THE SAMARITANS

A Profile

Reinhard Pummer

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U.K.

© 2016 Reinhard Pummer

All rights reserved

Published 2016 by

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

www.eerdmans.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pummer, Reinhard, author.

The Samaritans : a profile / Reinhard Pummer.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8028-6768-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Samaritans—History. I. Title.

BM910.P855 2016

296.8’17—dc23

2015029837

Cover illustration: Top—Passover Pilgrims praying on Mount Gerizim (Reinhard Pummer). Bottom—Delos inscription 2; see Fig. 8 on p. 94 with the discussion on pp. 92–95 (EfA/Ph. Bruneau)

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Illustrations

Introduction

i. The Identity of the Samaritans

1. The Samaritan View

2. The Traditional Jewish View

3. Modern Scholarly Views

ii. Samaritans in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament?

iii. The Samaritans and the New Testament

1. The Gospel of Matthew

2. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts

3. The Gospel of John

4. Samaritan Influence on New Testament Writings?

iv. Samaritans in Jewish Writings of Antiquity

1. Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Writings

2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

3. Flavius Josephus

4. Rabbinic Literature

v. Archaeological Excavations

1. Mount Gerizim

2. Synagogues

3. Amulets and Oil Lamps

4. Ritual Baths—Miqvaʾot

vi. Samaritan Sects

1. Samaritan Sources

2. Muslim and Karaite Sources

3. Patristic Sources

vii. The Samaritans in History

1. Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods

2. Late Roman and Byzantine Periods

3. Early Muslim Period

4. Crusader Period

5. Mamluk Period

6. Ottoman Period

7. Modern Period

viii. Geographical Distribution and Demography

1. Palestine

2. Diaspora

3. Demography

ix. The Samaritan Pentateuch

1. The Nature of the Samaritan Pentateuch

2. Ancient Translations of the Samaritan Pentateuch

3. The Samaritan Pentateuch in Western Scholarship

4. The Samaritan Script

x. Samaritan Literature

1. Exegesis

2. Halakhah

3. Liturgy

4. Chronicles

5. Linguistic Writings

6. Folktales

7. Interactions with European Scholars

xi. Samaritan Rituals and Customs

1. The Samaritan Calendar

2. Passover and Maṣot

3. The Feast of Weeks

4. The First Day of the Seventh Month

5. The Day of Atonement

6. Tabernacles

7. The Eighth Day of Tabernacles—Shemini Aṣeret

8. Ṣimmut Pesaḥ and Ṣimmut Sukkot

9. Pilgrimage

10. Circumcision

11. Redemption of the First Born

12. Completion of the Reading of the Torah

13. Betrothal and Wedding

14. Funeral

15. Prayer

16. Music

17. Art

xii. The Samaritans Today

xiii. New Challenges

Bibliography

Index of Sources

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Subjects