~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eusebius (d. ca. A.D.
340) in the period of Constantine wrote the Onomasticon, the first
biblical dictionary of sites and locations in Israel for the Christian
pilgrims. This may have enabled the Byzantine church charged by Theodosius II,
on their expedition in 415 on the search to locate the bones of the patriarchs.
It has been recorded that they took with them “an intact sepulcher of marble[1]”
believed by them to contain the bones of Joseph. Later another exploitation
took place in 450/5[2]. If they
succeeded in finding the actual tombs is unknown. In this era the canon books
of the Jews and the Bible was adopted. There were many sources of scrolls to
choose from at that time[3].
Many actual Biblical sites were in reality speculated until recent archeology
discoveries.
And Rachel died on the journey from Bethel
to Ephrath that was a little way and was buried[4].
A small edifice, built in 1841 follows the tradition of the third century as
being Rachel’s tomb[5]. Origen
first mentioned this locality between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Another
structure identified as the tomb called Qubbat el-Rahil by the Arabs, contains
an early sarcophagus. Still a further report[6]
places her tomb north of Jerusalem in the land of Benjamin. While still another
tradition, locates the tomb in the land of Eprath. Jeremiah places the tomb’s
location in Ramah located in mount Ephraim[7].
A difficulty becomes apparent from the writings of the Judaean scripts
modifying historical truth “in favour of their own tribe[8]”.
The legitimacy of the actual tombs of the legendary men of Genesis being
situated at today’s modern Hebron is entirely illogical. Want to know why?
When Jacob was about to die he informed his
sons that he wished to be buried with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and
with Leah in the cave in the field of Machpelah before Mamre[9].
Abraham purchased this cave of Machpelah at the end of the field from Ephron[10].
The field is defiantly called Hebron[11].
Now Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba, that is Hebron[12],
and this is when Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah[13]
for a burial place. When Abraham died he was buried in the cave with his wife,
Sarah[14].
When Isaac died, his sons came to him in the city of Arbah, that is Hebron
where Abraham lived. Rebekah died on the way to Ephrath that is Bethlehem. Now
Leah’s death is not specifically recorded but the afore mentioned verse of
Genesis. But the key that may remain is the location of the established
dwelling place of the patriots.
We know that Jacob returned from Laban and
dwelt in a field purchased from Shechem[15].
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi[16]
that lies between Kadesh and Bered, that is said to be the south country[17]. Isaac also called this well[18]
Beer-Sheba because of the oath he made at the altar. Abraham and Isaac
sojourned in Hebron, the city of Arbah[19].
Now went Abram first came to the land he dwelt at Sichem in the plain of Moriah[20].
Then with famine in the land Abram went south[21]
and then returned back to Bethel[22]
that is before Shechem. This is when Lot moved to the east to the Jordan plains[23].
And Abraham dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and
brother of Aner, the land called Hebron[24].
And in the plain of Mamre were Abraham lived God appeared unto him as he sat at
the door of his tent[25].
This shows that Abraham lived in the field, the plain of Mamre. But Abraham was
to instructed to dwell in Shechem
Joseph also asked not to be buried in Egypt
like his father requested. But Joseph never spoke of where he was to be buried[26]
but in the land of his fathers. Was Joseph meaning to be buried in the cave
with his fathers, in the same manner as Jacob, his father? Joseph’s bones were
brought to Shechem by the Israelites. Joseph was buried in the parcel of ground
in Shechem that Jacob purchased[27]
which just happened to be close to the place that he had built an altar calling
it El-elohe-Israel (God the God of Israel)[28].
The Testament of Joseph states he was buried in Hebron[29].
But accordingly the place were Jacob sent Joseph is described as the valley of
Hebron[30].
But Rashi asks, ‘Hebron is a mountain range, not a valley?[31]”
Rashi appears to have a problem with the location of the valley of Hebron or is
it Hebron itself?
A Muslim tradition maintains that Joseph was
buried at the contemporary Machpelah[32]
under the Haram el-Halil mosque, formerly a Byzantine church[33].
In accordance with Captain Warren, in his book dating back to 1871, in which he
informs us that the gates to what he believed to be the cave of Machpelah had
not been opened for six hundred years[34].
That would mean that the gate would have been closed in about 1271, at which
time the crusaders may have restored the structure[35]
reinforcing the stability of the Byzantine locals. Concerning the modern
Hebron, “The only indisputable fact in all this is that the cave at Hebron
cannot possibly be the Biblical Cave of Machpelah; it is in fact a man-made
water-cistern, once carefully plastered to prevent the water seeping into the
rock.[36]"
According to Josephus and apocryphal sources, the sons of Jacob died in Egypt and were also buried in the Machpelah[37] cave. Yet Josephus does not know of the whereabouts of Joseph’s burial site[38]. According to the Testament of Joseph (20-6), Joseph’s tomb was in Hebron. Stephen confirms that Jacob was buried in a cave in Shechem, “So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he and our fathers. And were carried over into Sychem (Shechem) and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor (Hamor), the father of Sychem[39]”). While yet Herod the Great contradicts this by building an elaborate compound of Jewish traditional continuation in today’s modern Hebron.
