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113-511: The word nephesh occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Bible . The first four times nephesh is used in the Bible, it is used exclusively to describe animals: Gen 1:20 (sea life), Gen 1:21 (great sea life), Gen 1:24 (land creatures), Gen 1:30 (birds and land creatures). At Gen 2:7 nephesh is used as description of man. Job 12:7–10 parallels the words רוח ( ruah ) and נפׁש ( nephesh ): “In His hand

226-472: A distinct, opportunistic ethnos and, alternatively, a Jewish sect. The Dead Sea scrolls ' Proto-Esther fragment 4Q550 has an obscure phrase about the possibility of a Kutha(ean) ( Kuti ) man returning but the reference remains obscure. 4Q372 records hopes that the northern tribes will return to the land of Joseph. The current dwellers in the north are referred to as fools, an enemy people. However, they are not referred to as foreigners. It goes on to say that

339-553: A group—if it existed—was only a small minority in early Israel, even though their story came to be claimed by all." Scholars believe Psalm 45 could have northern origins since it refers to a king marrying a foreign princess, a policy of the Omrides . Some psalms may have originated from the shrine in the northern city of Dan. These are the Sons of Korah psalms, Psalm 29 , and Psalm 68 . The city of Dan probably became an Israelite city during

452-587: A large fraction of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (i.e., Samaritans) remained in Israel after the Assyrian exile. E. Mary Smallwood wrote that the Samaritans "were the survivors of the pre-Exilic northern kingdom of Israel, diluted by intermarriage with alien settlers," and that they broke away from mainstream Judaism in the 4th century BCE. Archaeologist Eric Cline takes an intermediate view. He believes only 10–20% of

565-539: A pottery type he identifies as Mesopotamian clustering around the Menasheh lands of Samaria, that they were three waves of imported settlers. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (under "Samaritans") summarizes both past and present views on the Samaritans' origins. It says: Until the middle of the 20th century it was customary to believe that the Samaritans originated from a mixture of the people living in Samaria and other peoples at

678-737: A range of sources. These include the Septuagint, the Syriac language Peshitta translation, the Samaritan Pentateuch , the Dead Sea Scrolls collection, the Targum Onkelos , and quotations from rabbinic manuscripts . These sources may be older than the Masoretic Text in some cases and often differ from it. These differences have given rise to the theory that yet another text, an Urtext of

791-577: A rejection of God's kingship; nevertheless, God permits it, and Saul of the tribe of Benjamin is anointed king. This inaugurates the united monarchy of the Kingdom of Israel . An officer in Saul's army named David achieves great militarily success. Saul tries to kill him out of jealousy, but David successfully escapes (1 Samuel 16–29). After Saul dies fighting the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 31 ; 2 Chronicles 10 ),

904-677: A rival shrine at Shiloh , thereby preventing southern pilgrims from Judah and the territory of Benjamin from attending the shrine at Gerizim. Eli is also held to have created a duplicate of the Ark of the Covenant , which eventually made its way to the Judahite sanctuary in Jerusalem. In contrast, Jewish Orthodox tradition, based on material in the Bible, Josephus and the Talmud , dates their presence much later, to

1017-569: A special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stichs in the verses, which are a function of their poetry . Collectively, these three books are known as Sifrei Emet (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields Emet אמ"ת , which is also the Hebrew for " truth "). These three books are also the only ones in Tanakh with a special system of cantillation notes that are designed to emphasize parallel stichs within verses. However,

1130-520: Is cognate with the Biblical Hebrew term Šomerim , and both terms reflect a Semitic root שמר, which means "to watch, guard". Historically, Samaritans were concentrated in Samaria . In Modern Hebrew , the Samaritans are called Shomronim (שומרונים), which also means "inhabitants of Samaria", literally, "Samaritans". In modern English, Samaritans refer to themselves as Israelite Samaritans. That

1243-723: Is consistently presented throughout the [Hebrew Scriptures] as the God who created the world, and as the only God with whom Israel is to be concerned". This special relationship between God and Israel is described in terms of covenant . As part of the covenant, God gives his people the Promised Land as an eternal possession. The God of the covenant is also a God of redemption . God liberates his people from Egypt and continually intervenes to save them from their enemies. The Tanakh imposes ethical requirements , including social justice and ritual purity (see Tumah and taharah ) . The Tanakh forbids

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1356-556: Is credited as the author of at least 73 of the Biblical Psalms . His son, Solomon , is identified as the author of Book of Proverbs , Ecclesiastes , and Song of Solomon . The Hebrew Bible describes their reigns as a golden age when Israel flourished both culturally and militarily. However, there is no archeological evidence for this, and it is most likely a "retrospective extrapolation" of conditions under King Jeroboam II ( r.  781–742 BCE). Modern scholars believe that

1469-546: Is highly likely that extensive oral transmission of proverbs, stories, and songs took place during this period", and these may have been included in the Hebrew Bible. Elements of Genesis 12–50, which describes the patriarchal age , and the Book of Exodus may reflect oral traditions . In these stories, Israelite ancestors such as Jacob and Moses use trickery and deception to survive and thrive. King David ( c.  1000 BCE )

