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May 2nd, 2002
Received by H.
Cuenca, Ecuador.
Now, my dear brother, as I have promised you, I will explain in
a few words the religion of the Samaritans or “Shomronim.”
From what I have put forth previously it is easy to conclude that
the Samaritans, as the successors of the northern tribes of Israel,
had and still have, very similar beliefs to those of the Jews. However,
some points of difference do exist.
It is also necessary to reiterate once again that first century
Judaism did not constitute a monolithic block, but rather showed
multiple facets and diverse streamings, where Christianity, in the
beginning, fitted in without problems.
It is also necessary to remember that in those old times, there
was no canon of the Bible, and I am referring to the Hebrew Bible.
This canon, or the list of books considered inspired, was established
much later, in Jamnia, during the beginnings of rabbinical Judaism,
when the religion of the Hebrews had already lost much of its diversity,
due to the historical events, a devastating war against Rome, and
great destruction of Jewish culture in Palestine.
And one of the criteria for the inclusion of the books was the
following: Only those writings were admitted, where Hebrew or Aramaic
manuscripts existed. We should not forget that Jewish culture had
suffered many changes through Hellenistic influence, and many Jews,
especially those living in the Diaspora, were no longer able to
speak or read in Hebrew. They used the Greek language, the Greek
Koiné, recognized universally in the oriental part of the
Roman Empire as “lingua franca.” This lack of command
of their original sacred language, had led to translations of the
Hebrew writings into the Greek, even centuries earlier, a work that
had been carried out in Alexandria, the most important Jewish center
outside Palestine. This translation still exists, and is called
"Septuagint", a Latin word meaning "seventy,"
abbreviated through the Roman number sign for seventy, LXX.
Now, the Catholic church later on would include a few more books
in their canon, for example two of the Books of the Maccabees which
are not considered inspired neither by the Jews, nor by the Protestants.
The canon of the Bible therefore, is not a universally accepted
list, but it rather varies from religion to religion, from church
to church.
The Samaritans also had, and still have, their own canon of books.
The shortest of all - it consists only of five books, the Pentateuch,
or the Books of Moses, or Torah, the Law, as they are also known.
The whole of the rest of the Hebrew writings are not recognized
by them, neither the books of the prophets, nor those of wisdom,
nor those of history, etc. This is not surprising, considering that
those books, at least in part, were composed much later, after the
separation, especially during Jewish captivity in Babylon. Of course,
the Samaritans rejected these writings as works of Jewish heresy.
However, with their recognition of the Torah only, the Samaritans
were in good company: Also the Jewish Sadducees, those "guardians
of the Temple," rejected all the other books. Here we find
a very important point that both denominations have in common.
While second Temple Judaism, except for the Sadducees, revered
the prophets in a special way, such as Elijah, Jeremiah, Zechariah,
etc., the Samaritans exalted another man, also a prophet: Moses.
Moses, to them, was definitely "the man of God."
As to their priesthood, almost all Levites, who according to the
Mosaic Law had exercised this function, had been expelled from the
northern kingdom, from Israel. When the Assyrians led the intelligencia
of the people into captivity, there were no priests any more, so
the Samaritans started their own lineage of priests.
The Samaritans were and still are very strict in the observance
of the Mosaic Law, a rigidity and fervor that even caused the admiration
of the Jews, who used to admire very little of what the Samaritans
did or thought. They practiced circumcision, Sabbath observance,
they celebrated the Israelite feasts, as the Torah specified. Of
course the feast established afterwards by the Jews, such as Purim,
did not find recognition by them.
The language of the Samaritans was a variation of Palestinian Aramaic,
a dialect that distinguished them, but which was easily understood
by the Jews. But their sacred writings, the Torah, of course were
written in the sacred language of their ancestors, in Hebrew.
When one reads the Samaritan Bible and the corresponding books
of the Jews, a great number of striking discrepancies are evident,
partly due to errors in the process of copying, partly conscious
alterations, to adjust the writings to their necessities. However,
it is essential to clarify that the discrepancies were not only
due to changes perpetrated by the Samaritans. The fact is that the
old text of the "Septuagint" is perhaps closer to the
writings of the Samaritans than to the present Scriptures of the
Jews (Masoretic text), and proves with enough clarity that both
parties contributed in a tendentious way to the textual variants.
Additionally, it is necessary to say that even in the Hebrew Scriptures,
there was no universally accepted standard, but a wide range of
diverse variations, which would only be standardized when Judaism
had lost its multifaceted character, after the rebellion of Bar
Kokhba. Of course, the Samaritan Pentateuch escaped the unifying
tendency.
After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Passover
lamb sacrifices ended. But the Samaritans continue with this tradition
to the present day. In other words, they still cling to the archaic
rites of the ancient Hebrews.
It would be false to conclude from what I have put forth that the
Samaritans, in contrast to the Jews, obeyed exclusively Moses' Scriptures,
rejecting all other traditions. Of course, they rejected the tradition
of the prophets, and especially, the later rabbinical precepts.
On the other hand, they developed their own customs and legislations,
besides that which is written in the Torah. This is a natural process
of development in any human community.
The Samaritans also believed in the coming of a Messiah and in
an afterlife. This statement is a little general, because also amongst
them, as amongst the Jews, there were several sects and branches.
I will talk about some of them, when we deal with the times of the
ancient church.
In short, I wanted to paint a multicolored picture with my description
of the Samaritans. I want you to understand that there were not
"the Jews" and "the Samaritans", but a wide
range of diverse groups and sects in both communities. We always
speak of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes, because they
were the groups of most importance or influence, but there were
many more groups, such as the successors of the Rehabites, the Boethusians,
those who called themselves "the Righteous Ones", even
in the Jewish Diaspora flourished diverse sects, such as the famous
"Therapeutae" of Egypt, healing monks who cured the illnesses
of the body and the mind. And we have also already mentioned that
even inside the diverse sects there were substantially different
streams, such as in the example of the Pharisee Houses of Hillel
and Shammai. We could also mention John the Baptist's followers
as a separate group, the Johannites, who even undertook missionary
activities abroad.
I want you to understand that the primitive Christians were a part
of this religious diversity, where they fitted in without problems,
and that in the first decades after Jesus’ death, the question
was not, “are you a Jew or a Christian?” but “are
you a Jew of this or that sect?”
The Samaritans did not think of themselves as Jews, because as
the name implies, a Jew is a member of the tribe of Judah with its
culture and respective religion. The Samaritans considered themselves,
and still do, as the successors of the northern Israelite tribes,
Hebrews as the Jews are, are the survivors of the tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh, with their version (more authentic, according to their
opinion) of Moses' ancient religion.
With that, we will finish our discourse on the history of the Samaritans.
However, as we have dedicated so much time to this subject, we will
continue with the famous parable of the "Good Samaritan,"
for which we will give an explanation that you will not find in
textbooks.
See you soon, my dear brother.
Judas of Kerioth
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