John Macdonald wrote concerning Mount Gerizim: “Another reason for its supreme place and sanctity was the fact (if it is a fact!) that the mount contained the cave of Machpelah (Gen.23) wherein were buried the Patriarchs and others. Joseph’s cave is there. Joshua is held by the Samaritans to have been buried on the southern slope of the mount.[40]” “And Yush’a, the son of Nun- peace be upon him, died, and they buried him in Kefr Ghueirah: and Kaleb his comrade died, and they buried him near him.[41]” The Israelite-Samaritans do claim today, that some of the Patriarchs were buried[42] near Gerizim. “When the death of el-Azar, the imam- peace be upon him, -drew near, he did as Yush’a the son of Nun had done, and collected the leaders of the children of Israil, and put them under a covenant and bound them to an obligation of obedience, and bid them farewell, and then bid the temple farewell, and worshipped his Lord; and when he came walking out, the holy odors were fragrant on the borders of his garments. And having gone to Kefr Ghueirah, he stripped off the holy garments which were on him, and placed them upon his son Finhas- peace be upon him- and he died and was buried in Kefr Ghuweirah; and all the children of Israil wept for him, after the custom of their fathers. And after him his son was installed, and he did as his father had done. And when his death approached, he also bound them to a covenant, and offered up sacrifices, and bid farewell; and having gone to Kefr Ghuweirah, stripped off the holy garments which were on him, and put them upon one of his offspring who was to succeed him, and then he died and was buried in that place.[43]”
“Eleazer, Phinehas, Ithamar, Shisha, Bahka, and Uzza and the seventy elders, who prophesied from the gift of our lord Moses (upon whom be peace), all of these were ordered to be buried opposite the aforesaid mountain, and so it was done. They were buried opposite the noble mountain in Amarta, after they had spent their age in serving in the tabernacle. Their graves are still known to both Samaritan and Jews unto this day. ... One sees their graves-all directed towards this mountain.[44]”
There is evidence of caves
in the area of Gerizim. J.T. Milik interprets the Hebrew word seriah[45]
as meaning ‘rock-cut tombs’[46].
Reinhardt Pummer documented[47]
many “hand-cut tombs” located in the area of Gerizim. Wright records a cave at
the base of Gerizim under the modern Jerusalem -Nablus road[48].
Another smaller cavern directed water from a spring. Water tunnels and caves
are still to be found with running springs from mount Gerizim[49].
Mount Ebal has not known water source while Mount Gerizim has various sources.
The water is needed for sacrifices and cleanup.
Appropriately, Abraham purchased a burial
site in a valley. Now if this burial site was in a cave, how could it be
located in a valley? Would not a cave be more likely to be found in the side of
a mountain? The answer may be found at Bab edh-Dhra’[50],
located on the east side of the Dead Sea toward the south from the early Bronze
Age. Here a massive cemetery was discovered. The design of these tombs
consisted of a vertical shaft dig into the earth. At the bottom was a
horizontal entrance into a cave or dug out opening. After the body or bodies
were placed inside, stones sealed the entrance. The main vertical shaft may or
may not have been covered in with fill. This type of tomb could explain the
words, “And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre,
the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the
field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure.[51]”
According to two diverse verses, Abraham
purchased a burial site. In one case the land was purchased from Ephron, the
son of Zohar[52], whereas
the other states he purchased it from of Emmor (Hamor[53]),
the father of Sychem[54].
Zohar or Zoar as it is also written was the town Lot fled to[55]
upon leaving Sodom. According in the book of Leviticus, ‘In the year of
jubilee, the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to
whom the possession of the land did belong.[56]’
This would explain Jacob’s purchase of the same field of the children of Hamor,
Shechem’s father[57] and the
reason why Joseph was buried there[58].
Hamor is called a Hivite, while in the Septuagint he is a Horite[59].
Eshcol the Amorite along with his brother
Mamre each had a valley[60].
The Amorites referred to as ‘Amurru’ lived westward from the Euphrates River as
far as the Mediterranean. In Assyrian texts, Amurri was an established name of
Syria-Palestine. Localized non-biblical usage of Amurru appears in 14th-13th
century B.C.E. Syro-Palestinian texts referring to a kingdom located in the
mountains and along the coast of Northern Lebanon. Again the main location of
both the Hittites and the Amorites were north of Jerusalem.
Accordingly, Ephron, the son of Zohar was
of the children of Heth, a Hittite. Apparently Abraham and Ephron were friends
shown by the transaction of the parcel of land. When Rachel died, she was
buried on the road from Bethel to Ephrath, a short distance apart[61].
Was this Ephrath the location of the Hittite’s property? Esau married two
Hittite women, showing that the area people were Hittites.
The Hittites existence has only began to
come to life in the last 125 years[62].
The Hittites religious center was near Boghazkoy[63],
while their kingdom consisted of Asia Minor (Turkey) and Northern Syria[64].
The Hittites began a conquest to the south coming head to head with Egypt for
many years. The southern border reached to Aleppo, located on the north edge of
Palestine. Monuments of Hittite existence are predicted in Egypt[65].
Thotmes III paid tribute to the Hittites[66]
in the fifteenth century B.C. Suppiluliumas; a great ruler extended the borders
of his kingdom to Lebanon making alliances of the conquered peoples. Egypt for
many years had much influence to their north with many fortifications along the
coastal trade route to the north as far as Lebanon[67].
The Hittite king, Muwatallis (1306-1282 BC) defeated Ramesses ll in 1296 at
Kadesh on the Orontes. Peace between the two nations was finally sealed in a
treaty by marriage in 1280. With this treaty there may have been Hittite slaves
that moved north through Palestine. While some may have settled along the
journey north, others may have moved further south from Asia Minor. But it is
known from excavations that the Philistines lived at Tell Itun, just south of
modern Hebron[68]. No matter,
the Hittite people dwelt in the land of Palestine but of where and how many
have never been determined. The sons of Heth being of Canaanite origin[69]
may have expanded their territory north[70].
The Hittite culture fell apart around 1200 BC.[71],
but evidence of their remains still exists today.
The book of Genesis places in the land of
Canaan besides the Canaanites, the Amorites, Hivites, Jebusites, Perizzites,
Girgashites and the Hittites. But it appears each were small colonies[72].
The land of the Hittites was specified in the borders of Israel’s north[73].
In the time of Abraham, the Hittites dwelt in the land[74]
and were mountain dwellers[75].
It would appear that the Hittites were animal herders unable to grow food in
mountainous terrains. The brownish white limestone mountains of the land of
Judah do not compare to the well-watered lands of the north[76]
in which would enable them to feed their flocks. Even Lot went to the east
because of the glass for his flock, not to the north. Thus it would explain the
children of Jacob with their flock when they moved to the north to Dothan from
the valley of Shechem[77].
Joseph was to check on his brethren and return to Jacob. Dothan is said to
exist in the north territory of Canaan[78].