1582-511: Is mentioned in the Midrash Koheleth 12:12: Whoever brings together in his house more than twenty four books brings confusion . The original writing system of the Hebrew text was an abjad : consonants written with some applied vowel letters ( " matres lectionis " ). During the early Middle Ages , scholars known as the Masoretes created a single formalized system of vocalization . This

1695-502: Is not to be interpreted as signaling a precipitous schism between the Jews and Samaritans, as the Gerizim temple was far from the only Yahwistic temple outside of Judea. According to most modern scholars, the split between the Jews and Samaritans was a gradual historical process extending over several centuries rather than a single schism at a given point in time. The Macedonian Empire conquered

1808-413: Is roughly 2000. The Tanakh consists of twenty-four books, counting as one book each 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel , 1 Kings and 2 Kings , 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles , and Ezra–Nehemiah . The Twelve Minor Prophets ( תרי עשר ) are also counted as a single book. In Hebrew, the books are often referred to by their prominent first words . The Torah ( תּוֹרָה , literally "teaching") is also known as

1921-824: Is roughly chronological (assuming traditional authorship). In Tiberian Masoretic codices (including the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex ), and often in old Spanish manuscripts as well, the order is Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra. This order is more thematic (e.g. the megillot are listed together). Samaritans The Samaritans ( / s ə ˈ m ær ɪ t ən z / ; Samaritan Hebrew : ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ ‎ Šā̊merīm ; Hebrew : שומרונים Šōmrōnīm ; Arabic : السامريون as-Sāmiriyyūn ), often preferring to be called Israelite Samaritans , are an ethnoreligious group originating from

2034-704: Is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, comprising the Torah , the Nevi'im , and the Ketuvim . Different branches of Judaism and Samaritanism have maintained different versions of the canon, including the 3rd-century BCE Septuagint text used in Second Temple Judaism , the Syriac Peshitta , the Samaritan Pentateuch , the Dead Sea Scrolls , and most recently the 10th-century medieval Masoretic Text compiled by

2147-474: Is the life ( nephesh ) of every living thing and the spirit ( ruah ) of every human being.” The Hebrew term nephesh chayyah is often translated "living soul". Chayyah alone is often translated living thing or animal. Often nephesh is used in the context of saving your life , nephesh then is referring to an entire person's life as in Joshua 2:13; Isaiah 44:20; 1 Samuel 19:11; Psalm 6:5; 49:15; 72:13. In Greek,

2260-581: The Chief Rabbinate of Israel classifies them as ethnic Jews (i.e., Israelites ). However, Rabbinic literature rejected the Samaritans' Halakhic Jewishness because they refused to renounce their belief that Mount Gerizim was the historical holy site of the Israelites. All Samaritans in both Holon and Kiryat Luza are Israeli citizens, but those in Kiryat Luza also hold Palestinian citizenship . Around

2373-519: The Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East . They are indigenous to Samaria , a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah that comprises the northern half of what is today referred to as the West Bank . They are adherents of Samaritanism , an Abrahamic , monotheistic , and ethnic religion that developed alongside Judaism . According to their tradition, the Samaritans are descended from

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2486-553: The Khabur River and to the towns of the Medes . The king of the Assyrians then brought people from Babylon , Kutha , Avva , Hamath and Sepharvaim to place in Samaria. Because God sent lions among them to kill them, the king of the Assyrians sent one of the priests from Bethel to teach the new settlers about God's ordinances. The eventual result was that the new settlers worshipped both

2599-601: The Kitab al-Ta'rikh compiled by Abu'l-Fath in 1355. According to this, a text which Magnar Kartveit identifies as a "fictional" apologia drawn from earlier sources, including Josephus but perhaps also from ancient traditions, a civil war erupted among the Israelites when Eli, son of Yafni , the treasurer of the sons of Israel, sought to usurp the High Priesthood of Israel from the heirs of Phinehas . Gathering disciples and binding them by an oath of loyalty, he sacrificed on

2712-647: The Masoretes added vowel markings to the text to ensure accuracy. Rabbi and Talmudic scholar Louis Ginzberg wrote in Legends of the Jews , published in 1909, that the twenty-four book canon was fixed by Ezra and the scribes in the Second Temple period . According to the Talmud , much of the Tanakh was compiled by the men of the Great Assembly ( Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah ), a task completed in 450  BCE, and it has remained unchanged ever since. The 24-book canon

2825-522: The Masoretes , currently used in Rabbinic Judaism . The terms "Hebrew Bible" or "Hebrew Canon" are frequently confused with the Masoretic Text; however, this is a medieval version and one of several texts considered authoritative by different types of Judaism throughout history . The current edition of the Masoretic Text is mostly in Biblical Hebrew , with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic (in

2938-783: The Masoretic Text , compiled by the Jewish scribes and scholars of the Early Middle Ages , comprises the Hebrew and Aramaic 24 books that they considered authoritative. The Hellenized Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called "the Septuagint ", that included books later identified as the Apocrypha , while the Samaritans produced their own edition of

3051-648: The Neo-Assyrian Empire in 720 BCE. The tensions continued in the post-exilic period. The Books of Kings is more inclusive than Ezra–Nehemiah since the ideal is of one Israel with twelve tribes, whereas the Books of Chronicles concentrate on the Kingdom of Judah and ignore the Kingdom of Israel . Accounts of Samaritan origins in respectively 2 Kings 17:6,24 and Chronicles , together with statements in both Ezra and Nehemiah differ in important degrees, suppressing or highlighting narrative details according to

