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JACOB, SON OF AARON, HIGH PRIEST OF TH 
 SAMARITANS. 
 
FHE HISTORY AND RELIGION 
 OF THE SAMARITANS 
 
 BY 
 
 JACOB, SON OF AARON 
 HIGH PRIEST OF THE SAMARITANS 
 AT SHECHEM, PALESTINE 
 
 EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 WILLIAM ELEAZAR BARTON, D.D. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC 
 BY 
 
 ABDULLAH BEN KORI 
 
 Oak Park, 111. 
 
 THE PURITAN PRESS 
 1906 
 
k.;! 
 
 r A‘ 
 
 
Note.— The following history appeared in the BiBmoTHECA 
 Sacra for July, 1906, and is reprinted by courtesy of its editor. 
 A previous article, by Dr. Barton, entitled, ‘‘ The Samaritan 
 Pentateuch,” appeared in the Bibliotheca Sacra for October, 
 1903. Either 'of these pamphlets may be obtained for 25 cents 
 from The Puritan Press, Oak Park, Illinois. 
 
 Copyright, 1906, The Bibliotheca Sacra Co. 
 

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 THE HISTORY AND RELIGION OF THE 
 SAMARITANS. 
 
 BY JACOB, SON OF AARON, HIGH PRIEST OF THE SAMARITANS 
 AT SHECHEM. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BY WILLIAM ELEAZAR BARTON, D.D. 
 
 The author of the following history, Jacob, son of Aaron, is high 
 priesr of the Samaritans at Nablus, Palestine, the ancient Shechem. 
 He is now seventy-three years of age, and has been high priest for 
 fifty-eight years. Although the custopa of the Samaritans does not 
 permit a man to officiate as priest until he is thirty years of age, 
 Jacob was consecrated at fifteen, as he was the eldest nephew of the 
 high priest who died at that time, and who had no sons of his own. 
 
 I learned of this book from a letter written me by the high priest 
 himself, in which he said that he had prepared this history for an 
 eminent English scholar, an Oxford professor, who died before 
 the work was completed. Upon this book, the high priest declares, 
 he spent two years of labor; and he regretted not only the loss of 
 time, and the money which he needed, but also the opportunity 
 to make known to Christians the doctrines of his community. He 
 counts it a misfortune that the Samaritans are known to the Chris- 
 tians only through their mutual enemies, the Jews. His own feeling 
 toward the Christian world is a very kindly one, and he has satis- 
 faction in those references in the New Testament which show the 
 sympathetic attitude of Jesus toward the Samaritans. He appre- 
 ciates the interest of Christian travelers in himself and his people, 
 and wishes to give them what he believes to be the true story of the 
 Samaritan division from the Jews. 
 
6 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 After some correspondence and delay I purchased from the high 
 priest the history he had compiled. It is in Arabic, with Scripture 
 passages quoted in Samaritan text and in the Hebrew language. 
 It is neatly written, and makes a manuscript volume of two hundred 
 and ninety-six pages. Scripture references are given in Samaritan 
 Hebrew, and repeated in the Arabic. 
 
 The Jews date the origin of the Samaritans as a people from the 
 importation of foreigners into Northern Syria after the conquest 
 by Sargon in 722 B. C., and the rise of their religion from the time 
 when Manasseh, a young priest who had married a daughter of San- 
 ballat, the Samaritan governor, refused to leave his wife at the 
 command of Nehemiah in 432 b. c. It cannot fail to be noted with 
 interest that the high priest rests his case on no defense of Man- 
 asseh, however oppressive the decree of Nehemiah might have been 
 made to appear. According to his argument, which is the historic 
 argument of his sect, the Samaritans are the original Hebrews, de- 
 scendants of Joseph, except their priests, who are of the tribe of 
 Levi. According to their tradition, it is the Jews who have gone 
 aside, both by intermarriage with other nations, which the Samari- 
 tans still shun, and also by secession from the capital and sanctuary 
 established by Joshua and steadfastly maintained by the faithful 
 Samaritans to this day, and by departure from the Torah, which the 
 Jews are alleged to have corrupted and added to. 
 
 The most interesting fact connected with the present document 
 is the way in which the priest thrusts the wedge of his argument into 
 a palpable hiatus, and perhaps more than one, in Old Testament 
 history. When Palestine is settled, Shechem is the capital and sanc- 
 tuary. Here the bones of Joseph are buried; here Joshua assembles 
 the tribes; here later, even after the division, kings come to be 
 crowned. Then, without any apparent reason, we find the Ark of 
 the Covenant at Shiloh, and a temple there, and a priest named Eli, 
 of whose antecedents no very definite account is given in the Old 
 Testament, and whose name does not appear in the genealogy of the 
 Aaronic priests in 1 Chron. vi. 3-15. Later the Ark is moved from 
 this locality, and located in Jerusalem in the reign of David, a 
 calamity and consequent delay occurring in the transfer. There is 
 still another delay, accounted for by a revelation to David that not 
 he but his son must build the Temple in Jerusalem. Thus, finally, 
 the transfer from Shechem to Jerusalem is made, and the worship 
 of the nation is established in what is declared by Old Testament 
 writers after the fact to have been the place of the original divine 
 intent; but which is unnamed in the prophecies of the establishment 
 of the capital and sanctuary — unnamed, because, as the high priest 
 contends, every one knew that Shechem was the place. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 7 
 
 Into every one of these open doors of controversy the Ugh priest 
 enters, and brings forth what the reader may here discover. Eli, 
 according to his history, was a usurper, a subordinate priest on Ger- 
 izim, who took advantage of the immaturity of the high priest to 
 exalt his own ambition. He is declared to have moved his temple 
 to Shiloh, where he counterfeited the sacred furniture, and claimed 
 that it was original. It was the time of anarchy and godlessness: 
 -few of the people knew or cared what Eli did. He and his wicked 
 sons there made their calling and election sure. And the true 
 temple diminished, and finally by divine power disappeared. 
 
 It certainly is unfortunate for the argument that a miracle has to 
 be resorted to in order to account for the disappearance of the true 
 Ark from Gerizim; the argument is plausible up to that point. It is 
 difficult to understand why, if Eli made a 'fictitious Ark, the wrath 
 of God should not rather have displayed itself in the protection and 
 preservation of the true one than in its disappearance, which mani- 
 festly aided the imposture. The argument is more cogent when it 
 keeps clear of the supernatural. 
 
 Samuel, as a priest of the same illicit sanctuary, and a magician, 
 carries the narrative on to the time of the monarchy. Pains are 
 taken to give us Samuel’s descent from Korah, “ whom the earth 
 sNvallowed.” This is almost needless, though appropriate, in view 
 of the alleged subsequent behavior of Samuel; who, more than any 
 other man after Eli, is held responsible for the division of Israel, 
 the setting up of false shrines, and the establishment under David of 
 a modern and unauthorized capital in the city now called Jerusalem. 
 
 The priests of Nob, who have been difficult to identify, here 
 appear as Samaritan priests, who, befriending David when he flees 
 from Saul, are heeded by him later when but for their warning 
 David would have built a temple in Jerusalem; so that David himself, 
 bad as he is here represented, heeded that warning and that of the 
 death of Uzziah, and stopped short of the sin of building a temple 
 in the Jebusite city. That act of impiety, however, was finally com- 
 mitted by Solomon, who also built another false temple for his 
 Egyptian wife, and did other gross and abominable acts. ^ 
 
 The interest in this narrative grows with the reflection that here 
 is a contemporary voice of antiquity, calling for a rehearing of a case 
 long since decided by the court of the world. In some respects 
 it is entirely unique. Most of the messages from the past come to 
 us in fragments exhumed from ruins; the men who chiseled the 
 inscriptions were buried beneath them, their own dust mingling with 
 their work. But this isolated and almost forgotten little sect, in- 
 stead of speaking to us from the tomb, shouts faintly from the top 
 of its holy mountain its unheeded protest against the judgment 
 
8 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 of the world. It is certainly a dramatic picture which this document 
 brings before our vision. If Hammurabi could rise from the dead 
 to interpret to us his newly discovered code; or if in the heart of 
 Mesopotamia a little sect could be discovered with extant ceremonies 
 and a living literature still derived from the customs and based on 
 the laws therein contained, and the present head of the community 
 could speak to us, defending the code of Hammurabi against all 
 modern legislation, it would be hardly more dramatic. 
 
 A pathetic interest attaches to the fact that the high priest will 
 rejoice in the publication of this document. He cannot read it in 
 English, but will know that his book has been faithfully translated, 
 and that at last his poor and diminutive sect has spoken to the 
 world in defense of its right to worship God on Mount Gerizim. 
 Some copies will be sent him, and if he is able to sell them for a 
 trifle to English-speaking tourists who visit Nablus, he will have 
 succeeded in telling to a world of strange speech and greatly 
 altered customs the meaning of his sect, which seems to the mod- 
 ern visitor a most interesting anacronism. 
 
 The translation which follows is of the flrst chapter of the book. 
 Whether the nine remaining chapters, most of which are much more 
 brief, will be published soon, has not yet been determined. A syn- 
 opsis of their contents is given in this chapter, and this one con- 
 tains an outline of the entire history of the Samaritans and of the 
 argument on which they base their belief. Interesting as some of 
 the remaining chapters are, this one is, for practical purposes, a 
 complete work. I have other documents in my possession, and more 
 on the way, which may prove of sufficient value to warrant transla- 
 tion. 
 