Hebron was built seven years before Zoan[79],
the Hyksos capital in the Nile Delta of Egypt in the late eighteenth century
B.C. Evidently Zoan must have been an important city at that time, maybe a
capital. Since Hebron is compared to Zoan, Hebron must have also been an
important center in it own right. Hebron is described as a “seat of
association” taken from the word “cheber”[80],
meaning a society, or an association as in a league[81].
Kirjath-arba has connection with Hebron. Kirjath-arba translates into English
as “the city of four”[82].
Jacob’s purchased a parcel of field at
Shechem and called it, “El-el-o-he-Israel”[83],
and Luz is El-bethel[84].
This is the same parcel of land Abraham purchased as is stated, ‘And the land
which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after
thee will I give the land.[85]’
This is clearly affirmed that the land purchased is the field of Mamre, ‘And
Jacob came to Isaac, his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah (four, which
is Kirjath-arba, the city of four), which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
sojourned’[86] and this is
were Esau and Jacob buried Isaac[87].
The
city of four forms a league hence the name Hebron[88]. Beer-Sheba [89]is
assigned as a city[90],
one of the suburbs of Shechem, Mamre and Aner being already identified. Shalem
or Salem is the fourth city of Shechem[91].
This explains the patrons of Hebron at an
early point of which Hebron came into existence. Abraham had confederates that
also believed in God. Noah’s son, Shem, lived to approximately 50 years of age
after Jacob was born[92].
Shem’s sons and nephews may have lived or visited the land, considering that
most scholars consider that Melchizedek is in their opinion, Shem. Abraham purchased a field in Mach-pelah[93]
meaning ‘doubled’ [94], facing Mamre, one of the
four cities. Aner is designated as a city[95],
a suburb of Shechem at mount Ephraim giving evidence for this thesis. Here
having two cities of the four and considering these two places being suburbs of
Shechem. Shechem can be called Kirjath-arba (city of four) without a doubt.
Hence Machpelah lays between two of these cites, Mamre being one of them, and
that Mamre is part of Hebron[96].
Shechem is located in the plain of Moreh[97](place
of teaching[98] or worship[99]).
Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God dwelt in Shechem. According to
recent finds at Qumran, the book of Jubilee, Melchizedeq blessed Abraham on the
mount of blessing, Gerizim[100].
Abraham was commanded to live there. Nevertheless Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
lived in this community of believers and followers of God in an acceptable
society.
When Abram passed onto the place of Shechem
unto the plain of Moreh and God appeared to him and he built an altar there[101].
And Abram returned back and built an altar in the same place[102].
This illustrates that Abraham built his altar in one particular locality, to
call on the name of God[103]. Abram went to ‘the place of the altar’ in
his second visit and this is where he pitched his tent. This spot where Abraham
built his altar is where Isaac was to be sacrificed according to the
Samaritan-Israelites. It is also interesting to note that, “The Bourgogne
pilgrimage visited Mount-Gerizim, ‘the sacrifice-place of Isaq (Issac),’ 333 AD[104].
And Lot journeyed east, away from Abraham[105]
leaving him. Abram walked through the land and returned to dwell in the same
place in the plain of Mamre[106]
where the altar was from the beginning. Abraham purchased his estate from the
Hittite, as an estate for a burial site[107].
A Hittite is mentioned belonging in the land of Abraham[108].
It is known that Abraham dwelt in the plain of Mamre[109]
and had friends that were Amorites; their names were Aner, Eshcol and Mamre.
These Amorites, also Hittites, as can be seen, were with Abraham when he
encountered Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God of Salem[110],
that is Shechem[111],
in the valley of Shaveh[112].
The two words composing Beersheba are from “Be’er” for well and Sheva, “oath”
or “seven”[113]. Hence Beersheba is the well of the oath and
we can also see that there was a valley of the oath. Thus “the sanctuary of
‘the Lord, the Everlasting God,’ which was apparently located there in very
early times, was invested with great importance in the patriarchal period”[114].
And after this, Abram made a sacrifice
there and God made a covenant right there at that spot in the plains of Mamre
with him[115]. The story
in chapter 18 concerning the three men[116]
reflexes the covenant given to Abraham by God. Abimelech and Phichol that knew
God[117],
went[118]
to Abraham concerning a well he had dug for water[119].
This well is called Beer-Lachai-Roi[120]
meaning ‘the well of the Living One Who sees me”[121].
There they made an oath, a covenant between them and called the place
Beer-Sheba[122].
Beer-Sheba means well of swearing[123]
as in an oath. Here Abraham planted a grove[124]
and here he called again on to God. Abraham was instructed to take his son
“upon one of the mountains”[125].
Abraham lived between two mountains, Bethel (Gerizim) and Hai[126]
(Ebal) where in the beginning he built his first altar[127].
And where Abraham was to sacrifice his son was on Hashem Yireh[128].
And Abraham dwelt in Beer-Sheba[129].
And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same as Hebron. Abraham asked his friends
and Ephron the son of Zohar, who dwells among the children of Heth, gave him a
burial site[130] as
mentioned before.
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi[131],
one of the wells Abraham had dug. And Isaac then dwelt in Gerar[132]
and after digging wells he went back to Beer-Sheba. God appeared to Isaac as he
had with Abraham in the same place at Beer-Sheba[133].
Isaac was told that he would be given countries[134].
Here too Isaac called on the One God and built an altar in the same spot[135]
as his father. And as his father had, Isaac called the place, Beer-Sheba. Isaac blessed Jacob and after he went to a
certain place and spent the night because the sun was set[136].
And Jacob received the blessing[137]
from God at Beer-Sheba[138]
and he called the place Beth-el[139],
which is Luz. Now Luz translates, “growing there”[140],
while other interpretations have given a different meaning of, ‘to stop over
night’[141]. This
would appear appropriate after all Jacob is seen sleeping over night at Bethel.
Jacob set a pillar and poured oil on it and
made a vow, a covenant[142].
This was the same spot that all the other covenants were made with God. The
stone pile is the witness of the covenant[143].