3164-475: The Samaritan script . According to Samaritan tradition, the position of the community's leading Samaritan High Priest has continued without interruption over the course of the last 3600 years, beginning with the Hebrew prophet Aaron . Since 2013, the 133rd Samaritan High Priest has been Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach . In censuses, Israeli law classifies the Samaritans as a distinct religious community , but

3277-538: The patriarchs : Abraham , his son Isaac , and grandson Jacob . God promises Abraham and his descendants blessing and land. The covenant God makes with Abraham is signified by male circumcision . The children of Jacob become the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel . Jacob's son Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, but he becomes a powerful man in Egypt. During a famine, Jacob and his family settle in Egypt. Jacob's descendants lived in Egypt for 430 years. After

3390-460: The "Pentateuch", or as the "Five Books of Moses". Printed versions (rather than scrolls) of the Torah are often called Chamisha Chumshei Torah ( חמישה חומשי תורה "Five fifth-sections of the Torah") and informally as Chumash . Nevi'im ( נְבִיאִים Nəḇīʾīm , "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the Torah and Ketuvim . This division includes the books which cover

3503-609: The 11th century BCE and in accordance with Samaritan beliefs, he is accused of establishing a religious shrine in Shiloh in opposition to the establishment of the original shrine on Mount Gerizim. Once a large community, the Samaritan population shrank significantly in the wake of the Samaritan revolts , which were brutally suppressed by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. Their numbers were further reduced by Christianization under

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3616-490: The 2nd century BCE, a series of events led to a revolution by a faction of Judeans against Antiochus IV. Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE): the Samaritan temple was renamed either Zeus Hellenios (willingly by the Samaritans according to Josephus) or, more likely, Zeus Xenios, (unwillingly in accord with 2 Macc. 6:2). Josephus quotes the Samaritans as saying: We therefore beseech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give order to Apollonius,

3729-680: The 2nd century BCE. Overall, the Samaritans were generally more populous and wealthier than the Judeans in Palestine, until 164 BC. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was on the throne of the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 163 BCE. His policy was to Hellenize his entire kingdom and standardize religious observance. According to 1 Maccabees 1:41-50 he proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him. In

3842-614: The 5th century BCE. This is suggested by Ezra 7 :6, which describes Ezra as "a scribe skilled in the law ( torah ) of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given". The Nevi'im had gained canonical status by the 2nd century BCE. There are references to the "Law and the Prophets" in the Book of Sirach , the Dead Sea Scrolls , and the New Testament . The Book of Daniel, written c.  164 BCE ,

3955-452: The Assyrian deportations and replacement of the previous inhabitants by forced resettlement by other peoples but claims a different ethnic origin for the Samaritans. The Talmud accounts for a people called "Cuthim" on a number of occasions, mentioning their arrival by the hands of the Assyrians. According to 2 Kings 17:6, 24 and Josephus , the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians ( Sargon II ) to Halah , to Gozan on

4068-477: The Assyrian invasion, major cities such as Samaria and Megiddo remained largely intact, and other sites show a continuity of occupation. The Assyrians settled exiles from Babylonia, Elam, and Syria in places including Gezer , Hadid , and villages north of Shechem and Tirzah . However, even if the Assyrians deported 30,000 people, as they claimed, many would have remained in the area. Based on changes in material culture, Adam Zertal estimated that only 10% of

4181-497: The Assyrian invasion. This correlates with expectations from the fact that the Samaritans retained endogamous and biblical patrilineal marriage customs, and that they remained a genetically isolated population. According to Chronicles 36:22–23, the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great (reigned 559–530 BCE), permitted the return of the exiles to their homeland and ordered the rebuilding of

4294-1011: The Byzantines and later by Islamization following the Arab conquest of the Levant . In the 12th century, the Jewish explorer and writer Benjamin of Tudela estimated that only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in Palestine and Syria . As of 2024, the Samaritan community numbers around 900 people, split between Israel (some 460 in Holon ) and the West Bank (some 380 in Kiryat Luza ). The Samaritans in Kiryat Luza speak Levantine Arabic , while those in Holon primarily speak Israeli Hebrew . For liturgy, they also use Samaritan Hebrew and Samaritan Aramaic , both of which are written in

4407-523: The Exodus , the Israelites wander in the wilderness for 40 years. God gives the Israelites the Law of Moses to guide their behavior. The law includes rules for both religious ritual and ethics (see Ethics in the Bible ) . This moral code requires justice and care for the poor, widows, and orphans. The biblical story affirms God's unconditional love for his people, but he still punishes them when they fail to live by

4520-652: The God of the land and their own gods from the countries from which they came. In the Chronicles , following Samaria's destruction, King Hezekiah is depicted as endeavouring to draw the Ephraimites , Zebulonites , Asherites and Manassites closer to Judah . Temple repairs at the time of Josiah were financed by money from all "the remnant of Israel" in Samaria, including from Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin. Jeremiah likewise speaks of people from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria who brought offerings of frankincense and grain to

4633-481: The Hebrew Bible resulting from centuries of hand-copying. Scribes introduced thousands of minor changes to the biblical texts. Sometimes, these changes were by accident. At other times, scribes intentionally added clarifications or theological material. In the Middle Ages, Jewish scribes produced the Masoretic Text , which became the authoritative version of the Tanakh. Ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, but

