdler, named after its editorElkan Nathan Adler (1861–1946), which is believed to have been composed in the 18th century using earlier chronicles as sources, states:
And the Children of Israel in his days divided into three groups. One did according to the abominations of theGentiles and served other gods; another followed Eli the son of Yafni, although many of them turned away from him after he had revealed his intentions; and a third remained with the High Priest Uzzi ben Bukki, the chosen place.
Modern genetic studies (2004) suggest that Samaritans' lineages trace back to a common ancestor with Jews in the paternally-inherited Jewish high priesthood (Cohanim) temporally proximate to the period of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel, and are probably descendants of the historical Israelite population.[14][15] The religion of the proto-Samaritans at this time was probably no different than that of their southern counterparts inJudea. This likely remained the case for several centuries after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, as Judean cultic reforms instituted by the kingsHezekiah andJosiah experience little opposition extending to the Samaritan people in the north, according to the biblical text.[16]
Though Samaritans certainly were culturally unique, they were closely intertwined with the Jews to the south. As such, Samaritanism likely did not emerge as a distinct tradition until theHasmonean and Roman era, by which pointYahwism had coalesced intoSecond Temple Judaism.[17][page range too broad] The temple on Mount Gerizim, the central place of worship in Samaritanism, was built in the 5th century BCE,[18] as one of many Yahwistic temples in Samaria. However, the temple precinct experienced a centuries-long period of large-scale construction beginning around the 4th century BCE, which indicates that its status as the pre-eminent place of worship among Samaritans had only just been established. Likewise, theological debates between Jews and Samaritans are attested as early as the 2nd century BCE, indicating that theSamaritan Pentateuch had already taken shape, in some form.[19]
TheHasmonean kingJohn Hyrcanus destroyed the Mount Gerizim temple and brought Samaria under his control around 120 BCE, which led to a longlasting sense of mutual hostility between the Jews and Samaritans.[20] From this point, the Samaritans likely sought to consciously distance themselves from their Judean brethren, and both peoples came to see the Samaritan faith as a religion distinct from Judaism.
The relationship between Jews and Samaritans only further deteriorated with time. By the time ofJesus, Samaritans and Jews deeply disparaged one another, as evinced by Jesus'Parable of the Good Samaritan.[21]
TheTorah is the only true holy book and was given by God to Moses. They have a variation of theBook of Joshua, but don't regard it as scripture.
Moses is considered to be the final Prophet, and the only authority after him is the successiveSamaritan Priesthood, from the line ofAaron.
Shechem, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by God. The Samaritans do not recognize the sanctity of Jerusalem and do not recognize theTemple Mount, claiming instead thatMount Gerizim was the place where thebinding of Isaac took place.
There will be an apocalypse, called "the day of vengeance", which will be the end of days.
On the end of days, a figure called the Taheb (essentially the SamaritanMessiah) from theTribe of Joseph will emerge. He will be a prophet like Moses for 40 years, bringing about the return of the Kingdom of Israel, following which the dead will beresurrected, and he will discover theTabernacle, which he will bring to Mount Gerizim, after which he will be buried next to Joseph.[25][26]
The sabbath is observed weekly by the Samaritan community every week from Friday to Saturday beginning and ending at sundown. For 24 hours, the families gather together to celebrate the rest day: all electricity with the exception of minimal lighting (kept on the entire day) in the house is disconnected, no work is done, and neither cooking nor driving is allowed. The time is devoted to worship which consists of sevenprayer services (divided into two for sabbath eve, two in the morning, two in afternoon and one at eve of conclusion), reading the weekly Torah portion (according to the Samaritan yearly Torah cycle), spending quality time with family, taking meals, rest and sleep, and visiting other members of the community.[29]
Passover is particularly important in the Samaritan community, climaxing with the sacrifice of up to 40 sheep. TheCounting of the Omer remains largely unchanged; however, the week before Shavuot is a unique festival celebrating the continued commitment Samaritanism has maintained since the time of Moses. Shavuot is characterized by nearly day-long services of continuous prayer, especially over the stones on Gerizim traditionally attributed to Joshua.