And when Jacob returned back to “the mount”[144]
with his family. He was met and called the name of the place, Mahanaim, two
hosts or camps. And Laban pitched his tent in the mount of Gilead. Therefore
Jacob and Laban had their two camps. Laban pitched his tent on the mount of
Gilead. Gilead or Galeed, (sometimes miswritten) mean a heap of witness. This
was the mount of the heap of stones that marked the covenant between the two
parties before God. Here, Jacob offered a sacrifice ‘upon the mount’[145].
And Jacob called on to God in this mount[146].
Jacob returned to Bethel alone and had another dream, for it was night[147]
and he called the place, Peniel, for he had seen “God face to face.” This is all attested by, “Jacob came to
Shalem, a city of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram, and he pitched his
tent before the city[148].“
Jacob’s tents were called, “Succoth”[149]
and he had pitched them not far off. And there at Shechem, Jacob purchased a
field from Hamor, Shechem’s father[150]
and built an altar there, calling it El-elohe-Israel. For this is where Jacob
spent his last night at Bethel before he went to Padan-aram. The story of
Jacob’s return is repeated when Jacob tells the people to give up their strange
gods and he is shown as going up to Bethel[151].
“And God appeared unto Jacob again (first time since he arrived back), when he
came out of Padan-aram [152]and
blessed him[153] giving the
place the same name of Bethel, where he built a pillar of stone and a drink
offering. This is proven by the words, “And Jacob came unto his father unto
Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
sojourned[154].” And this
is where Abraham lived, “ Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there”[155].
He was told to live there close to Bethel. This can be seen by the story of
Shechem when he had seen and defiled Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. Jacob’s camp had
to be near Shechem.
Heap of stones or a pillar mark a boundary
or witnesses an agreement or they mark a sacred place. I have personally
witnessed in Jordan, hundreds of small heaps of stones painted white that
Palestinians probably made.
A very important witness to the site of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s dwelling place is the birthright of the first-born
son. Joseph received this birthright handing it down to his sons, Ephraim and
Manasseh[156]. Their
inheritance was the center of worship of the Israelites and the land that their
fathers purchased. Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to
Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac[157].
Five sites are related with Abraham: Shechem, Bethel, Mamre, Beer-sheba and Moriah. All are called maqom except for Mamre. The Hebrew word implies “place,” with a concentrated significance of a “sacred place, sacred precinct[158]. The sacred tree, whether oak, terebinth or tamarisk, is referenced being located at Shechem, Mamre and Beer-sheba. God revealed himself to the Patriarchs, or where a solemn covenant or treaty was agreed to[159] in this place. We know the vicinity of Shechem and Bethel. We also know that in each case a tree refers to a single tree that could mean the same tree. According to the Masoretic text of Gen. 35:4, it says concerning the oak “with Shechem,” meaning closely nearby Shechem. In the Septuagint and Greek translations of the same verse, “in Shechem” is used. The Oak of Moreh (Moreh meaning to teach or worship) in Judges 9:6 is identified as “the oak of the pillar.”
Luz (‘growing there’ or a type of strong tree) is known to be Bethel[160]. There are three species of oak trees that are Israel’s natural groves and forests[161]. The roots of an oak tree can remain alive for the ability to renew its self for centuries. The oak is also believed to be the terebinth and has been mentioned by many scholars to be the tree Abraham sat under[162]. Abraham had his friends sit under the oak that was located near his tent door[163]. It is also mentioned as the tree Jacob buried the idols under[164]. Abraham planted a grove[165]. Was this grove of trees planted for the reason of having firewood for sacrifices? Nevertheless Abraham planted these trees around the field of Mamre on the borders[166].
“In the time of Josephus, a tree some
distance north of Hebron was assumed to be the ‘terebinth’ of Abraham (Ant.,
1:186; Wars, 4:533)[167].”
This place being described as Mamre, meaning oak grove[168]
is identified with Hebron[169].
When Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak,
named Allon-bachuth (the oak of weeping)[170].
The close association of two Hebrew words
for oak are simalar, “‘elah”[171]
and “’allah[172]”.
Identical to ‘elah, without the vowels is the Hebrew word ‘’alah[173],”
meaning oath. Which is in the same manner, that is without the vowels as “alah[174]”
meaning to bewail- lament (Deborah was buried beneath Bethel under an oak,
named Allonbachuth, the oak of weeping). Where in the case of the Hebrew word
for God is, “’elahh[175].” All these words materialize to be intimately
related to God.
“Alah,” the word for oath appears when Isaac made a covenant with Abimelech[176]. Abimelech’s covenant was the renewal of the covenant made with Abraham[177]. Both oaths formed the covenants made at Beersheba. Jacob made his vow to God[178] after setting up a pillar[179] at Bethel. In each case of an oath concerning a covenant, a pillar of stone was erected as a witness, even with Laban[180]. The bottom portion of a cuneiform table found in Shechem by F.M.Th. Bohl gives the names of seven witnesses[181]. The top portion is missing to the contents of the need of the witnesses.
“And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God’s house[182]” (Bethel). I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointed the pillar and where thou vowed a vow unto me[183]. “Only thy holy things which thou hast and thy vows, thou shall take and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose[184](the correct wording comes from the Samaritan Torah where it is written, “has chosen”).
The Samaritan version is attested to be the correct version by the location of Bethel already being located from the earlier period attested by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to mention the High Priest, Melchizedek. “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared[185].” “Abram’s dealings with Melchizedek, king and priest of Salem (Gen. 14:18-20), further complicated matters, for the Samaritans rightly argued that Salem is a locality near Shechem[186]. When the Jews began to claim that Salem was the ancient name of Jerusalem, some Samaritans transferred the seat of Melchizedek to Mt. Gerizim. In a fragment of a Samaritan Hellenistic writer who wrote not later than the end of the second century B.C.E., we read that Abram ‘was admitted as a guest into the temple city of the city called Argarizin, which being interpreted is ‘mount of the most high,’ and received gifts from Melchizedek, who was king and priest of God.[187]” Mount Gerizim contains locations of altars of each of the Patriarchs, Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, and Isaac[188].
According to G. Ernest Wright, there was a
temple structure exciting in Shechem as far back as the Early Iron Age[189].