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4746-410: The Hebrew Bible were composed and edited in stages over several hundred years. According to biblical scholar John J. Collins , "It now seems clear that all the Hebrew Bible received its final shape in the postexilic, or Second Temple, period." Traditionally, Moses was considered the author of the Torah, and this part of the Tanakh achieved authoritative or canonical status first, possibly as early as

4859-562: The Hebrew Bible, but the books are arranged in different orders. The Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Assyrian churches include the Deuterocanonical books , which are not included in certain versions of the Hebrew Bible. In Islam , the Tawrat ( Arabic : توراة ) is identified not only with the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses ), but also with the other books of

4972-404: The Hebrew Bible, once existed and is the source of the versions extant today. However, such an Urtext has never been found, and which of the three commonly known versions (Septuagint, Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch) is closest to the Urtext is debated. There are many similarities between the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament . The Protestant Old Testament has the same books as

5085-425: The Hebrew Bible, they were temporarily united under a United Monarchy , but after the death of Solomon, the kingdom split in two, the northern Kingdom of Israel with its last capital city Samaria and the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital, Jerusalem . The Deuteronomistic history , written in Judah, portrayed Israel as a sinful kingdom, divinely punished for its idolatry and iniquity by being destroyed by

5198-421: The Hebrew Bible. Tanakh is an acronym , made from the first Hebrew letter of each of the Masoretic Text 's three traditional divisions: Torah (literally 'Instruction' or 'Law'), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings)—hence TaNaKh. The three-part division reflected in the acronym Tanakh is well attested in the rabbinic literature . During that period, however, Tanakh was not used. Instead,

5311-671: The Hebrew canon, but modern scholars believe there was no such authoritative council of rabbis. Between 70 and 100 CE, rabbis debated whether certain books "make the hands unclean" (meaning the books are holy and should be considered scripture), and references to fixed numbers of canonical books appear. There were several criteria for inclusion. Books had to be older than the 4th century BCE or attributed to an author who had lived before that period. The original language had to be Hebrew, and books had to be widely used. Many books considered scripture by certain Jewish communities were excluded during this time. There are various textual variants in

5424-472: The Horonite , the governor of Samaria, centered around the refortification of the then-destroyed Jerusalem. Despite this political discourse, the text implies that relationships between the Jews and Samaritans were otherwise quite amicable, as intermarriage between the two seems commonplace, even to the point that the High Priest Joiada married Sanballat's daughter. Some theologians believe Nehemiah 11:3 describes other Israelite tribes returning to Judah with

5537-455: The House of YHWH. Chronicles makes no mention of an Assyrian resettlement. Yitzakh Magen argues that the version of Chronicles is perhaps closer to the historical truth and that the Assyrian settlement was unsuccessful, a notable Israelite population remained in Samaria, part of which, following the conquest of Judah, fled south and settled there as refugees. Adam Zertal dates the Assyrian onslaught at 721 BCE to 647 BCE, infers from

5650-399: The Israelite population (i.e. 40,000 Israelites) were deported to Assyria in 720 BCE. About 80,000 Israelites fled to Judah whilst between 100,000 and 230,000 Israelites remained in Samaria. The latter intermarried with the foreign settlers, thus forming the Samaritans. The religion of this remnant community is likely distorted by the account recorded in the Books of Kings, which claims that

5763-406: The Israelite population in Samaria was deported, while the number of imported settlers was likely no more than a few thousand, indicating that most Israelites continued to reside in Samaria. Gary N. Knoppers described the demography shifts in Samaria following the Assyrian conquest as: "... not the wholesale replacement of one local population by a foreign population, but rather the diminution of

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5876-511: The Israelites who, unlike the Ten Lost Tribes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel , were not subject to the Assyrian captivity after the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and annexed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. Regarding the Samaritan Pentateuch as the unaltered Torah , the Samaritans view the Jews as close relatives, but claim that Judaism fundamentally alters the original Israelite religion. The most notable theological divide between Jewish and Samaritan doctrine concerns

5989-477: The Jacob cycle must be older than the time of King Josiah of Judah ( r.  640 – 609 BCE ), who pushed for the centralization of worship at Jerusalem. The story of Moses and the Exodus appears to also originate in the north. It existed as a self-contained story in its oral and earliest written forms, but it was connected to the patriarchal stories during the exile or post-exile periods. The account of Moses's birth ( Exodus 2 ) shows similarities to

6102-414: The Judeans. The former lived in the cities of Judah whilst the latter lived in Jerusalem. Benjamites also lived with Judeans in Jerusalem. During Achaemenid rule, material evidence suggests significant overlap between Jews and proto-Samaritans, with the two groups sharing a common language and script, eschewing the claim that the schism had taken form by this time. However, onomastic evidence suggests

6215-425: The Levant in the 330s BCE, resulting in both Samaria and Judea coming under Greek rule as the province of Coele-Syria . Samaria was by-and-large devastated by the Alexandrian conquest and subsequent colonization efforts, though its southern lands were spared the broader consequences of the invasion and continued to thrive. Matters were further complicated in 331 BCE, when the Samaritans rose up in rebellion and murdered