 The work of translation has been performed for me by Mr. Ab- 
 dullah Ben Kori, instructor in the Texas Christian University of 
 Waco, Texas, who possesses intimate acquaintance with modern 
 Arabic. My thanks are due to him, and to Professor Herbert L. 
 Willet, D.D., of the University of Chicago, who has assisted in 
 some of the renderings. 
 
 I acknowledge the kindness of Dr. Gaskorn Wright, of the Church 
 Missionary Hospital at Nablus, who has greatly assisted me in my 
 dealings with the high priest. The priest writes his letters in 
 Arabic, and takes them to the mission, where they are translated, 
 and both original and translation are forwarded. It is my purpose 
 to have this history reprinted in pamphlet form and to present copies 
 to the high priest for the purpose of supplying English-speaking 
 tourists. To such I gladly commend the work which Dr. Wright 
 is doing. I also acknowledge the kindness of Mr. E. W. Warren, of 
 Three Oaks, Mich., whose interest in the Samaritans has been of 
 assistance to me. — William E. Baetox. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 9 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 - In the name of the most merciful God. Praise be to 
 him ; for he has appropriated for himself rulership and eternity, 
 and has clothed the mind of his good worshipers with a true 
 light, and from the seas of the abundance of his wisdom has 
 caused themi to drink until they obtained the highest estate in 
 righteousness; and has caused each one of them to ascend to 
 the highest degree, thereby attaining paradise, the resurrection, 
 and the meeting-day ; also he has confirmed their hearts in their 
 truthfulness, being fully enlightened by his shining light, and 
 has poured upon them the treasure of his wisdom in an exceed- 
 ingly free manner. Happy are they because of what he has 
 caused them to drink, and because of those who have been gath- 
 ered to them from the sea of multitudes, but who are scattered 
 in this world. May God make them faithful, and-also them 
 among those who have imitated them, and among those who 
 have taken hold of and have become devoted to the righteous 
 Light of their hearts ; and that is not impossible to God. I 
 praise him with the praise of a servant who is sunk in sin, hop- 
 ing from the kindness of his Personality pardon and forgive- 
 ness, hoping the entrance of the garden, for the sake and 
 through the prayers of our lord and our prophet Moses, the 
 brother of Aaron, upon whom be the best commendation of the 
 most perfect salutation. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It was during the year 1213 of the kingdom of Israel [i. e. 
 of the Hegira, or 1885 a.d.], which corresponds to the year 3532 
 of the entrance of the children of Israel, that there came to our 
 country one of the scholars of the school of Oxford in the land 
 of England, and remained in the outskirts of our city Nablus for 
 a period of three days. He presented himself to me, and asked 
 of me that I write him the ceremonies of our religion, and the 
 
10 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 order of our prayers at every feast, and at the beginning of every 
 month, and on the days of the Sabbath, as well as on every day ; 
 and also concerning our religious duties and customs, and about 
 the funerals of our dead ones, and about the celebration of our 
 marriages, and the rest of our customs. Also he desired to 
 know what we do in the Feast of our Passover in the mountain 
 of Gerizim. I assented to his demand, and began composing 
 this pleasant book, and the said book follows. 
 
 This servant says that there came to him several questions 
 from the highest scholars of Europe in regard to the origin of 
 the Israelite-Samaritan religion, and concerning the orders of 
 their prayers in the regular days, and the orders of their pray- 
 ers in the festival days, and when the separation from the Jew- 
 ish people took place, and many other questions. I felt it a duty 
 to gather and compose and write up this book, and I divided it 
 in ten chapters. 
 
 AN ANALYSIS OF THE ENTIRE WORK. 
 
 The first chapter concerns the Samaritan people, and from 
 which tribe of the tribes of Israel it is, and concerning the 
 causes of their separation from the Jewish people, and in what 
 time such a separation took place, and concerning the causes of 
 their being surnamed with the name of Samaria, and how great 
 was their number when they separated and set themselves apart, 
 and concerning their present number. 
 
 The second chapter concerns the belief of the Samaritan peo- 
 ple as to the direction in prayer, which is towards the mountain 
 of Gerizim, according to the direction of the blessed Torah. It 
 also contains the proof that this mountain is the selected place of 
 the house of God, and that upon it the shekinah was placed dur- 
 ing the life of our lord Joshua (upon whom be peace and the 
 gift of divine favor), and that it is the true place of worship. 
 It contains also a reply to the Jews who have denied it, and a 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 11 
 
 refutation of their argument by the written directions concern- 
 ing it, inasmuch as they exchange another place in lieu of it. 
 
 The third chapter concerns the observance of the Sabbath 
 among the Samaritan people. 
 
 The fourth chapter concerns the circumcision and the di- 
 rections for it among the Samaritan people. It concerns also 
 the dilTerences which exist between them and the Jews regard- 
 ing this statute, according as the Samjaritan people do to-day, 
 and have done from ancient times. 
 
 The fifth chapter concerns the reckoning of time among the 
 Samaritans, and how they find it out, and their means of ascer- 
 taining it. Also it relates to the mention of their feasts, and 
 how religious they become in them ; and the mentioning of 
 offerings of the Passover, and its obligatory character and its 
 observance ; and also their fasts and their visitations and morti- 
 fications, and the differences regarding these matters which 
 exist between them and the Jewish people, and the reply to the 
 aforesaid tribe concerning its variations. 
 
 The sixth chapter concerns the defilements and their various 
 forms, the method of purification as it is accepted by the Sa- 
 maritans, and has been their practice from ancient times until 
 to-day. 
 
 The seventh chapter mentions what the Samaritan people be- 
 lieve concerning the^ directions of what should be slaughtered 
 for food and sacrifices andjts conditions, and what is not al- 
 lowed them from the various kinds of fowl, and what is not 
 permissible for them to eat from the two kinds [fowl and 
 beasts] ; and what they are required to set apart from every sac- 
 rifice, because it is not permissible to eat it on account of its 
 holiness. It tells their custom also concerning the prohibition 
 about castrated animals, and. concerning the. prohibition of 
 slaughtering pregnant animals ; and concerning the^ prohibition 
 
12 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 of blood ; and the mentioning of the differences which exist be- 
 tween the Samaritan people and the Jews in these matters, and 
 the method they follow in these regards, and what they practice 
 at the present time. 
 
 The eighth chapter concerns the mention of the law of mar- 
 riage as it is observed b^ this people, and who of the women is 
 allowed to be married, and who is not, and what is essential in 
 the observance of the law of marriage, and concerning who 
 should be divorced, and the method they follow in these matters, 
 even in these days. 
 
 The ninth chapter affirms the unaltered character of the Torah 
 among the Samaritan people, and that the blessed Torah which 
 is in their hands has never suffered' any alteration, and that it 
 is unchanging in its requirements; and has never been altered 
 throughout the ages. 
 
 The tenth chapter concerns the dead among the Samaritan 
 people and the necessary things accompanying it, and concern- 
 ing their belief in the meeting-day, and concerning the condition 
 of man from the time of his departure from this earth until God 
 shall bring him back in the day of judgment, and concerning 
 the veracity of their belief as to the days when questions shall be 
 asked and accounts shall be rendered, and when rewards shall 
 be given and punishments administered as it is affirmed by the 
 plain statements of the law and traditions, -according as it is 
 accepted to-day, and God knows best. 
 
 First Chapter: — Concerning the origin of the Samari- 
 tan PEOPLE AND FROM WHAT TRIBE OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL 
 THEY ARE, AND CONCERNING THE CAUSES OF THEIR SEPARA- 
 ■ TION FROM THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND WHEN THEY SEPA- 
 RATED AND TURNED ASIDE FROM THEM, AND CONCERNING THE 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THEIR SURNAMES WITH THE WORD 
 
 “ Samaria,"'' and concerning their number at present. 
 What this Book will Undertake to Prove . — What is an af- 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 13 
 
 firmed fact among the aforesaid Samaritan people is that they 
 are of the, children of Israel, and that they are those who have 
 remained faithful to the Law of our lord Moses (upon whom be 
 peace), and they are those who still cling to the five books, which 
 have descended through him, and are called the Torah, without 
 alteration and without accepting the addition to and the sub- 
 traction from it, and that the Torah which is in their hands is 
 the true original and faultless Torah in all its sentences, pro- 
 nunciations, and its style. In favor of this they can adduce a 
 strong argument, which shall be stated later on. They have also 
 a strong reply to the Jewish people as to their claim! that the 
 Samaritans are not of Israel, of which an account shall be given 
 in this chapter. 
 
 The Samaritans the True Israelites. — The origin of this peo- 
 ple is of the tribe of our lord Joseph (upon whom be peace), 
 who are the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. Their 
 priests are of the house of Levi, the descendants of Aaron (upon 
 whom be peace). Once there followed this people some of the 
 other tribes, though now there is none among them who is not 
 from the tribe of our lord Joseph (upon whom be peace), ex- 
 cepting the family of the priesthood, which is of the tribe of 
 Levi, as w^e have already stated. 
 
 Gerizim the Original Holy Place. — Now the causes of their 
 separation from the remnant of the tribes of Israel and the 
 causes of their attachment to the faith which they now have and 
 which differs in many points from the faith of the Jews are 
 many. The principal cause happened during the life of Eli, the 
 priest, who lived in the year 280 of the entrance of the children 
 of Israel into the land of Canaan. For when the children of 
 Israel (according to the chronicles with the Samaritan people) 
 entered the holy land, their high priest was the wise Eleazar the 
 son of Aaron (upon whom be peace). His place of dwell- 
 
14 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 ing was in Gerizim, where he served in the tabernacle, which was 
 built in the wilderness, according to the commandments of the 
 Truth (may He be extolled), and according to the plan of 
 our lord Moses (upon whom be peace), as it was given him 
 from Him (may He be extolled). Those who made its vessels 
 were the wise men Bezaleel and Eliab, and other skilled men 
 who joined in with them, as it is narrated in the Holy Torah. 
 