During Sukkot, thesukkah is built inside houses, as opposed to outdoor settings that are traditional among Jews.[30] Samaritan historian Benyamim Tsedaka traces the indoor-sukkah tradition to persecution of Samaritans during theByzantine Empire.[30] The roof of the Samaritan sukkah is decorated withcitrus fruits and the branches ofpalm,myrtle, andwillow trees, according to the Samaritan interpretation of thefour species designated in the Torah for the holiday.[30]
A peculiarity in Samaritanism, is that during Holidays, they recite the liturgy with an audible, fully preservedSamaritan Hebrew pronunciation of theTetragrammaton, being something akin to*Yahúwēh.[31][32][33]
Samaritan law differs fromHalakha (Rabbinic Jewish law) and other Jewish movements. The Samaritans have several groups of religious texts, which correspond to Jewish Halakha. A few examples of such texts are:
Samaritan Pentateuch: There are some 6,000 differences between the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Jewish Pentateuch text; and, according to one estimate, 1,900 points of agreement between it and theGreek LXX version. Several passages in theNew Testament would also appear to echo a Torah textual tradition not dissimilar to that conserved in the Samaritan text. There are several theories regarding the similarities. The variations, some corroborated by readings in the Old Latin, Syriac and Ethiopian translations, attest to the antiquity of the Samaritan text,[34][35][36] although the exact date of composition is still largely unclear. Granted special attention is the so-called "Abisha Scroll", a manuscript of the Pentateuch tradition attributed toAbishua, grandson ofAaron, traditionally compiled during the Bronze Age.
Samaritan Halakhic Text, The Hillukh (Code of Halakha, marriage, circumcision, etc.)
Samaritan Halakhic Text, the Kitab at-Tabbah (Halakha and interpretation of some verses and chapters from the Torah, written by Abu Al Hassan 12th century CE)
Samaritan Halakhic Text, the Kitab al-Kafi (Book of Halakha, written by Yosef Al Ascar 14th century CE)
Haggadic Midrash texts
Al-Asatir—legendary Aramaic texts from the 11th and 12th centuries, containing:
Haggadic Midrash, Abu'l Hasan al-Suri
Haggadic Midrash, Memar Markah—3rd or 4th century theological treatises attributed toHakkam Markha
Haggadic Midrash, Pinkhas on the Taheb
Haggadic Midrash, Molad Maseh (On the birth of Moses)
^Tsedaka, Benyamim (26 April 2013).The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version. Eerdmans. Foreword p. X.ISBN978-0-8028-6519-9.
^Tsedaka, Benyamim (26 April 2013).The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version. Eerdmans. p. 450.ISBN978-0-8028-6519-9.
Crown, Alan David (2005) [1984].A Bibliography of the Samaritans: Revised Expanded and Annotated (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press.ISBN0-8108-5659-X.
Gaster, Moses (1925).The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines and Literature. TheSchweich Lectures for 1923. Oxford University Press.
Heinsdorff, Cornel (2003).Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage (= Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, Bd. 67), Berlin/New York.ISBN3-11-017851-6
Hjelm, Ingrid (2000).Samaritans and Early Judaism: A Literary Analysis. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Series, 303. Sheffield Academic Press.ISBN1-84127-072-5.
Macdonald, John (1964).The Theology of the Samaritans. New Testament Library. London: SCM Press.
Montgomery, James Alan (2006) [1907].The Samaritans, the Earliest Jewish Sect. TheBohlen Lectures for 1906. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock.ISBN1-59752-965-6.
Purvis, James D. (1968).The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origin of the Samaritan Sect. Harvard Semitic Monographs. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Zertal, Adam (1989). "The Wedge-Shaped Decorated Bowl and the Origin of the Samaritans".Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 276. (November 1989), pp.77–84.