6328-463: The Macedonian-appointed prefect, Andromachus – resulting in a brutal reprisal by the army. Following the death of Alexander the Great , the area became part of the newly partitioned Ptolemaic Kingdom , which, in one of several wars , was eventually conquered by the neighboring Seleucid Empire . Though the temple on Mount Gerizim had existed since the 5th century BCE, evidence shows that its sacred precinct experienced an extravagant expansion during

6441-579: The Samaritan diaspora in Delos , dating as early as 150–50 BCE, provide the "oldest known self-designation" for Samaritans, indicating that they called themselves "Bene Israel" in Hebrew (English: "Children of Israel", i.e. literally the descendants of the biblical prophet Israel, also known as Jacob, more commonly "Israelites"). In their own language, Samaritan Hebrew , the Samaritans call themselves "Israel", "B'nai Israel", and, alternatively, Shamerim (שַמֶרִים), meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers", and in Arabic al-Sāmiriyyūn ( السامريون ). The term

6554-433: The Samaritan tradition that they are mainly descended from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who remained in Israel after the Assyrian conquest. He states that the description of them at 2 Kings 17:24 as foreigners is tendentious and intended to ostracize the Samaritans from those Israelites who returned from the Babylonian exile in 520 BCE. He further states that 2 Chronicles 30:1 could be interpreted as confirming that

6667-453: The Samaritans as the Cuthaeans. In the biblical account, however, Kuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria. The similarities between Samaritans and Jews were such that the rabbis of the Mishnah found it impossible to draw a clear distinction between the two groups. Attempts to date when the schism among Israelites took place, which engendered the division between Samaritans and Judaeans, vary greatly, from

6780-440: The Samaritans assert their distinction from the Judeans based on both race (γένος) and in customs (ἔθος). According to II Maccabees: Shortly afterwards, the Greek king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews of Israel to violate their ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as

6893-449: The Samaritans have long been disputed between their own tradition and that of the Jews. Ancestrally, Samaritans affirm that they descend from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in ancient Samaria . Samaritan tradition associates the split between them and the Judean -led southern Israelites to the time of the biblical priest Eli , described as a "false" high priest who usurped the priestly office from its occupant, Uzzi, and established

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7006-435: The Samaritans mocked Jerusalem and built a temple on a high place to provoke Israel. Contemporary scholarship confirms that deportations occurred both before and after the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel in 722–720 BCE, with varying impacts across Galilee , Transjordan , and Samaria . During the earlier Assyrian invasions, Galilee and Transjordan experienced significant deportations, with entire tribes vanishing;

7119-480: The Samaritans, which he appears to use interchangeably. Among them is a reference to Khuthaioi , a designation employed to denote peoples in Media and Persia putatively sent to Samaria to replace the exiled Israelite population. These Khouthaioi were in fact Hellenistic Phoenicians/Sidonians. Samareis (Σαμαρεῖς) may refer to inhabitants of the region of Samaria, or of the city of that name, though some texts use it to refer specifically to Samaritans. The origins of

7232-406: The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them; two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in Tanakh with significant portions in Aramaic . The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The Talmud gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles. This order

7345-499: The Tanakh is monotheism , worshiping one God . The Tanakh was created by the Israelites , a people who lived within the cultural and religious context of the ancient Near East . The religions of the ancient Near East were polytheistic , but the Israelites rejected polytheism in favor of monotheism. Biblical scholar Christine Hayes writes that the Hebrew Bible was "the record of [the Israelites'] religious and cultural revolution". According to biblical scholar John Barton , " YHWH

7458-571: The Tanakh, such as Exodus 15, 1 Samuel 2, and Jonah 2. Books such as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are examples of wisdom literature . Other books are examples of prophecy . In the prophetic books, a prophet denounces evil or predicts what God will do in the future. A prophet might also describe and interpret visions. The Book of Daniel is the only book in the Tanakh usually described as apocalyptic literature . However, other books or parts of books have been called proto-apocalyptic, such as Isaiah 24–27, Joel, and Zechariah 9–14. A central theme throughout

7571-459: The Temple ( Zion ). The prophet Isaiah identified Cyrus as "the L ORD 's Messiah ". As the Babylonian captivity had primarily affected the lowlands of Judea, the Samarian populations had likely avoided the casualties of the crisis of exile, and in fact, showed signs of widespread prosperity. The books of Ezra–Nehemiah detail a lengthy political struggle between Nehemiah , governor of the new Persian province of Yehud Medinata , and Sanballat

7684-466: The Torah to Moses . In later Biblical texts, such as Daniel 9:11 and Ezra 3:2, it is referred to as the " Torah (Law) of Moses ". However, the Torah itself credits Moses with writing only some specific sections. According to scholars , Moses would have lived in the 2nd millennium BCE , but this was before the development of Hebrew writing. The Torah is dated to the 1st millennium BCE after Israel and Judah had already developed as states. Nevertheless, "it

7797-410: The Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch . According to the Dutch–Israeli biblical scholar and linguist Emanuel Tov , professor of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , both of these ancient editions of the Hebrew Bible differ significantly from the medieval Masoretic Text. In addition to the Masoretic Text, modern biblical scholars seeking to understand the history of the Hebrew Bible use