This site investigated by Wright and other well-known archaeologists does
indeed show a temple that had two small stones standing on either side of the
entrance and a large one standing in the courtyard. In Hebrew these stones as
called massebot having a connotation as ‘pillars’ containing a sacred
element[190] as well as
the stone altar from the end of the late Bronze Age or soon after. The
Masoretic text has the consonants msb[191]
given vowels by the editors to form mussab. Commentators[192]
generally agree that this makes no sense and should read massebah, a
sacred pillar as in Judges 9:6.
“And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God’s house,”[193]
(that is Bethel). Concerning Joseph, ’from thence is the shepherd of the stone
of Israel[194] (Joseph’s
land contains Bethel). Joseph’s sons are shown hear to watch over the house of
God! “He is the Rock, his work is
perfect, for all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the
spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation.[195]” “But Jeshuran waxed fat and kicked. Thou art
waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook
God that made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked
him to jealousy with strange gods with abominations provoked him to anger. They
sacrificed unto devils, not to God. To gods whom they knew not, to new gods
that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee
thou art unmindful and hast forgotten God that formed thee[196].
Wright wrote, “The relation of El-berith to other El manifestations such as El-bethel of Bethel (Gen. 35:7, 15; cf. 28:17, 19), El-Olam at Beer-sheba (Gen. 21:33), and El-Shaddai (Gen. 17:1; Exod. 6:3), would appear to be clear. His special relation to a covenant, which was so important at the Shechem sanctuary, is also made clear by the name.[197]”
“The Deuteronomic historian who compiled from old sources the history of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua understood that as soon as Israel got a foothold in the hills north of Jerusalem, they were to go to Shechem for a covenant ceremony, there to hear the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. The historian’s tradition prescribed this in Deut. 11:29, and tells of its fulfillment in Josh. 8:30-35. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 27 must derive from the same cycle of tradition. It is incomplete, for only a group of curses are listed. This material was surely preserved, it is understood today, because these passages with Joshua 24 showed the origin of the covenant renewal ceremony[198] that was later held annually, or at least periodically, at Shechem. Yet in these passages nothing is said about Shechem or its sanctuary. The emphasis is solely on the blessings and the curses, the former to be from Gerizim and the latter from Ebal. That is, a prominent part of the covenant renewal ceremony called for one group on Gerizim side to repeat the blessings and another on the Ebal side to recite the curses. I suggest that the reason there is no mention of the city or its sanctuary in these three passages is precisely because they allude to a well-known ceremony, which continued yearly at the site after the twelfth-century destruction of the sacred area. That area was never again rebuilt. Yet the ceremonies continued, with perhaps antiphonal recitation of blessings and curses, one group standing with backs toward Ebal and the other toward Gerizim. Such an hypothesis cannot be proved, but it would explain the blessings and the curses passages wherein the place of the ceremony remains unmentioned.[199]”
“So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statue and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone and set it up under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the lord.” Thus says the book of Joshua[200].
“And the district embracing the excellent mountain fell among the assigned lands of Yusha the king, the son of Nun, and his comrade Kaleb (Caleb) the leader of the whole tribe, and with which he had started out on the journey (from Egypt) in Company with him (Yusha).[201]” And why not let Caleb live close to the Tabernacle? And Caleb died and was buried next to Joshua in the valley of Beauty (merjel-Baha)[202]
“Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. Thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord[203],[204].
“To the two great natural marks of worship, the fountain and the tree, ought perhaps to be added grottos and caves of the earth.[205]” “The sacred fountain and the sacred tree are common symbols at sanctuaries[206]”
“In either case the offering consists of food, ‘the bread of God’ as it is called in the Hebrew ritual[207], and there is no difference between a table and an altar. Indeed the Hebrew altar of burnt-offering is called the table of the Lord, while conversely the table of shewbread is called an altar.[208]” This explains the location of Bethlehem[209] as the location of the sacrifices. Bethlehem is mentioned as being Ephrath[210] where a pillar bares Rachel’s grave. Ephrath would be located in the land of Ephraim.
“The tree or the pillar at a sanctuary is merely a memorial of the divine name, the mark of a place where He has been found in the past and may be found again.[211]’ Many references are given to this established place and it’s importance[212]. The Torah specifies the significance of this place[213].
According to the book Memar
Marguah II of the Shamerim (Samaritans), Mount Gerizim has many common names
ascribed to it.
2. Bethel
(Gen.12:8) 3. House of
G-d. (Gen 28:17) 4. Gate of
Heaven (Gen. 28:17) 5. Luzah (Gen.
28:19) 6. A Sanctuary
(Exod. 15:17) 7. Mount
Gerizim (Deut. 11:29) |
8. House of
the L-rd (Exod. 23:19, 34:26) 9. The Goodly
Mount (Deut. 3:25) 10. The Chosen
Place (Deut. 12:11) 11. The
Everlasting Hill (Deut. 33:15 SP) 12. One of the
Mountains (Gen. 22:2) 13. The L-rd
will Provide (Gen. 22:14) |
Note should also be made
by the writings of John W. Nutt, to the fact that the Samaritans believe that
the Taheb (the Restorer) will restore Israel and the laws of God and shall die
after living 110 years. It is said that he will be buried near Gerizim, for
upon that pure and Holy Mountain can no burial take place[214].
So here we can tell that that this burial location is near Gerizim. Also noted
by is written, “Adam and Eve, we are told, spent eight days in Paradise: the
former instructs Lamech in the ‘Book of Truth’ for 180 years; after leaving
Paradise he dwells in Safra, that is Nablus, and is afterwards buried at
Hebron: Noah collects three writings called the ‘Books of the Covenant,’ viz.,
the ‘Book of Adam,’ or of ‘Wonders,’ that of ‘Nagmuth,’ or Astronomy, and the
‘Book of Wars.’ Enoch dies and is buried opposite Garizim in Navus on Mount
Ebal, lamented by Adam. Jared founds Salem Rabtha or Nablus, in which God
foretold that Melchizedek should hereafter reign: there also is Noah buried.[215]”
“And on the third day they went from the
Mount of Garizim, and came to the town of Hebron, and they spent that night
there. And Joshua son of Nun sang the praises of his forefathers the whole
night till the morning.[216]”
And it appears from this writing that Mount Gerizim is not so far from Hebron.