 This tabernacle our lord Joshua (who is the first among the 
 the blessed) built upon the mountain of Gerizim, according to 
 the divine commandment which was given to our lord Moses 
 (upon whom be peace). The tabernacle was built upon this 
 mountain six years after the entrance of the children of Israel 
 into the Holy Land. It remained in this mountain throughout 
 the life of our lord Eleazar, during the life of our lord Phine- 
 has, his son, and during the life of our lord Abishua, his son, 
 and during the life of his son, our lord Shesha, and during the 
 life of his son, our lord Bacha. 
 
 The Succession of the Priesthood . — And after Bacha, the 
 high priest, there came our lord Aza (upon them be peace), and 
 when the aforesaid Aza became the high priest, the number of 
 his years was twenty-three, and during his leadership the di- 
 rector of the taxes and the director of the sacrifices upon the 
 stone altar ( which was outside of the tabernacle, according as 
 it was corntmanded to be built in this mountain, and not to be 
 confused with the brazen altar, which was within the temple) 
 was Eli, of whom mention has been already made. He was of 
 the family of Aaron, that is of the sons of our lord Ithamar, a 
 brother of our lord Eleazar (upon whom be peace), and was 
 well advanced in years, for his age at that time was sixty years. 
 
 And at that time the high-priesthood was to fall upon the de- 
 scendants of the family of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son 
 of Aaron (upon them be peace), as it is clearly indicated in the 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 15 
 
 book of Numbers, the twenty-fifth chapter, the eleventh verse, 
 where it is stated “ Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of 
 Aaron the priest, has turned away my wrath from the children 
 of Israel through his zeal, which is like unto my zeal, against 
 their sins ; therefore, I did not destroy them to their last by mine 
 anger, and for this I have said to him. Behold? I have given 
 him a covenant of peace ] and it shall be a covenant of priesthood 
 to him, and to his descendants after him, until the last from his 
 loins, an eternal testament of priesthood.’ Finis” (and this quo- 
 tation is translated from the Hebrew). Therefore, the high- 
 priesthood became settled upon the house of our lord Phinehas 
 (upon whom be peace). And thus, when the high priest Bacha 
 died, his son Aza became his successor. Thus the aforesaid Eli 
 became the one who offered burnt offerings upon the stone altar, 
 and under his' supervision were the revenues and tithes, and he 
 was second in authority over the house of Levi; but the high 
 priest Aza was over him, and, as it has been already stated, the 
 high priest was younger in years than he. Eli became rich 
 through the surplus of the revenues, which were under his su- 
 pervision ; and therefore, he was inclined to take away the high- 
 priesthood from the high priest Aza, that he might be greater 
 than he, on account of his greater age and on account of the fact 
 that the high priest Aza was younger than he. 
 
 The Advent of Sorcery into Israel . — It happened that, nine 
 years before Aza became high priest, the king- judge of Israel, 
 Antael, passed to the mercy of God, and the fame of this king 
 grew, and became very well known as to courage and rulership. 
 Therefore, the captainship of the armies fell upon Samson. He 
 was a heroic man and of great strength. He became engaged 
 in miany wars and quarrels, and greatly afflicted the nations 
 round about, and destroyed many nations in those times. For 
 these reasons the conditions of the children of Israel were 
 
16 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 changed, and their purposes became different and their plans 
 became rotten, with the change of heart of the aforesaid Eli. 
 
 And there appeared among the children of Israel certain 
 groups of men who were inclined to follow the licentioiis things, 
 and who fraternized with the Gentiles and intermarried with 
 them. And those who paid attention to religion were very few, 
 some of them separated themtselves, and followed other gods of 
 the gods of strangers, and worshiped them, and were led astray. 
 Great negligence as to the conversion of these apostates was evi- 
 dent. Every one of them was busied with his worldly affairs ; 
 and when God knew their evil purposes, and the change in their 
 conditions, he incited against them their enemies. Therefore; 
 these enemies planned to take vengeance against them. And 
 they read in the books of Balaam that those peoples could 
 neither be corrupted nor destroyed except through their faith 
 in sorcery and their following it; and that, just as they had be- 
 come defiled by their sorcery and had'denied their law, then their 
 rottenness would become apparent through it, and their destruc- 
 tion would be possible. Therefore, they began to discover all 
 matters belonging to sorcery, and they sent a party of those who 
 had knowledge of that art, and sped them to the land of the 
 children of Israel. They arrived and entered, and went in and 
 out among them, and there was none who could hold back the 
 crowds from them'; and corruption became prevalent even 
 among the priests. And to some of those who were prodigal, 
 and who were wise iii the \vays of the world, the sorcerers dis- 
 closed the art of sorcery. They entered into it heartily and 
 learned its methods, and their number was increased until it be- 
 came a hundred men, and they abandoned the right way of pray- 
 ing toward the noble mountain, that is the mountain of Gerizim, 
 and they worshiped there the foreign gods, and offered sacri- 
 fices to the idols, and corruption rooted itself deeply, and the 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 17 
 
 Philistines were victorious against the hero Samson, and then 
 what was contained in the souls appeared. 
 
 The Apostasy of Eli . — In that time a quarrel took place be- 
 tween Eli, the son of Sephna, of whom mention was made, and 
 our lord Aza, the son of Bacha. Eli wished to be promoted over 
 Aza. He, therefore, began to gather in his friends, and to tell 
 them in a boastful manner that it was iio^ decent for him to 
 serve a child. Said he, “ I cannot suffer it upon myself, and 
 I pray you to refuse to submit yourself to him ” ; and he began 
 to bribe, and to induce them, until he had a large party with 
 him. 
 
 They told him, “We are yours, at your service, and ready to 
 do your orders. Command us whatever you desire, for we will 
 not disobey your word.’’ 
 
 Therefore, he caused them to swear that they would be his fol- 
 lowers in all his actions ; and they made with him a covenant 
 to that effect. And they proposed to him that he should accom- 
 plish his purpose through witchcraft, because he had learned it 
 from the foreigners in order to accomplish his purpose. His 
 thoughts were occupied all the time with his ambition, but never- 
 theless he continued to offer sacrifices upon the stone altar. 
 
 One day he offered a meal offering upon the altar with- 
 out salt, through forgetfulness, on account of the fact that his 
 thoughts were continually occupied with something else. Aza. 
 the high priest, knew and understood all that. Therefore, he 
 rebuked him, and that made Eli angry. Immediately his fol- 
 lowers apostatized, and all those who were inclined likewise,, 
 and there remained of them among the children of Israel only 
 those who dwelt near by the mountain of Gerizim, of the vil- 
 lages and cities like Nablus and like Palestine and the regions 
 of Jabesh. Some of them followed Aza, the son of Bacha, and 
 some of them followed Eli, the son of Sephna. Of them the 
 
18 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 tribe of Joseph stood' with the high priest Aza, and some of Ju- 
 dah and of the tribe of Benjamin stood for Eli, the son of 
 Sephna. 
 
 Therefore, Eli went to their dwelling-places and lived in Shi- 
 loh, hut the high priest Aza remained in Har Gerizim; and that 
 is how it camie about. But the majority of the children of Is- 
 rael who were scattered in the different places did not know of 
 this event, because they w ere too much occupied in their worldly 
 affairs. Some of them were even devoted to idol worship, and- 
 others were in slavery to the Philistines and the Canaanites. 
 
 When Eli arrived at Shiloh, he dwelt in and fortified it, and 
 for these many reasons the children of Israel became disunited. 
 Eli used to send any one whom be knew of the children of Is- 
 rael to tell them that he desired them to come to witness the 
 miracles and signs in Shiloh. Moreover, Eli had taken with him 
 many copies of the writings of our lord Ithamar of the holy law, 
 and among them he had a roll. He made for it a chest, or an 
 ark, similar to the chest in the tabernacle, and he overlaid it 
 with gold, and made for it a lid, with cherubim, according as it 
 was in the tabernacle. He claimed that it was the ark of the 
 testimonies, and that he got hold of it by divine means. There 
 gathered about him a large crowd in Shiloh, and he built small 
 places of worship, and he fashioned in Shiloh everything like 
 the noble tabernacle, and he built upon it an altar after the fash- 
 ion which is in the holy tabernacle, and the people who followed 
 him offered sacrifices. He did not change any of the Torah, 
 which is the five books of Moses, but he claimed for the worship 
 of God a different place instead of the true one, saying that 
 this was by the command of God, according to his pretension, 
 and therefore (as he claimed) he removed the ark of testi- 
 monies from the mountain of Gerizim, and built for it a taber- 
 nacle in Shiloh. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. ' 19 
 
 The Disappearance of the Tabernacle. — Now, because the 
 children of Israel rebelled against the commandments of God, 
 and because they have become disunited, the Lord (may he be 
 extolled) hid the holy tabernacle from their sight, and the 
 story of its disappearance will be narrated later on. 
 