7910-477: The ancient Israelites mostly originated from within Canaan. Their material culture was closely related to their Canaanite neighbors, and Hebrew was a Canaanite dialect . Archaeological evidence indicates Israel began as loosely organized tribal villages in the hill country of modern-day Israel c.  1250  – c.  1000 BCE . During crises, these tribes formed temporary alliances. The Book of Judges , written c.  600 BCE (around 500 years after

8023-402: The beginning and end of the book of Job are in the normal prose system. The five relatively short books of the Song of Songs , Ruth , Lamentations , Ecclesiastes , and Esther are collectively known as the Ḥamesh Megillot (Five Megillot). In many Jewish communities, these books are read aloud in the synagogue on particular occasions, the occasion listed below in parentheses. Besides

8136-661: The beginning of the Babylonian captivity. In Rabbinic Judaism , for example in the Tosefta Berakhot , the Samaritans are called Cuthites or Cutheans ( Hebrew : כותים , Kutim ), referring to the ancient city of Kutha , geographically located in what is today Iraq . Josephus in both the Wars of the Jews and the Antiquities of the Jews , in writing of the destruction of the temple on Mt. Gerizim by John Hyrcanus , also refers to

8249-678: The biblical story of Moses ordering Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the mountains by Shechem ( Nablus ) and place half of the tribes, six in number, on Mount Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half on Mount Ebal , the Mount of the Curse. The narratives in Genesis about the rivalries among the 12 sons of Jacob are viewed by some as describing tensions between north and south. According to

8362-560: The birth of Sargon of Akkad , which suggests Neo-Assyrian influence sometime after 722 BCE. While the Moses story is set in Egypt, it is used to tell both an anti-Assyrian and anti-imperial message, all while appropriating Assyrian story patterns. David M. Carr notes the possibility of an early oral tradition for the Exodus story: "To be sure, there may have been a 'Moses group,' themselves of Canaanite extraction, who experienced slavery and liberation from Egypt, but most scholars believe that such

8475-531: The books of Daniel and Ezra ), written and printed in Aramaic square-script , which was adopted as the Hebrew alphabet after the Babylonian exile . The Tanakh includes a variety of genres, including narratives of events set in the past. The Torah ( Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy ) contains legal material. The Book of Psalms is a collection of hymns, but songs are included elsewhere in

8588-465: The books of Daniel and Ezra , and the verse Jeremiah 10:11 ). The authoritative form of the modern Hebrew Bible used in Rabbinic Judaism is the Masoretic Text (7th to 10th century CE), which consists of 24 books, divided into chapters and pesuqim (verses). The Hebrew Bible developed during the Second Temple Period , as the Jews decided which religious texts were of divine origin;

8701-468: The chronicles, and a variety of non-Samaritan materials. According to the former, the Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and until the 17th century CE they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas. They claim to have continuously occupied their ancient territory and to have been at peace with other Israelite tribes until

8814-433: The connotations of alternative expressions such as ... Hebrew Bible [and] Old Testament" without prescribing the use of either. "Hebrew" refers to the original language of the books, but it may also be taken as referring to the Jews of the Second Temple era and their descendants, who preserved the transmission of the Masoretic Text up to the present day. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic (mostly in

8927-519: The content of the Ketuvim remained fluid until the canonization process was completed in the 2nd-century CE. There is no scholarly consensus as to when the Hebrew Bible canon was fixed: some scholars argue that it was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty , while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later. The speculated late-1st-century Council of Jamnia was once credited with fixing

9040-564: The covenant. God leads Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan , which they conquer after five years. For the next 470 years, the Israelites were led by judges . In time, a new enemy emerged called the Philistines . They continued to trouble Israel when the prophet Samuel was judge (1 Samuel 4:1–7:1). When Samuel grew old, the people requested that he choose a king because Samuel's sons were corrupt and they wanted to be like other nations ( 1 Samuel 8 ). The Tanakh presents this negatively as

9153-448: The early Hellenistic era, indicating its status as the preeminent place of Samaritan worship had begun to crystallize. By the time of Antiochus III the Great , the temple "town" had reached 30 dunams in size. The presence of a flourishing cult centered around Gerizim is documented by the sudden resurgence of Yahwistic and Hebrew names in contemporary correspondence, suggesting that the Samaritan community had officially been established by

9266-525: The events it describes), portrays Israel as a grouping of decentralized tribes, and the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 may reflect older oral traditions. It features archaic elements of Hebrew and a tribal list that identifies Israel exclusively with the northern tribes. By the 9th or 8th centuries BCE, the scribal culture of Samaria and Judah was sufficiently developed to produce biblical texts. The Kingdom of Samaria

9379-538: The existence of a distinct northern culture. Some inhabitants of Samaria during this period identified with Israelite heritage. This connection is evidenced in two ways: first, through biblical accounts of local officials' involvement with the Jerusalem Temple, and second, through naming patterns. Many names recorded in the Wadi Daliyeh documents and on Samaritan coins feature Israelite elements. Sanballat's sons bore

9492-481: The exploitation of widows, orphans, and other vulnerable groups. In addition, the Tanakh condemns murder, theft, bribery, corruption, deceitful trading, adultery, incest, bestiality, and homosexual acts. Another theme of the Tanakh is theodicy , showing that God is just even though evil and suffering are present in the world. The Tanakh begins with the Genesis creation narrative . Genesis 12–50 traces Israelite origins to