“And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God’s house,”[217]
(that is Bethel).
Concerning Joseph, “from thence is the
shepherd of the stone of Israel,[218]”
(Joseph’s land contains Bethel).
Conclusion:
Shechem was the location of the Tabernacle when the Israelites entered the land. Joshua and the High Priest entered the tabernacle. The sons of Moses were placed in charge of the Tabernacle and given land as an inheritance of the tribal territory of Ephraim that was near the tabernacle. The inheritance of the land was all was to remain with the particular people it was given to. It would appear redundant for a people such as the sons of the Kohathite clan to move their inheritance to another area such as Jerusalem. The Kohath gift of their charge of the holy items would make it impossible to watch over if they lived more than forty miles or so away. In as much as Shechem was a city of refuge, an important location of the Levites.
In as much as locations in Israel have been
identified, yet still many misidentified. One must always be positive of a
location. A clay jar with a city’s nameplate does not constitute that the
existence of that city in the place it was found. The jar could have been
traded from another region in much the same way as jars from other lands are
found still today in excavations in the land of Israel. Samaria was well known
for it olive oil[219]
whereas it was placed in jars.
It is amazing how Bethel (the house of El)
also described by some as Ephraim has been described as a place of defilement[220].
Is not the Lord, Lord of his house!
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not create Bethel it existed before their
time. Abraham was taken there as well as the Israelites. But they recognized
this special place since the Shepherd that was their escort. We appear not to
have even the slightest indication as they possessed on this sacred location
that encompassed much of all that was and is Holy. These three men, these
patriots of Bethel, these men that knew their creator, these men that trusted
their lives to the God of Bethel.
This God of Bethel is not a man that he
would speak lies to people. He told the Israelites that he would bring him unto
his house. Because the Israelites were faithful unto God he would bring them
unto the place, the place he would show them. He took them to this place that
they would see it and there he made a covenant with them in the former land of
Canaan, the place of the covenant before the location of his altar. They came
to the same area of the altar of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Any other
sacrificial altar in another location would not have been permitted. God spoke
of this importance. Just as God appeared to the patriarchs as they appeared
before him, so were the Israelites to appear before God three times a year.
This they executed as instructed at Bethel. And in this place stood his
tabernacle till the time of the defilement when Israelite became divided. This
was Israel’s downfall to the destruction that followed. Only those that see can
recognize the importance of Israel being as one man. And in the end will Israel
prosper when it returns onto this same place and begs forgiveness for their
sins against the Holy One. And then Israel shall make there in this Holy place
before Bethel, the same covenant as those that passed over the Jordan many year
prior. May the Creator always be praised! May Bethel be seen! May the order of
His holy things be established once again and may we live to see it.
For the final declaration on this Holy
area, I would like to finish with part of a speak made my dear honorable
Samaritan-Israelite friend, Israel Tsedaka[221],
at the fifth annual congress of Samaritan Studies in Helsinki, Finland, in
August, 2000, entitled, ‘Mount Gerizim Bet El and Jerusalem.’
“One of
the main themes in Deuteronomy is the centralization of worship in a single
place, used by the entire land and Israelite tribes. The idea of centralized
worship is mentioned 24 times in Deuteronomy, while the site itself is chosen
by the Lord, rather then the people, its priests or even the leaders. And this,
regardless of the different phrases – whether “the place that he chose” or “the
place he shall chose” in both references it is God who will do the choosing.
The authority to select the three cities of refuge in Canaan, on the other
hand, is given to the people and their leaders – Deuteronomy 19:7 – “Thou shall
separate three cities for thee.” Not so where the choice concerns the spiritual
center. Moses is the means used to transmit the commandment regarding the site
where the spiritual center for the people will be, as he had given the people
all the commandments and laws. The significance of the difference between the
Jewish version, reading “the place that He shall choose” and the Samaritan
version, reading “the place He chose” is not limited to biblical
interpretation. Today, from perspective of some three and 3 a half millennia
since the settlement of the Israelite tribes in Canaan, it reflects faithfully
the history of the Israelite people from the days of Joshua, though the Judges
period, the first and second temple and up to modern times. The stormy events
in the history of the people of Israel were centered around and affected by
this controversy between Israel and Judaea, or Samaritans and Jews.
Christianity was also influenced by it, an influence which, as we will show
later, is strongly attested to in Christ’s meeting with the Samaritan woman at
the foot of Mount Gerizim. Biblical studies manifest the opinions of biblical
scholars regarding the multiplicity of places of worship in Israel, in the days
of Joshua and up to the reign of king David. In the Jewish version of the
Pentateuch these places are referred – “The place which the Lord shall
chose”(Deuteronomy 12:14), “To cause his name to dwell there” (Deuteronomy
12:11) “To put his name there” (Deut.12:5). “In all places where I record my
name” (Exodus 20:21). Based on these verses, the scholars conclude several
places of worship to have existed in Israel prior to the establishment of
Jerusalem by king David. This gives rise to several questions: Who appointed
king David to establish a new center for the people of Israel? Why did he
choose Jerusalem, which for 400 years since Joshua had been a Jebusite city?
Was the choice not political? Why did king David avoid building the temple
himself, was it because the people objected to his city of choice, Jerusalem?
Their cry was “We have no part in David neither have we inheritance in the son
of Yishay, every man to his tents O Israel”. Why did the temple build by king
Solomon, aimed to unit all tribes of Israel, bring about the division of Israel
and Judea, a division caused by Jerusalem and lasting to this very day? How
does this interpretation conform with the text 4 in Joshua 22:16 – where it is
told that the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh merely build an altar
on the river Jordan, without even sacrificing on it, and as a result the entire
nation of Israel is outraged – “What trespass is this that you have committed
against the God of Israel...by building for yourselves an alter that you might
rebel this day against the Lord”. Here we see the idea of centralized worship
“In the place He chose” realized in all its glory, in the days of Joshua son of
Nun. It is the idea of belief in a single place, recognized by all the people
of Israel. It is rooted so deeply, that even those erecting an altar without
ever sacrificing on it are considered rebels. These verses in the book of
Joshua refute the interpretation of those claiming religious worship to have
been diffused all over Israel up to the days of king David. Unlike the common
reference, in the Jewish version of the Pentateuch, denoting the chosen place
in future tense, in one instance this version refers to the chosen place in
past tense – “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and
to bring thee to the place which I have prepared” (Exodus 23:20). Here, the
text does not refer to “the place I shall prepare” but rather is identical to
the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch.