 When Eli learned of the disappearance of the aforesaid tab- 
 ernacle, his influence became great, and he affirmed that the 
 tabernacle which he had built was the ancient tabernacle ; and 
 a majority of the children of Israel began to follow him, and to 
 go to his tabernacle, with the exception of the tribe of Joseph, 
 and all those who had remained in the service of the high priest 
 Aza, and the tribe of Levi. And since those days, and during 
 these present times, the aforesaid tribe has differed from the 
 tribes of Israel, remaining true to the mountain of Gerizim and 
 true to the house of Aza, and they and all their friends remained 
 dwelling in the mountain of Gerizim, continuing to be favorable 
 to Aza, and refusing to follow Eli. Enmity arose between the 
 followers of Eli and the followers of Aza, and it became so 
 great that even religion differed among them, mention of which 
 will be made later on. 
 
 Eli and his Sons . — Now let us return to the mention of Eli 
 and his family. Eli had two sons, one of them was called 
 Hophni and the other was called Phinehas. Seeing the rebel- 
 lion of their father, they followed him. They were sons of, Be- 
 lial. They used to gather the women beautiful to look 
 upon, and did shameful things with them, and used also 
 to feed them of the holy offerings of their tabernacle. They 
 ‘had no' fear of God, and knew not the duties of priesthood 
 toward the people. And when a man of their people came to the 
 tabernacle to offer sacrifices, those children used to gO' and take 
 the meat before the dedicated portion was taken from it, and 
 used to feed from it any one at will, and no one prevented them. 
 
20 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 Their actions were therefore displeasing to God, and their sins 
 were exceedingly great. In spite of that their father never tried 
 to turn them away. The highest and most respectable persons 
 of the Samaritan nation who were then in those regions wit- 
 nessed all those actions, and they have in their histories a longer 
 narrative in which the history of these two children and that 
 of their father Eli is mentioned. 
 
 During the life of their father the children of Israel were -di- 
 vided into three sections. One division followed the laws and 
 customs of the Gentiles and worshiped their gods, another di- 
 vision followed amusements and sports, and another di- 
 vision remained with Eli ; but one division followed the great 
 high priest Aza. They continued to visit the sacred mountain. 
 Therefore their conditions were changed, and there came about 
 the vengeance of God which befell them. Their eyes became 
 blinded, the angels of God left themj; inspiration was taken away 
 from their leaders, and the holy light which used to appear 
 within the holy tabernacle disappeared ; and the divine fire which 
 never was missed whenever sacrifice was offered went away. 
 And upon them was fulfilled the threatening which is recorded 
 in the Torah, according to the saying in the book of Deuter- 
 onomy, chapter thirty-one, verse eighteen : “ I shall surely 
 
 cause to hide my presence from them on that day on account of 
 the wickedness which they have done, because they erred in fol- 
 lowing strange gods.” 
 
 Details of the Hiding of the Tabernacle .— when this 
 took place, their number amounted to over seventy thousand 
 persons. They stayed by the high priest Aza and defended him , 
 and there is an account of this also in the history of the Samar- 
 tan people. And when this separation took place and corrup- 
 tion prevailed, the anger of God was great, and he caused the 
 holy tabernacle to disappear which was upon Mount Geri- 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 21 
 
 zim, because it was of no value. And the history of its disap- 
 pearance is as follows : 
 
 The high priest Aza used to go into the temple, and once, 
 while he was going according to his custom, he saw nothing of 
 the former signs of God’s pleasure, and behold there was black 
 darkness in the house. He was frightened. This took place 
 on Monday morning of the completion of the fiftieth. He con- 
 tinued to go into the temple during iylonday, Tuesday, and 
 Wednesday ; but on Thursday he beheld that the darkness had 
 been greatly increased and extended, and had covered the walls 
 of the place. He found out also that whenever he went into the 
 inner part that portion disappeared. And when he went from 
 the temple he saw there was a cave near by the place, on the site 
 of the temple, and that cave was open, and he had never seen it 
 before that day, neither he nor any of the servants of the tern- # 
 pie. God revealed to Aza the high priest that he should place 
 the precious vessels of the tabernacle inside of that cave, be- 
 cause it was evident that the Lord (may He be extolled) did not 
 create such a cave in that place except for that purpose. The ap- 
 pearance of the cave was quite an assurance to him, and he saw 
 that it would be right to place the tabernacle in that cave. First, 
 on account of fear of their enemies, lest they should come up, and 
 take it violently from them, and pollute its holiness. Secondly, 
 through the signs which indicated to them that that was the will 
 of God, and as such it ought to- be obeyed. Thirdly, because 
 there was abomination in the observance of the service of the 
 tabernacle. The high priest Aza therefore began to gather the 
 holy garments, and the vessels of gold and silver, and to place 
 them in that cave. They carried into the cave the ark of testi- 
 monies ; and when they had brought into it all the vessels of the 
 tabernacle, and as soon as they left it, the mouth of the cave 
 closed immediately by the power of God. When the high priest 
 
22 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 Aza and those who were with him witnessed such a display, im- 
 mediately the high priest began to write upon the mouth of the 
 cave what took place. When in the morning of the following 
 day, according to his custom, he came to pray, and he directed 
 himself toward the place where the cave was, he did not find it, 
 nor even one trace of the writings which he had carved, and the 
 word of God was fulfilled, inasmuch as the temple had been 
 hidden. 
 
 • 
 
 Repentance immediately took possession of him, and he be- 
 gan to bewail the evil of his times, and what had befallen him, 
 and what had befallen the family of his father, and what had be- 
 fallen the children of Israel in those days. The Levites, who 
 were then his followers, together with the leaders in Israel, 
 gathered unto him when that event took place, and he made them 
 » acquainted with what had happened in detail, from the. begin- 
 ning to the end. 
 
 When the leaders of the children of Israel knew of the wrath 
 
 I 
 
 of God, and of the breaking down of the law, and the belittling 
 of the holy tabernacle, and that the pleasure of God had disap- 
 peared from among them, they rent their garments, and they 
 cried aloud, and they began to bewail the evil of their doings ; 
 but I shall set aside the narration of this event in their history, 
 because it fills the heart with sadness. That much is for those 
 who have kept themselves on the side of the high priest Aza in 
 righteousness. And that took place in the year 3055 of the 
 creation of the world. 
 
 The Temple at Shiloh . — Let us now return to the mention of 
 what Eli the priest did after he had gone to Shiloh in the days 
 when God was pleased. There he made for himself a shekinah, 
 as we have stated, and he made it after the fashion of the holy 
 tabernacle and that was done through his directions and through 
 the direction of a man called Abalachoh. They prospered in 
 
The Religion of the Samaritan^. 
 
 23 
 
 their plans, for large numbers of the children of Israel followed 
 them. But some of the children of Israel who were living in 
 the regions round did not know of this event, and whenever they 
 came to offer tithes and sacrifices, the friends of Eli the priest 
 used to meet them in the streets, and used to take them to 
 Shiloh to the tabernacle. And they used to mislead them, and 
 to explain to them that this was the original tabernacle ; and 
 they used to convince them, because of their ignorance of facts, 
 and because they were brought up among the Gentiles. And 
 the disappearance of the holy tabernacle which was in the holy 
 mountain helped them a great deal. Praise be to God who 
 does what he wishes. 
 
 Samuel the Sorcerer . — Immediately after that event took 
 place, there came to Shiloh a man from Sophin of the children 
 of Levi by the name Elkanah, from the family of Pahat, of the 
 children of Abisoph, the son of Korah, the son of lashar, who 
 rebelled against Moses (upon whom be peace), and coveted 
 from him the great high-priesthood to take the place of our 
 lord Aaron (upon whom be peace), and whom, that is Korah, 
 the earth swallowed. This man Elkanah was of his seed,' 
 and he was the father of Ishmael, whom the Jews called Sam- 
 uel. His father brought him to Eli to the tabernacle, and the 
 ancestors of Samuel the son of Elkanah, the son of Nor, the 
 son of Azariah, the son of Haphnia, the son of Tahat, the son 
 of Abiso, the son of Korah, who has been mentioned before. 
 There is a clearer narrative concerning them given in the book 
 of history, but we mention it briefly. 
 
 When the aforesaid Samuel grew and became a itian, Eli 
 took him and taught him whatever he knew, and brought him up 
 according to his plan. And he followed Eli in his ways ; because 
 his children knew what their father knew, for the ways which 
 he trod were very clear to them, and their rebellious conduct be- 
 
24 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 came known among the people. And some of his people left him 
 on account of his evil doings, and the doings of his children, who 
 have been already mentioned. Therefore, he was compelled to 
 take this young child in their stead, in order that he might suc- 
 ceed him, because he adopted him as his son. And this Samuel 
 was obedient to Eli, and he was a sorcerer and knew things well, 
 and was of a bright intellect ; and he learned science and astrol- 
 ogy through Abrahmich, the greatest philosopher of those days. 
 His origin was from the land of the Greeks. And the cause of 
 the presence of this sorcerer in this land was that when he heard 
 that a separation had taken place between the tribes of Israel, 
 be took advantage of this, and befriended Eli and Samuel. 
 
 And this man Abrahmich began to corrupt and to mislead 
 the children of Israel. He tried to instigate quarrels among them. 
 He did well to some of the children of Israel in order that they 
 might worship his gods. He taught them witchcraft and the 
 production of phenomena. The heart of Eli was indeed stub- 
 born to turn aside from his plan, and behold the result. They 
 learned from, him witchcraft and the production of phenomena. 
 Even Samuel claimed prophecy, and they believed his claim. 
 Thus Samuel knew well the purpose of Eli, his nlaster. There- 
 fore, he remained in his service, and obeyed him, and both of 
 them directed their people after their own directions. 
 