9605-452: The governor of this part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of thy affairs, to give us no disturbances, nor to lay to our charge what the Jews are accused for, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs, but let our temple which at present hath no name at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius. In the letter, defended as genuine by E. Bickerman and M. Stern ,

9718-506: The kingdom is divided between his son Eshbaal and David (David ruled his tribe of Judah and Eshbaal ruled the rest). After Eshbaal's assassination, David was anointed king over all of Israel ( 2 Samuel 2–5). David captures the Jebusite city of Jerusalem ( 2 Samuel 5 :6–7) and makes it his capital. Jerusalem's location between Judah in the southern hills and the northern Israelite tribes made it an ideal location from which to rule over all

9831-449: The local Israelite religion was perverted with the injection of foreign customs by Assyrian colonists. In reality, the surviving Samaritans continued to practice Yahwism . This explains why they did not resist Judean kings, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, imposing their religious reforms in Samaria. Magnar Kartveit argues that the people who later became known as Samaritans likely had diverse origins and lived in Samaria and other areas, and it

9944-469: The local population", which he attributed to deaths from war, disease and starvation, forced deportations, and migrations to other regions, particularly south to the Kingdom of Judah. The state-sponsored immigrants who had been forcibly brought into Samaria appear to have generally assimilated into the local population. Nevertheless, the Book of Chronicles records that King Hezekiah of Judah invited members of

10057-661: The meaning of their name signifies Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/ Samaritan Pentateuch ] , rather than being a toponym referring to the inhabitants of the region of Samaria, was remarked on by a number of Christian Church fathers, including Epiphanius of Salamis in the Panarion , Jerome and Eusebius in the Chronicon , and Origen in The Commentary on Saint John's Gospel. Josephus uses several terms for

10170-408: The proper title was Mikra (or Miqra , מקרא, meaning reading or that which is read ) because the biblical texts were read publicly. The acronym 'Tanakh' is first recorded in the medieval era. Mikra continues to be used in Hebrew to this day, alongside Tanakh, to refer to the Hebrew scriptures. In modern spoken Hebrew , they are interchangeable. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of

10283-494: The reign of King Jeroboam II (781–742   BCE). Before then, it belonged to Aram , and Psalm 20 is nearly identical to an Aramaic psalm found in the 4th century BCE Papyrus Amherst 63 . The author of the Books of Kings likely lived in Jerusalem. The text shows a clear bias favoring Judah, where God's worship was centralized in Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Samaria is portrayed as a godless breakaway region whose rulers refuse to worship at Jerusalem. The books that make up

10396-574: The revelation at Sinai , since it is impossible to read the original text without pronunciations and cantillation pauses. The combination of a text ( מקרא mikra ), pronunciation ( ניקוד niqqud ) and cantillation ( טעמים te`amim ) enable the reader to understand both the simple meaning and the nuances in sentence flow of the text. The number of distinct words in the Hebrew Bible is 8,679, of which 1,480 are hapax legomena , words or expressions that occur only once. The number of distinct Semitic roots , on which many of these biblical words are based,

10509-457: The stone altar, without using salt, a rite which made the then High Priest Ozzi rebuke and disown him. Eli and his acolytes revolted and shifted to Shiloh , where he built an alternative Temple and an altar, a perfect replica of the original on Mt. Gerizim. Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas had intercourse with women and feasted on the meats of the sacrifice, inside the Tabernacle . Thereafter Israel

10622-661: The term Hebrew Bible (or Hebrew Scriptures ) as a substitute for less-neutral terms with Jewish or Christian connotations (e.g., Tanakh or Old Testament ). The Society of Biblical Literature 's Handbook of Style , which is the standard for major academic journals like the Harvard Theological Review and conservative Protestant journals like the Bibliotheca Sacra and the Westminster Theological Journal , suggests that authors "be aware of

10735-408: The theophoric Israelite names Delaiah and Shelemiah, while the name "Jeroboam", used by northern Israelite kings during the monarchic period, also appears on Samaritan coins. The archaeological evidence can find no sign of habitation in the Assyrian and Babylonian periods at Mount Gerizim, but indicates the existence of a sacred precinct on the site in the Persian period, by the 5th century BCE. This

10848-401: The three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are Daniel , Ezra–Nehemiah and Chronicles . Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics: their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e. the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion);

10961-653: The time from the entrance of the Israelites into the Land of Israel until the Babylonian captivity of Judah (the "period of prophecy" ). Their distribution is not chronological, but substantive. The Former Prophets ( נביאים ראשונים Nevi'im Rishonim ): The Latter Prophets ( נביאים אחרונים Nevi'im Aharonim ): The Twelve Minor Prophets ( תרי עשר , Trei Asar , "The Twelve"), which are considered one book: Kəṯūḇīm ( כְּתוּבִים , "Writings") consists of eleven books. In Masoretic manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in

11074-480: The time of Ezra down to the destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE). The emergence of a distinctive Samaritan identity, the outcome of a mutual estrangement between them and Jews, was something that developed over several centuries. Generally, a decisive rupture is believed to have taken place in the Hasmonean period . The Samaritan traditions of their history are contained in