Let us
return to the cities of refuge – Joshua immediately fulfills the divine decree
and sets the three cities of refuge in the Trans-Jordan. This immediate
decision proves the need those cities, since the entire land has no centers of
worship and altars, where the slayer may find refuge. The one existing center
may be far, and thus the cities of refuge are chosen and established
immediately.
In Moses’
Torah, where all the laws and commandments are given to the people of Israel,
the sanctity of Jerusalem is never referred to. The Israelites, however, are
commanded to bless Mount Gerizim and build an alter (which, in the Jewish
version, is built nearby Mount Ebal). And indeed, once the Israelites were
settled in the land of Canaan, Joshua summons the people to Shechem, with the
Ark of Covenant, to the gathering at Mount Gerizim. He does not go to Shiloh or
Jerusalem. Thus one should ask, where is the place which, in the Jewish
version, is “the place He shall choose”? Rashi, first and foremost among the
Bible exegetes, interprets thus as Shiloh. Shiloh, like Jerusalem is not
mentioned in the book of Joshua, in the list of places given to the Levites as
their inheritance. Whereas when the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, is
described, the Bible explicitly says that the Levites were given the city of
Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim (Joshua 21:21). The leaders of the
people and its priests throughout the settlement period and up to Eli’s time
–Joshua son of Nun, Caleb, the seventy Elders, the high priests
Elazar, Itamar, Pinhas and others – are all buried
in the vicinity of the city of Shechem and mount
Gerizim, not near Shiloh. According to Jewish
tradition, the first to have buried in Shiloh was Eli.
This is what Professor Bebjamin Mazar had to say, in
a 1972 conference held in Samaria. “Shechem has always held in place of
importance in Israeli consciousness, as an early center of the national in its
country, and as the focal point of all national and religious hopes for the
unification and unity of the nation. The “Place of Shechem”(Genesis 12:6) in
the city had contained a temple of the Lord, with a sacred tree – “the
Terebinth of Morea” and an altar called El-elohe-Yisra’el (Genesis 33:20) – a
place of ancient sanctity, that saturate the traditional of nation’s fathers,
Abraham and Ya’aqov, and where Joshua had made the covenant to the people of
Israel, and where Jeroboam son of Nebat ruled the tribes of the central and
northern parts of the land, once the united kingdom of the house of David had
divided”.
A brief
review of the history of the Israelite tribes from the days of Joshua son of
Nun onwards, as told in the Samaritan chronicles, and a comparison to the
Jewish sources, will reveal that all points of controversy refer to Mount
Gerizim. Joshua crosses the river Jordan and goes on to conquer the rest of
Canaan. Well before he has completed the conquest, he convenes the nation in
Shechem, in the valley separating Mount Gerizim and Ebal, to give the
“blessings and curses according to all that is written in the book of the law.
On this historic, dignified occasion, the Ark of the Covenant was placed at the
top of Mount Gerizim. It was here that the high priests of the house of Pinhas,
to whom the high priesthood was given, officiated for 260 years. The priesthood
list corresponds, for the most part, to the biblical list of high priests of
the house of Pinhas, quoted in Chronicles. According to the Samaritan
chronicles, these were the days of grace, of the Shekhina. When Uzi son of
Buki, one of the sons of Pinhas, is appointed high priest in Mount Gerizim, it
is actually Eli the priest, a dominant, older man, who officiates as high
priest. Eli, who refused to accept the authority of the younger Uzi, withdrew
from Mount Gerizim to Shiloh and founded there a new religious center, where a
part of the people began to worship. This severe division in the nation was
used to good advantage by the Philistines, who destroyed the Shiloh temple,
forty years after its foundation. The Bible glosses over the priesthood of the
sons of Itamar and the causes that had led to their appointment. Jewish traditions
associate the removal of the priest of the house of Pinhas with the incident of
the daughter of Jephthth, or the incident of the concubine in Gibeah, and its
hard bloody aftermath. Historian Josephus Flavius, however, in his book, “The
Antiquities of the Jews”, book V: 318 writes “Joseph son of Matityahu.”
Following Samson’s death, the Israelites were led by high priest Eli”. Ibid 361
– “Eli was the first ruler of the house of Itamar, the second house of the sons
of Aharon, as first the priesthood was given to the house of Elazar...the
latter handed it down to his Pinhas, who handed it down to his son Abiezer
(Abisha), who gave it to his son Buki, whose son Uzi received it from him, and
afterwards the priesthood was given to Eli”. Josephus Flavius makes no attempt
to explain the reasons for the removal of Pinhas’ family, the significance and
centrality of the removal and its consequences.
Samaritan
history denotes that the period of grace and shekhina, (in Aramaic ‘Rehuta”)
lasted 260 years, from the day the ark of the covenant was placed on mount
Gerizim, to the foundation of the new Mishkan in Shiloh, by Eli, when, in the
words of the Bible, (Deuteronomy 25:17): “and I will hide my face from them”.
This act of Eli’s led to the foundation of numerous religious centers
throughout the nation, and in the words of the book of Judges: “Every man did
that which was right in his own eyes”, (Judges 21:25). It is in this political
and religious void that king David establishes Jerusalem as the center. At the
death of king Solomon, the United Kingdom is divided into Israel and Judaea.
All attempts by Davidic kings to reinstate a united kingdom failed over the
issue of Jerusalem, as we have seen in king Hezekiah’s attempts to convince the
remaining Israelites in Samaria. Furthermore, in all the prophecies of the
prophets in Judaea or Samaria, who had preached to the people and admonished
them for their wrongdoing, we don’t find any admonition or any chastisement to
the people of Israel, for they are not believing in Jerusalem. Prophet Elijah,
when fleeing from Ahab king of Israel, flees to mount Sinai rather than
Jerusalem.