 The War with the Philistines . — And when the surrounding 
 nations heard of the separation of these peoples, a great part of 
 them who were living then among the children of Israel, as in 
 the land of Palestine and Gaza and other places, planned to go 
 to Shiloh, and to make war against Eli, and against his people 
 where the seat of rulership was. Therefore, a great part of the 
 children of Israel joined them, and they became known, and 
 their name was familiar to all the rest of the nations. Agrainst 
 them there- came the army of the Philistines, and made war with 
 
25 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 them. And Eli sent men to meet them, and a battle took place. 
 And the men of Eli were defeated, and some of them fled, and 
 some of them were killed, about four thousand. Some of them 
 returned to Eli, and told him that the cause of the defeat was 
 that the golden ark was not with them. Therefore, he gave 
 them the ark which he had made and his two children, Hophni 
 and Phinehas. And they were differently equipped from the 
 first time. The nations around them surrounded them on all 
 sides, and they killed many of them. They took the golden ark 
 from them, and killed also Hophni and Phinehas. And news of 
 that event was brought to Eli while he was sitting in a chair 
 near by the gate, and they told him that his two sons had been 
 killed, and that the golden ark had been taken away from them, 
 and that the sword was killing all the people, as fire eats wood. 
 When Eli knew and understood and realized this misfortune, 
 he fell immediately from the chair on his back, and his neck was 
 broken, because he was old in age. It is said that he was in that 
 time about ninety-eight years old. And when one of his daugh- 
 ters-in-law, the wife of one of his sons, heard this, and she was 
 with child, her hour came to give birth to the child, and she died 
 suddenly. 
 
 The Monarchy under Saul — Samuel, the disciple of the afore- 
 said Eli, came to his people, and began to preach to them, and 
 they made him their ruler after the death of Eli, and he began 
 to display to them his abilities. And he beguiled some of them 
 through the things which he had been taught by his master, and 
 he had many followers, and he offered many sacrifices in every 
 place he desired. And he had two sons; the name of the first- 
 born was Joal, and the name of the second Abiah, tW'O wicked 
 sonsj who were known for their unpleasant conduct among their 
 friends. 
 
26 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 Therefore, the people of Samuel came to him and told him, 
 saying, “ Behold, thou art old, and thy two sons are not walking 
 in a straight way, and the purpose of our gathering here is that 
 you should elect for us a king who shall judge for us instead of 
 your sons.” 
 
 This gathering displeased him, but in spite of him he had to 
 elect for them a man from the tribe of Benjamin, by the name of 
 Saul, and he anointed him as king over them. 
 
 And Saul did evil during his reign, and he misled a large part 
 of the children of Israel who followed him, and none remained 
 true to the son of Phinehas who was dwelling in the holy 
 mountain, that is Mount Gerizim. He was keeping up the 
 religious customs of the tribe of Joseph. 
 
 Such corruption continued, and the partisanship of the chil- 
 dren of Israel took hold of them during his reign until one di- 
 vision of them was the tribe of Joseph, and another division 
 was with his people in Shiloh, and another division went neither 
 one way nor the other. . And Saul, the famous king of the 
 children of Israel, did nothing except through the command of 
 Samuel. And Samuel and Saul and Jesse and David planned to 
 war against the tribe of Joseph, because they did not follow them 
 in Shiloh, and because they were not inclined toward their pur- 
 poses, and because when they were weak they made peace with 
 the other nations on account of the great apostasy of Saul and 
 Samuel. They made covenant with the nations, and therefore 
 the enmity became deeply rooted between them, and they hated 
 each other terribly. And the people of Saul planned to go and 
 destroy the tabernacle of the tribe of Joseph, and to make their 
 place a desert, and to ruin their towns and to leave no inhabitants 
 therein. He therefore came with his armies to the meadow of 
 Boha, and they surprised the tribe of Joseph in the Feast of Tab- 
 ernacles, while they were quiet and not aware of their misfor- 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 tune, and they killed whomever they found, and they went upon 
 different roads, and killed even the high priest Shisha, the son 
 of the great high priest Aza, in the great city of Sallum. They 
 killed and burned both the great and the sntall ones, and they 
 went up to the mountain of Gerizim, and destroyed the place of 
 worship and the stones of the Law, and they took hold of the 
 noble ones who fled to that place and killed them, and they re- 
 mained for days destroying the citadel of Lozal, because it was 
 a great town, and they camped in the meadow of Boha for thirty 
 days, and whomever they found they killed. The tribe of Jo- 
 seph was forbidden to come near Mount Gerizim for a period of 
 twenty-two years. They could not make any pilgrimages to it, 
 but whenever they prayed they turned their faces toward it, but 
 some of them used to go to it in secret. Thus their feasts used 
 to pass and to take place without any religious show, and the 
 Passover and the* Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles used to 
 pass without any pilgrimages, and the people of Saul used to 
 go to Mount Gerizim as to any other field. 
 
 But the Torah, which was among the children of Israel in the 
 original character, is still kept in good condition among the 
 Samaritan people, until this day, with no additions or diminu- 
 tions, and even the Sabbath and the festival days are still the 
 same. 
 
 In that distress which was caused by the people of Saul, the 
 tribe of Joseph gathered together in the midst of the night, and 
 planned to flee from their enemies, and some of them dwelt with 
 the king of Bosas and Saisar, and the trace of the rest of them 
 was lost unto this day. 
 
 Saul and his three children and the bearer of his arms died in 
 one day, and God avenged himself of him according as he de- 
 served, and he took away his kingdom from him and gave it to 
 
28 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 David, the son of Jesse, and of that there is another account, and 
 I do not see the necessity of placing it in this book. 
 
 The Reign of David and the Removal of Eli's Ark. — David 
 ruled in the city of Hebron according to the desire of the tribe of 
 Judah when he was thirty years old, and they brought, him to the 
 base of Mount Gerizim, and they gave him there the kingdom. 
 And David went to war against the Philistines until he took 
 from them many cities and conquered the city of Jabish, which 
 is called among the Jews ^lia, but which they called afterwards 
 Jerusalem, and they placed the seat of his kingdom in it, and 
 he removed the golden chest which Eli made in Shiloh and 
 brought it to the aforesaid Jabish. And when he brought it to 
 his place of dwelling, the priest who was to receive it from the 
 vehicle was tossed by the cow and he died. , That was the cow 
 which was pulling the vehicle. David became exceedingly sad 
 because of the death of the priest, and he immediately com- 
 manded the chest to be placed in the house of one of his men, and 
 they placed it at the house of a widow, and it remained with her 
 for a long time. 
 
 Reasons for David's not building a Temple in J erusalem.-^ 
 'fhen the tribe of Judah came and asked David to build for them 
 a temple in order that they might place in it the chest which was 
 with that widow. But this news reached the great high priest 
 who was with the Samaritan people, whose name was Yaire, 
 and he was living in the country of the mountain of Gerizim 
 when this news reached him. He sent immediately a notice to 
 David to the effect that it was permissible and necessary for him 
 to build the temple upon the mountain of Gerizim, according to 
 the writing found in the Torah, which was with both people be- 
 fore alterations were made. And the reason of the correspon- 
 dence of Yaire the high priest with King David -was the 
 acquaintance which they had with each other, and the strong 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 29 
 
 friendship when David fled from the presence of Saul, the king,^ 
 and used to visit the aforesaid high priest, and used to go around 
 with the tribe of Joseph, and used in those days to offer his 
 tithes and to fulfill his vows in the mountain of Gerizim, as the 
 Samaritan people copied in their historical books from their 
 ancestors. 
 
 So when David became king, he decided to build thejemple 
 in Jabish, and so it became necessary for the high priest Yaire to 
 remind the king, and to exhort. When the aforesaid correspon- 
 dence took place between David and the high priest Yaire, Da- 
 vid desisted. He refrained from building the temple in the 
 city of Jabish. Nevertheless, he could not differ from his peo- 
 ple in favor of the high priest Yaire, and therefore he explained 
 to Yaire, and desisted from building any temple, either in Jabish 
 or in the mountain of Gerizim. He offered excuses to his peo- 
 ple, and said that God did not want him to build for him a house 
 because he had shed much blood, but the child who should suc- 
 ceed him he should build a house for him. David therefore re- 
 frained from doing the work after he had gathered together all 
 the materials for building the temple of gold and silver and 
 bronze and wood, and he continued to do so until he was gath- 
 ered unto his fathers. 
 
 Solomon's Idolatries.— H.is wife Alisha," the wife of Ooriah, 
 was the mother of Solomon. The latter became the king of Is- 
 rael after many events ; and when he took hold of the kingdom 
 of Israel he reigned for a long time ; and after he had avenged 
 himself of many of the children of Israel, and ruled over the 
 tribe of Joseph, and avenged himself of them, and oppressed 
 them, he began to sacrifice wherever he wanted on the high 
 places ; and learned philosophy and many other sciences ; and 
 was married unto* many Amorite, Moabite, Canaanite, and Sid- 
 
 ^ Cf. 1 Sam. xxi. 1-7. 
 
 ‘ Batlisheba, wife of Uriah. 
 
30 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 onite women, and he took for himself the daughter of Pharaoh, 
 the king of Egypt, and it is said that he had of women one 
 thousand. There is another account of him in the historical 
 book of those j>eople, and he weakened exceedingly the tribe 
 of Joseph. 
 
