The Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim

Josephus

Jewish Antiquities 13.74–79

93–94

Now it happened that the Jews in Alexandria and the Samaritans who worshiped at the temple on Mount Gerizim, which was built in the days of Alexander, were in conflict. They were disputing about their temples before Ptolemy himself, with the Jews claiming that the Temple in Jerusalem had been built according to the Mosaic laws and the Samaritans claiming the same for the temple on Gerizim. They therefore called on the king to convene with his friends and listen to the arguments concerning these matters, and to punish by death those who suffered defeat. Sabbeus and Theodosius gave the argument for the Samaritans, and Andronicus, the son of Messalamus, for the people of Jerusalem and Judaea. They swore an oath by God and the king to make their cases in accordance with the law, and they entreated Ptolemy to put to death whomever he should find in violation of their oath. Accordingly, the king took several of his friends into the council, and he sat down to listen to what the speakers had to say.

The Jews in Alexandria were very distressed over those men whose lot it was to argue for the Temple in Jerusalem, for they took it very badly that anyone should attempt to destroy the reputation of that Temple, which was so ancient and so celebrated among all those on earth. Now when Sabbeus and Theodosius allowed Andronicus to advance his arguments first, he began demonstrating from the law and from the high priestly succession that each [high priest] had received that honor from his father and ruled over the Temple, and that all the kings of Asia had honored that Temple with their votive offerings and the most splendid gifts. But as for [the temple] at Gerizim, he made no account of it and regarded it as if it had never existed. By this speech, as well as other arguments, Andronicus persuaded the king to determine that the Temple in Jerusalem was built according to the Mosaic laws and to put Sabbeus and Theodosius to death. These, then, were the events that befell the Jews at Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy Philometor.

Translated byWilliam Whiston, adapted byAaron Samuels.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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The Samaritans, who trace their ancestry to the northern tribes of Israel, lived alongside, and often clashed with, the Jewish community of Judaea. The Samaritans’ holy book, known as the Samaritan Torah, is nearly identical to the Jewish Torah but differs importantly in identifying the place of God’s dwelling in Deuteronomy 12:5 with Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem (see Samaritans and “The Samaritan Pentateuch”).

Josephus relates that after supporting Alexander the Great’s military campaign in 332 BCE, the Samaritan leader Sanballat III convinces Alexander to allow him to build a temple at Mount Gerizim, to be led by his son-in-law, Manasseh, who was sent away from the priesthood in Jerusalem because of his marriage to Nikaso, Sanballat’s daughter. The establishment of this temple deepens the rivalry between the Samaritans and the Jews (see “Alexander and the Jews” and “The Status of Samaritans in Limbo”).

Alexander puts a Macedonian named Andromachus in charge of Samaria, but the Samaritans rebel against him. Some of the Samaritans who flee in the wake of the rebellion settle in Egypt, apparently for generations, among Alexandrian Jews who remain loyal to the Temple in Jerusalem. In the following passage, Josephus recounts the two groups’ appeal to King Ptolemy VI Philometer (r. ca. 180–145 BCE) to settle their dispute as to which of their temples is legitimate.

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Creator Bio

Josephus

37–100

Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.