The Status of Samaritans in Limbo

After settling matters in Jerusalem, Alexander continued with his army through the region. Having witnessed the conquering Alexander’s beneficence, the Samaritans courted him, requesting that he visit Gerizim on his return to Egypt. He rejected their request. The Samaritans then defected to the city of Shechem, where the Gerizim temple remained. In Jerusalem, Jaddua died, and his son Onias became high priest.

In keeping with his anti-Samaritan polemic, Josephus portrays the Samaritans as opportunists who either renounce or embrace kinship with the Jews, depending on whether such relations would be politically advantageous. The passage also refers to Alexander’s death and the division of his government among his successors, the Diadochi. Quintus Curtius Rufus relates an episode in which Alexander exacted revenge on certain Samaritans who killed his local commander.