 All the kings of the earth were subject unto him, and he 
 gathered much money until he became hard-hearted, and the 
 year of his sitting upon the throne of the kingdom in lieu of 
 his father was the 480th of the exit of the children of Israel, 
 which is .the one hundred and twentieth year of the disap- 
 pearance of the temple from the mountain' of Gerizim. In the 
 fourth year of the aforesaid king, he began to build the tem- 
 ple, whose foundation his father David had dug in the thresh- 
 ing-place of the Jebusites. And he built a large temple, and 
 he spent all his funds in doing it. And he made in the afore- 
 said temple seven candlesticks of gold, because the vessels 
 which Eli the priest had made in his temple in Shiloh were 
 stolen by the Canaanites, and • nothing was left except the 
 chest which he had made. But Solomon made seven of that 
 kind of vessel, and he plastered the walls of the temple and its 
 roof and ground-floor with gold, and he made in it the images 
 of all the birds, and he built this temple and placed it over 
 wheels well fashioned, in order that he might move it where- 
 ever he chose. Solomon built this temple through the genii, 
 and he built for himself a judgment-seat, whose description 
 is beyond the power of the tongue of man. And he built a 
 house for the daughter of Pharaoh through one hundred and 
 seven of his workmen. And he made three hundred towers of 
 gold and silver. And when the dedication of the temple took 
 place he oflfered on the altar twelve thousand sheep ^ as a sac- 
 ^ This is one tenth the number given in 1 Kings viii. G3 and 
 1 Chron. vii. 5. It will be remembered that Kings and Chronicles 
 sometimes present this discrepancy of a tenfold difference. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 31 
 
 rifice, and he gathered all his subjects, and he distribute(i 
 among them offerings, and he placed the chest of gold in the 
 temple, which Eli the priest had made. 
 
 But the tribe of Joseph, of the house of Phinehas, and 
 all those who gathered among them, did not incline toward 
 him, and did not surrender to his command. And when King 
 Solomon saw that the tribe of Joseph refused to obey his 
 command, he immediately caused to rule over them the 
 naughty Jeroboam, and the aforesaid became their ruler, and 
 he was a terrible ruler. When he ruled over them he took 
 away their possessions from them, and gathered much money 
 from them, and afterwards he rebelled against Solomon 
 throughout all his life, and caused them to be persecuted, and he 
 caused them to serve him. 
 
 The Reign of Rehoboam — And when Solomon the king 
 died, his people claimed that the temple which he had built 
 by the command of God was visited by fire from him above, 
 and had devoured ail the offerings which he had offered in it, 
 and they claimed that Jabish is the chosen place, and that it is 
 related to the mountain of Gerizim. This has been what they 
 have believed from time immemorial. And when King Solomon 
 died, his people took his son Rehoboam and brought him to 
 the regions of Joseph to the plain of Boha, which was at the, 
 base of Mount iGerizim, to deliver to him the kingdom there, 
 following in that manner the law of our lord Joshua (upon 
 whom be peace), that none should be crowned as king except 
 in the aforesaid valley. Thus they used to come, all of them, 
 as it has been declared to the children of Israel and their chiefs 
 of authority, for this is what has been written in the holy law 
 according to the apostle (upon whom be peace), that is, 
 “There shall be a king only when the children of Isarel gather 
 together with their chief men.” According to the edict that 
 
32 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 this gathering must transpire in this place, they came to it, 
 and they immediately sent for Rehoboam, and for the chief men 
 of Israel, and the chief men of Joseph, who were true to the 
 law, and they all came. 
 
 And when Rehoboam arrived at Nablus to be crowned 
 there amidst the children of Israel, for many had been led 
 astray by him, they said to him, “If you will make light the 
 yoke which your father made heavy upon us, and if you will 
 obey the commandments of God, we will obey you and serve 
 you, and be ready to do your words.” 
 
 And he answered them, “Come and return after three days.” 
 So the people went, and after that Rehoboam gathered the 
 chief men who lived during the days of his father, and asked 
 them, “What would you counsel me to answer this people?” 
 and they answered him, “If thou wilt be kind to them, they 
 will obey you and will serve you.” 
 
 But he despised the council of the elders, and gathered the 
 young m.en who were brought up with him ; and as they stood 
 before him, he asked their advice concerning the same matter. 
 He asked them whether he should make light upon them the 
 yoke which his father made heavy. 
 
 And the young men answered him in this manner, “ Thy 
 reply shall be, ‘ My little finger is heavier than 'the thigh of my 
 father, and if my father has caused you to bear a heavy yoke, 
 I will add to your yoke an additional weight. My father has 
 chastised you with a whip, but I will chastise you with scorpi- 
 ons.’ ” 
 
 When the people asked their answer from him, he replied to 
 them with these words, with all cruelty, and he let alone the 
 advice of the elders, and when the people saw, and beheld his 
 cruel reply, they replied to him with one word, and they told 
 him, “ There is no portion in David and no share to us in Jesse, 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 33 
 
 and none of us will remain with you. Thou art not to us a 
 king, and we are not to thee servants. Come, let us go to our 
 tents, O Israel, and oh, thou son of David, go to thy tribe!” 
 
 Thus the children of Israel returned to their places, and Re- 
 hoboam returned to his city and to the city of his grandfather, 
 David, and he ruled over his city, and when he felt that his 
 kingdom was being destroyed, and that the people of the chil- 
 dren of Israel had left him, he sent messages to his minister 
 Adoram to the people of the children of Israel in order to cause 
 them to return according to the advice which the elders had 
 given him from the beginning. And when this messenger ar- 
 rived, and began to deliver to them the story, they immediately 
 began to stone him with stones. 
 
 When this news reached Rehoboam, he immediately began 
 to fortify himself, being afraid of destruction in the city of his 
 own kingdom, Jabish. 
 
 The Conquest of Jeroboam— And when Jeroboam heard of 
 the disappointment of Rehoboam, he immediately became 
 courageous, and returned to Nablus, and conquered those re- 
 gions, and won to his side a majority of the tribes, and his 
 authority extended, and he oppressed his enemies, and ruled 
 over the tribe of Joseph, and the family of Phinehas the faith- 
 ful one. And he tortured them with all kinds of tortures, not 
 doing so to the rest of the tribes because they turned against 
 them. So he avenged himself of them, and killed of them a 
 great number, and his tyranny was greater than the tyranny 
 of David. 
 
 And the children of Israel were at that time in three di- 
 visions. One division used to- swear by Mount Gerizim, 
 another division used to sw'ear by the name of Jabish, and a 
 third division was in love with the worship of idols, standing 
 by themselves, and a fourth division stood with Jeroboam, who 
 
34 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 went to the city of Sabastaba,^ and he made it his capital, and 
 placed in it a high priest, and led astray with him six of the 
 tribes of Israel. He also was ruling over the tribe of Joseph, 
 which was the .Samaritan people, and ruled over them with a 
 heavy hand. Nevertheless, they were not induced to follow 
 his plans, and they warred against him several times. And 
 they remained faithful to their religion, and held fast to the 
 laws of Moses (upon whom be peace), and to the laws of 
 Joshua and his successor. And whenever he compelled them to 
 depart from the mountain of Gerizim, they used to return to 
 it whenever they had opportunity, and when they were com- 
 pelled to live far away from it, they used to turn toward it in 
 their prayers, as did their great father, our lord Abraham 
 (upon whom be peace). 
 
 The False Claim of Jeroboam : — But Rehoboam and his 
 people, who were of the tribe of Judah, and a few from the 
 other tribes, when they returned to the city of David, which is 
 the city of Jabish, they claimed that it was the holy place, and 
 that there is no other holy place beside it, and they surnamed 
 it Jerusalem. When they became numerous through other 
 tribes, their brothers, the children of Israel, did not like it, 
 and there took place many wars between them on account of 
 this claim. That city was destroyed often, and its inhabitants 
 were killed, and the tribe of Judah did not dare to rebuke the 
 temple, which was founded by Solomon in the threshing- 
 place of the Jebusites, where they used to offer their sacrifices, 
 and followed the customs of their ancestors. But in the 
 Torah, the five books which descended to them through our 
 lord Moses (upon whom be peace), there is no indication of 
 the veracity of their claim that it is the one place to which 
 ^ Sabaste, the city of Samaria. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 35 
 
 direction in prayer should be made, and that it is the genuine 
 place. 
 
 The Destruction of Jerusalem.— JtrohoSim and the people 
 over whom he ruled were captured by the Assyrian kings, and 
 his cities were taken from him ; even TElia. was destroyed, anti 
 Sabastaba, and all the children of Israel became enslaved, and 
 their villages were taken. And after Sabastaba was destroyed 
 and was ploughed like a field, a man from the tribe of Joseph, 
 who was wealthy, bought that city from one of the princes of 
 the Assyrians. His name was Samar, and some of the Assy- 
 rians who lived among the children of Israel to this day called 
 Shamaroneen, and they lived near by the aforesaid Sabastaba, 
 which was bought by the Israelitish man from the aforesaid 
 Samar for two talents of silver. He built up some of its 
 destroyed places, and he dwelt in it, he" and his people, for 
 lone time, and thus the name Samaria was given it, which 
 was the name of the city, because it was called Samaria on 
 account of the fact that the man who' took it by violence was 
 called Samar, and thus its original inhabitants were called. 
 