11187-551: The time of the conquest of Samaria by Assyria (722–721 BCE). The biblical account in II Kings 17 had long been the decisive source for the formulation of historical accounts of Samaritan origins. Reconsideration of this passage, however, has led to more attention being paid to the Chronicles of the Samaritans themselves. With the publication of Chronicle II (Sefer ha-Yamim), the fullest Samaritan version of their own history became available:

11300-491: The time when Eli disrupted the Northern cult by moving from Shechem to Shiloh and attracting some northern Israelites to his new followers there. For the Samaritans, this was the "schism" par excellence. Furthermore, to this day the Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Joseph. Josephus, a key source, has long been considered a prejudiced witness hostile to the Samaritans. He displays an ambiguous attitude, calling them both

11413-454: The tribes of Ephraim , Zebulun , Asher , Issachar and Manasseh to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover after the destruction of Israel. In light of this, it has been suggested that the bulk of those who survived the Assyrian invasions remained in the region. Per this interpretation, the Samaritan community of today is thought to be predominantly descended from those who remained. The Israeli biblical scholar Shemaryahu Talmon has supported

11526-457: The tribes of Reuben , Gad , Dan , and Naphtali are never again mentioned. Archaeological evidence from these regions shows that a large depopulation process took place there in the late 8th century BCE, with numerous sites being destroyed, abandoned, or feature a long occupation gap. In contrast, archaeological findings from Samaria—a larger and more populated area—suggest a more mixed picture. While some sites were destroyed or abandoned during

11639-526: The tribes. He further increased Jerusalem's importance by bringing the Ark of the Covenant there from Shiloh ( 2 Samuel 6 ). David's son Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem. After Solomon's death, the united kingdom split into the northern Kingdom of Israel (also known as the Kingdom of Samaria) with its capital at Samaria and the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital at Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Samaria survived for 200 years until it

11752-481: The various intentions of their authors. The emergence of the Samaritans as an ethnic and religious community distinct from other Levant peoples appears to have occurred at some point after the Assyrian conquest of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel in approximately 721 BCE. The annals of Sargon II of Assyria indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the former kingdom. Jewish tradition affirms

11865-450: The word ψυχή ( psyche ) is the closest equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh . In its turn, the Latin word for ψυχή is anima , etymon of the word animal . Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh ( / t ɑː ˈ n ɑː x / ; Hebrew : תַּנַ״ךְ ‎ Tanaḵ ), also known in Hebrew as Miqra ( / m iː ˈ k r ɑː / ; Hebrew : מִקְרָא ‎ Mīqrāʾ ‍ ),

11978-567: The world's holiest site, which the Jews believe is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and which Samaritans believe is Mount Gerizim near modern Nablus and ancient Shechem . Both Jews and Samaritans assert that the Binding of Isaac occurred at their respective holy sites, identifying them as Moriah . The Samaritans attribute their schism with the Jews to Eli , who was a High Priest of Israel around

12091-459: The world, there are also significant and growing numbers of communities, families, and individuals who, despite the fact that they are not part of the Samaritan community, identify with and observe the tenets and traditions of the Samaritans' ethnic religion. The largest community outside the Levant, the "Shomrey HaTorah" of Brazil (generally known as neo-Samaritans worldwide), has approximately 3,000 members as of February 2020 . Inscriptions from

12204-458: Was chiefly done by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher , in the Tiberias school, based on the oral tradition for reading the Tanakh, hence the name Tiberian vocalization . It also included some innovations of Ben Naftali and the Babylonian exiles . Despite the comparatively late process of codification, some traditional sources and some Orthodox Jews hold the pronunciation and cantillation to derive from

12317-568: Was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The Kingdom of Judah survived for longer, but it was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Temple was destroyed, and many Judeans were exiled to Babylon . In 539 BCE, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia, who allowed the exiles to return to Judah . Between 520 and 515 BCE, the Temple was rebuilt (see Second Temple ) . Religious tradition ascribes authorship of

12430-545: Was more powerful and culturally advanced than the Kingdom of Judah. It also featured multiple cultic sites, including the sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan . Scholars estimate that the Jacob tradition (Genesis 25–35) was first written down in the 8th century BCE and probably originated in the north because the stories occur there. Based on the prominence given to the sanctuary at Bethel (Genesis 28), these stories were likely preserved and written down at that religious center. This means

12543-529: Was not grouped with the Prophets presumably because the Nevi'im collection was already fixed by this time. The Ketuvim was the last part of the Tanakh to achieve canonical status. The prologue to the Book of Sirach mentions "other writings" along with the Law and Prophets but does not specify the content. The Gospel of Luke refers to "the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" ( Luke 24 :44). These references suggest that

12656-439: Was split into three factions: the original Mt. Gerizim community of loyalists, the breakaway group under Eli, and heretics worshipping idols associated with the latter's sons. Judaism emerged later with those who followed the example of Eli. Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of the Israelites from the time that Joshua conquered Canaan and the tribes of Israel settled the land. The reference to Mount Gerizim derives from

12769-509: Was the temple project on Mount Gerizim that provided the unifying characteristic that allows them to be identified as Samaritans. Modern genetic studies support the Samaritan narrative that they descend from indigenous Israelites. Shen et al. (2004) formerly speculated that outmarriage with foreign women may have taken place. Most recently the same group came up with genetic evidence that Samaritans are closely linked to Cohanim , and therefore can be traced back to an Israelite population prior to

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