 The Babylonian Exile.— Thtn the Ammonites destroyed for 
 the second time that city. That was in the days of Joakim.^ 
 That was almost in the same days as when Bachtnasar,^ the 
 king of the Persians, was ruling. This king was living in the 
 regions of Orak, and Joakim was governor over the children 
 of Israel through his will. Then Bachtnasar came to the land 
 of the Israelites, and besieged ^lia, because it was well fortified, 
 and he conquered it, and he despoFled it, and all its vessels. 
 And he exiled the priests and elders of Israel, and removed 
 the tribe of Joseph from those regions in which they were 
 living to the land of Babel. And he also exiled the rest of the 
 tribes of Israel, and commanded them to go into the region of 
 
 ^ Jehoiakim. 
 
 2 Nebuchadrezzar. 
 
36 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 Haran, and thus all the children of Israel were scattered in 
 those lands. And that exile took place in the year 3550' of 
 the creation of the world, according to the reckoning of the 
 Samaritan people. The king of the Assyrians killed every 
 one who would not go with him; thus many of the children 
 of Israel were compelled to go with him, even to the land of 
 the Chaldeans, and so many terrible and great misfortunes fell 
 upon the Israelites which the pen could not write in details, 
 and which could not be measured by the tongue. And thus 
 the threatening was fulfilled upon them which is given in the 
 book of Deuteronomy, in the twenty-eighth chapter and 
 sixty-second verse : “ Ye shall be few in number, whereas ye 
 
 were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because ye would not 
 obey the will of the Lord.” Their holy places thus became 
 desolate, and they remained in that exile for a period of sev- 
 enty years, and one party of the tribe of Israel returned to the 
 land of Canaan after seventy years, and dwelt in it. 
 
 The Immigrants to Israel, and Their Hardships. — But im.-- 
 m.ediately the Greek (Ionian) kings camie and exiled them 
 again, after they had dwelt in the land of Canaan for a year, 
 one hundred and thirty-one years, and the king which exiled 
 them came first against the city of ^lia, and conquered it, and 
 killed many of its inhabitants, and took its women and children 
 to the land of Babel, and then departed for Samaria against 
 the tribe of Joseph, and exiled them. The king of the lonians 
 'also induced foreign people to emigrate to the land of Canaan 
 instead of the children of Israel. And the living in Canaan 
 became costly, and there was a great famine, which continued 
 for a period of seven years, and many perished; even the 
 ferocious animals attacked them. Then they sent immediately 
 
 ^ This, instead of 722, would be 740 b.c., as the Samaritans reckon 
 the birth of Christ 4290 a.m. 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 37 
 
 to the king Sorday/ for he was the great king in those days, 
 and he dwelt in the land of Haran. They told him, sa}ing, 
 ‘•'The land of Canaan, where thou sent us to dwell, almost 
 caused us to perish, because of the scarcity of the rain, and 
 because of the unfruitfulness of its land, and because of the 
 ferocious animals; and when the rain falls, and some hope 
 is found, what is planted immediately becomes rotten, and 
 the olive trees throw down their fruit, and behold we are 
 about to perish, and all those who are with us, -even our 
 cattle.” And they asked him to get information from the 
 children of Israel who had lived in that land as to what they 
 had done, in order that this might be averted, and the state 
 of the earth which was so unfruitful might be changed ; for 
 after' they had remained in those conditions they feared thev 
 would all perish, no doubt, on account of the exposed loca- 
 tion and the audacity of the wild animals. 
 
 And when this news reached the king Sorday, he imme- 
 diately commanded for a man to go before him, and that man 
 was called Abdullah, the leader, the high priest, and also Aza, 
 the son of Shamoon, who were among the leaders in the tiibe 
 of Joseph, who lived in Samaria. And he. told them that 
 news had reached him from the .dwellers of the land of 
 Canaan of what happened in it. 
 
 And the high priest Abdullah, herald of Aza, the son of 
 Shamoon, who was among the leaders of the tribe of Joseph, 
 VvTen he heard these words from the king, immediately gave 
 him a reply, saying, “Know ye, O king, that we have a holy 
 mountain, called Mount Gerizim, and it is the house of God. 
 And when our fathers came out of Egypt, and after they had 
 lived forty years in the wilderness, and when they entered the 
 land of Canaan, the Lord made them to know that they should 
 
 1 Cyrus. 
 
38 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 make sacrifices and offer all their offerings in that mountain. 
 And throughout all the times in which our forefathers offered 
 there, and in which we offered after them, the land continued 
 to be fruitful. And know ye, therefore, that this misfortune 
 which has taken place in the land of Canaan shall not cease 
 until we return to that mountain toward which we direct our- 
 selves in prayer, and until we arrive at it and worship* Allah, 
 our God (may he be extolled), and we hope from him for- 
 giveness, for he hears and he answers. And may he cause 
 the heart of the king to be inclined toward us that he may 
 permit us to return to our country, and to do what is neces- 
 sary for us to do. We hope from his kindness (may he be 
 extolled), that when this shall take place none of those things, 
 neither famine nor disease, shall happen, and we are promised 
 by God this shall be so. And we have a testimony to* that 
 effect, for that shall take place when we return, as he made us 
 to know through his law, and perhaps he will be gracious unto 
 us and return us in his mercy to our own land.” 
 
 The Return under Cyrus . — Then they revealed to him the 
 lines of the law which contain the threatenings and the 
 promises concerning these things. The king consequently 
 saw that it was right, and the Lord God put it in his mind, 
 and he commanded that these things should be done, and he 
 allowed the children of Israel to return to their land, that its 
 inhabitants might possess their own place, in order that the 
 land might be prosperous, for it was then a part of his king- 
 dom. He then commanded the elders and the leaders of the 
 rest of the tribes of Israel to go before him, that he might 
 give them permission to return to their land, and to build their 
 houses and worship. So the leaders of the tribe of Judah and 
 their people, and the leaders of the tribe of Joseph, who were 
 in those days, came before the king, and had a consultation 
 
39 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 with him concerning these matters, in order that he might 
 issue for them a decree for their return to their land and for 
 the building of the house of their worship. And the opinion 
 of the tribe of Joseph, and those who were of the family of 
 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, and their families, was that the 
 building of the house of worship and the place of pilgrimage 
 should be the mountain of Gerizim, but the opinion of the 
 tribe of Judah and their families was that the building of the 
 house of worship and the place of pilgrimage should be in 
 ^lia, which is the city of David. But the people of Joseph 
 made the king Sorday understand that what the children of 
 Israel were commanded to do according to the Torah, which 
 descended through our lord Moses (upon whom be peace), was 
 that the building of the temple of worship should be upon the 
 mountain of Gerizim, and that it should be the place of pilgri- 
 mage, and where all its ceremonies of worship should take 
 place, and that the children of Israel were commanded to 
 make pilgrimages to if, and that the Lord had chosen it from 
 the beginning in order that his name might be sanctified upon 
 it. That mountain is indeed sanctified; and thus the people 
 of Joseph showed forth all the arguments as they were found 
 in the Torah, and declared them to the king and before the 
 leaders of Judah. ^ 
 
 Zenihhahel and Sanhallat.—Tht leader of the children of 
 Israel was a man by the name of Zerubbabel, the- son of Shar- 
 shar, for he was the one advanced over all of them; but the 
 leader of the tribe of Joseph was the high priest called Ab- 
 dullah, and there was with him Nathaniel of the family of 
 Phinehas. The superintendant over the people of Joseph was 
 a kind man by the name of Sanballat. The aforesaid was a 
 learned, wise, and strong man, and he explained the argu- 
 ments and defended his chance against the people of Judali, 
 
40 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 and he refuted the pretensions of Zerubbabel, and maintained 
 that the mountain of Gerizim is the place toward which prayer 
 direction should be made. It is the place of worship and of 
 the Shekinah itself, the House of God, and he made it plain, 
 proposing arguments from the statements of the Torah, the 
 laws which are with both peoples. 
 
 The only answer the Jews gave him was, “ We have learned 
 from David and Solomon that the temple which is in ^Tilia is 
 the place of worship to which prayer direction should be 
 taken.” But they could ^ not bring an argument from the 
 Torah, for there was none, since the Torah existed with both 
 of them before any alteration was made, and since in it the 
 plain arguments proclaiming as to the mountain of Gerizim 
 were as they are still in the Torah, which is among the Samari- 
 tan people. 
 
 And when Sorday the king heard these debates which took 
 place between them, and when he saw that the appeal of 
 Phinehas and of the people of Joseph' was strong and open- 
 minded, and that the claim of the Jews was only backsliding 
 and lies, with no evidence and with no tradition to their claims, 
 the king Sorday said, “Go ye, go and build a temple in the 
 mountain of Gerizim for worship. Go ye to it, and build it.” 
 
 But Zerubbabel became angry at these words, and he showed 
 forth his tendency of refusal, and answered and said, “ No, 
 indeed, except in Hi^lia, as we have. already proposed.” . 
 
 The king Sorday was wroth by the answer of Zerubbabel, 
 and he became angry with his people also, and he rebuked 
 him, and expelled him, and was exceedingly wroth against 
 him, and against all the people of Judah. He called for San- 
 ballat, and advanced him and gave him honors, and bestowed 
 upon him the privilege of being the ruler of the province of 
 the regions of Canaan, that is, all Syria, and he gave him per- 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 41 
 
 mission to return to the Holy Land, and that he might build ^ 
 up the mountain of Gerizim, especially there the temple. He 
 had authority, and he could do as he pleased in all that he de- 
 sired to be done, and he kept the people of Judah from going 
 back with the rest of the tribes of Israel. The children of 
 Israel were given the liberty of following Sanballat or of 
 remaining in the land of Haran and Babel. 
 
 From that time a quarrel took place between Sanballat and 
 Zerubbabel and his people. And Sorday the king was angry 
 with the people of Judah, and he killed thirty-six of their 
 leaders, and he honored the leaders of the tribe of Joseph, and 
 therefore the enmity became great, and increased between 
 them and the Jews. 
 
 Changes in the Jezvish Customs. — The Jews, however, 
 began to alter the ceremonies of their religion’ to spite the 
 tribe of Joseph, and the differences began to increase, but 
 Sanballat and his people, and all those who befriended .them 
 were joyful and happy, and many of the children of Israel 
 joined them in those times. Those who were following the 
 counsel of Eli, the priest, and Samuel, who were with the 
 people of Zerubbabel, and the number of the people of San- 
 ballat when they returned from the exile, was three hundred 
 thousand men, with the exception of women and children. 
 This event took place through the command of Sorday the 
 king, who caused them to dwell in the land of Canaan, who 
 gave them permission to return to their country, though many 
 had perished. 
 
 The Return the Northern Tribes. — The people of San- 
 ballat arrived at the land of Canaan, and they purified them- 
 selves in the valley of Badan, and they went up to Mount 
 Gerizim and built upon it a temple, and dwelt round about, and 
 they built it up and they fortified it from all points, and their 
 
42 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 leaders were of the family of the great high priest Abdullah 
 and his brother Nathaniel. They established there an altar 
 whose length was thirty-five cubits ; and they made a candle- 
 stick of pure gold, and a table of gold, and displayed upon it 
 the shew bread, according to the obligatory command which 
 is in the book, according to the fashion which was adopted 
 during the days of God’s pleasure; and they offered an offer- 
 ing of one hundred head of oxen upon that altar, and God 
 was pleased with them^, and God turned his pleasure upon 
 them, and God brought back upon the Holy Land his blessings, 
 and he was gracious to the people. The rain fell in showers 
 upon their plantations, and the land became exceedingly fruit- 
 ful, and they dwelt in the mountain of Gerizim, and in the 
 cities round about which were in the region of Ashan (Syria), 
 in peace and in happiness during the days of the king S or day 
 until Abasarwal became ruler, and reigned over the whole 
 land. 
 
 Hostility between the Jews and Samaritans . — During the 
 first days of his reign he oppressed exceedingly the Jews who 
 were in exile in his country. Nevertheless, they prospered, 
 and brought him great revenues and taxes, and their leaders 
 became intimate with him, and among them Zerubbabel and 
 Nehemiah, the priest, who were among the elders of the Jews 
 in those days. And they bribed him with a great sum of 
 money, and they served him faithfully, and then they begged 
 from him permission to allow them to build the house of their 
 holy place. Permission was given them accordingly, and 
 they took from him a decree having his signature, and which 
 was sealed with his seal, that this end might be carried out. 
 They turned back with a great crowd of people and they came 
 to the city of Jabish and began to rebuild it. 
 
 And this news reached the tribe of Joseph, and they vexed 
 
The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 43 
 
 them, and withstood them, and expelled them. They incited 
 the king Sorday against them, and he issued orders to the 
 tribe of Joseph to destroy whatever they had built. Immedi- 
 ately the descendants of Phinehas and Joseph assaulted with 
 a strong hand the city of Jabish, and destroyed all that the 
 Jews had built, and this was the cause of great anger to the 
 Jews, and the enmity became great between the people of 
 Joseph and the Jews. 
 
 Artaxerxes and Esther.— But under Phoresh the king, and 
 Dahartales and Ahoresh and Artahtsha, kings of Persia, the 
 Jews were able by his witchcraft to approach the king, and they 
 presented him with the famous Esther, and they were brought 
 near the kings through their maid servants, and this was done 
 through the advice of Ezra and Nehemiah until they won the 
 heart of the king Ashoresh under the direction of Esther and 
 through the 'witchcraft of their witches. And they took from 
 him a second decree to build the city of iElia, and to rebuild 
 there the temple. Ezra was given absolute authority in what- 
 ever he desired to do in the land of Syria, and was given many 
 financial helps from his treasury, in order to fulfill his plans. 
 So Ezra stood by him, and all his people and their leaders, 
 and came to the land of Canaan with strong hand through the 
 help of Ashoresh, and came to yElia, and fortified it, and built 
 a great temple in it, and built its walls, and ruled there over 
 the land of Canaan. ' 
 
 The Inventions of Ezra. — When Ezra and his people be- 
 came settled in that land, and had found the people of Joseph 
 were in the best condition so far as fulfilling their religious 
 duties is concerned, many of his people were convinced to turn 
 from their foolish way and to return tO' their true religion. 
 The Jews had no book in their possession, and they could not 
 read the Torah, and they only had the name Israelite, but the 
 
44 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 majority of them were in ignorance and negligence like illiter- 
 ate people, for the Torah was lost from among them during 
 the reign of Sorday the king. 
 
 And Ezra, seeing these things, began to gather books from 
 the legends and from some chronicles and narratives. He 
 invented things which never occurred, and he wrote them in 
 the Assyrian writing, which is still found in the books of the 
 Jews. He began to gather into books as he thought best, and 
 he gathered narratives of the Israelites, and began to alter 
 according to his judgment. Then he mentioned the people of 
 Samaria, whose origin is from the tribe of Joseph and descend- 
 ants of the tribe of Phinehas, and he called them Samaritans. 
 He said that they were Gotin (Gentiles?). It is recorded 
 in the book of Kings, the seventeenth chapter, and he filled it 
 with many phrases which are refuted by us and which have 
 no truth in them. All of this was because of his hatred of the 
 aforesaid people, whom he called Samaritans. 
 
 The Two Pronunciations of the Unutterable Name of 
 '‘YHJVH .” — And he invented the statement that they worshiped 
 the dove, an idol Ashina, because the aforesaid nation pro- 
 nounced the name of the Almighty, according to their custom, 
 “YHWH,’^ which the Jews read ‘‘Adonai,” but the Samaritans 
 indicate by the name “Shimeh.” He therefore invented 
 against them the story that they read it “Ashimeh,” and that 
 is nothing but untruth. 
 
 The Modern Hebrew of the Jezmsh Writings . — Ezra com- 
 posed his books in the Chaldean writings, and the Assyrian 
 language, according to the language which his people had 
 learned in their exile, because they were then ignoring the 
 Hebrew language ; and that was indeed because they hated the 
 Israelites who had recently been called Samaritans. Thus the 
 Jews abandoned the Hebrew writing, but it is still kept by the 
 
45 
 
 The Religion of the Samaritans. 
 
 Samaritan people. He compelled his people by violence to 
 keep those copies which he had invented, and to teach them 
 to their children and their children’s children,, and this was 
 on account of the anger and vengeance which is rebuked by 
 God (may He be extolled), and thus God took away from the 
 Jews the copy of the true Torah. 
 
 On account of the great wickedness of Ezra and his perse- 
 cutions during his reign, all the rest of the tribes of Israel 
 became scattered and mixed up with the nations, and they 
 were scattered unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 And Ezra and his people created many things of the enmity 
 of the Samaritans which was illicit, and he made a war between 
 them and the Jews, for pretended fear lest the Samaritans should 
 come in among the Jews and bring corruption to the book of 
 rules and ritual which he had given them. And the Jews 
 continued to live according to the plan which Ezra had made 
 for them which ;s unto this day. 
 
 The Diminution of the Samaritans. — Thus the Jews opposed 
 the Samaritans in ever>4hing, and they continued to live ac- 
 cordingly for many years, opposing them and ruling over 
 them and they were the cause of the small number, together 
 with what happened to them through the ruling of the Franks. 
 And through the' changing of the religion many a misfortune 
 came upon them, among them decrees that they might be 
 smitten by the sword until they all would perish to the last. 
 
 The Pozver of Islam.— And when our lord Mohammed 
 appeared, this nation was very numerous, and they possessed 
 many cities and villages until the year 700 of the Hegira. 
 And there were in the city of Caesarea, and round about it, 
 about thirty thousand whom Salahuddin Alioseph exiled, a 
 man from the great ameers, Islam. And there was a great 
 number of them in Damascus, and Asham, and in Egypt, and 
 
3 0112 073152834 
 
 46 
 
 The Religion of th^ Samaritans. 
 
 in Aleppo, and in Gaza, and in the city of Joppa, besides those 
 who lived in Nablus arid in this mountain. Through the 
 aggressive power of Islam, and through the laws of religious 
 liberty, and before the Osmanite regime, and because there 
 was none to direct them, the things which God threatened in 
 his Holy Law took place. 
 
 The Present Status of the Samaritan People. — As is was 
 prophesied, they became very few, and the famous cities shall 
 none of them stand, according to his holy Torah in the bock 
 of Deuteronomy, twenty-eighth chapter, sixty-second verse; 
 that is, “ Ye shall be lew in number,” and “ All shall perish 
 from the land which you shall long to possess.” There are 
 many threatenings similar to this which indicate this present 
 condition which came upon this nation, and that is only in 
 order that they 'may suffer for their guilt and for the guilt 
 of their forefathers, according to His saying (may He be 
 extolled) in the book of Leviticus, twenty-sixth chapter, forty- 
 first verse ; that is, “ And they shall be made to atone for their 
 guilt.” 
 
 But this nation carry out the ancient customs according to 
 the Mosaic law as well as they can, and have always offered 
 the proper prayers to the God of all creation, that he might 
 keep them from all harm, misfortune, and all violence. 
 
 Praise be to god, the Lord of two worlds, Amen. 
 
 
 
 Jacob, Son of Aaron, High Priest of the Samaritans 
 AT Shechem.