The Jewish
scholar Shadal – Rabbi Shemuel Luzzato writes, in his exegesis to Genesis
12:10, “The city of Shechem is in the center of Israel. Had David not chosen
Jerusalem... Shechem or Shiloh would have been the royal cities. Therefore,
when Abraham came there (to Shechem), he was told, “I shall give this Land to
your seed”. And mayhap, if the kingly throne and the temple had indeed been in
Shechem or in Shiloh, perhaps the ten tribes would not have rebelled against
the house of David”.
According
to Samaritan chronicles, in the first period of the second temple, the governor
of Judeah, Zerubbabel appealed the Samaritan’s leaders, to build together the
temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritan’s leaders – the high priest ‘Abedel son of
‘Azarya’ and the president of Jossef tribe ‘Azzi son of Shim’on, and Sanbalat
the president of Levi tribe, rejected Zerubbabel’s appeal.
Zerubbabel the son’s son of king Hezekiah, his
dream, the dream of the house of king David, to recover an authority on every
Israel, and this was the wonderful opportunity. According to book of Ezra, the
foreigners, Cuthites, etc., appealed to Zerubbable to participate in the construction
of the temple in Jerusalem, but they were postponed. These were not the
Samaritans – the sons of the remnant of the Israelites.
In the Second Temple period, Jews and Samaritan argued, before
king Ptolemy Phylomater, which is the chosen place mount Gerizim or Jerusalem.
Josephus mentions this argument very briefly, in Antiquities 13:9. Samaritan
chronicles give a more detailed account of the argument, whose main point was:
“Our lord Moses, giver of the Torah, could not have not known which is the
chosen place. This place was indeed known to Moses, who quotes it in the tenth
commandment, whereas according to the Jewish version, our lord Moses did not
know which was the chosen place. However, both our version and theirs, contains
the command to sacrifice, as it is written “Year by year in the place”
(Deuteronomy 15:20). And if the place had not yet been
chosen, where they have sacrificed?... And Abraham the patriarch, on the day he
was tested by the Lord, said “upon one of the mountains” in the land of Moriah,
and in the song of the crossing of the Red Sea Moses said “In the mountain of
thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which
thou has made for thee to dwell in,” and calls its
name “ancient mountain” as it is called in the blessing of Moses to the tribe
of Joseph, “For the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious
things of the lasting hill (not hills), and was therefore given by Jacob as an
inheritance to his son Joseph.
The sons
of Ephraim and Manasseh argue in favor of the phrasing “The place that he
chose”, saying that this place was chosen in antiquity to be the chosen place,
selected of all the tribes of Israel. The Pentateuch is full of stories
describing the prevailing atmosphere in the northern kingdom, and particular
the land of Ephraim. The first place Abraham comes to upon arrival in the
land of Canaan is Shechem – “And Abram passed
through the land to the place of Shechem unto the terebinth of More”, (Genesis
12:6). It is here, “in the place” that he builds a first altar to Yahweh. And
upon returning from Egypt, where he had gone during the famine, he goes “unto
the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first, and there Abram
called on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 13:4). When Abraham is told to
sacrifice Isaac, he is called to go to the land of Moriyya, not to the mount of
Moriyya that first time remembered in the book of Kings: “And they came to the
place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there” (Genesis
22:9) – and here again we read “the place” And much like he did upon his return
from Egypt, Abraham goes to the place he knows from old and builds “the altar”,
that is, restores the altar he had erected and known previously.
In the
Pentateuch, in the Samaritan version of the Ten Commandments the tenth
commandment recognizes the sanctity of mount Gerizim and decrees that altar be
built there. This tenth commandment is missing in the Jewish version, and
naturally in all the translations based on the Jewish, rather than the Samaritan
version. The main argument is that the Jews believe in nine rather than ten
Commandments, as they do not consecrate mount Gerizim as the chosen place, and
count as the first commandment the opening verse of the Ten Commandments: “I am
the Lord thy God” – words which do not form an actual commandment. This opening
phrase is part and parcel of the first commandment, which the Samaritan
believes is “Thou shall have no other gods before me”, whereas in the Jewish
version this verse is the second commandment.
The World has accepted the Jewish version and its nine commandments
rather than ten commandments of the Samaritan version.
With a selected section
written by
[1] A. D. Crown, The Samaritans, The Byzantine and Moslem Period,
edited by Alan Crown, J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Tubingen, 1989, p.69.
[2] Ibid. p.70.
[3] D.C. Simpson, D.D., Pentateuchal Criticism, Oxford University
Press, London, 1924; Isaac M. Wise, Pronaos to Holy Writ, Establishing, on
Documentary evidence, the Authorship, Date, Form, and Contents of Each of its
Books, Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, 1891; Emanuel Tov, The
Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research, Jerusalem
Biblical Studies, Second Edition, Simor Ltd. Jerusalem, 1997.
[4] Genesis 35:16, 19.
[5] Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Archaeological Commentary On The Bible, Doubleday
& Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1984, p. 23.
[6] 1 Sam 10:2
[7] Jeremiah 31:15 also see Judges 4:5
[8] N. Na’aman, Borders and Districts in Biblical Historiography, Seven
Studies in Biblical Geographical Lists, Simor Ltd., Jerusalem, 1986, p.64.
Na’aman writes regarding the borders of the tribes demonstrating the
difficulties in the locations ascribed in and around the kingdom of Judea.
Na’aman analyzes what he calls, “the bias of the Judaean writers”. His work
informs us of how these scribes tried to impress the supremacy of the land of
Judea over the land of their opponents, the land of Israel.
[9] Genesis 49:29-31
[10] ibid. 23:8-9
[11] ibid. 23:19
[12] ibid. 23:2
[13] ibid. 23:8-20
[14] ibid. 25:9-10
[15] ibid. 33:18-19; 34.
[16] ibid. 25:11
[17] ibid. 24:62
[18] ibid. 26:25, 33.
[19] ibid. 35:27
[20] ibid. 12:6
[21] ibid. 12:9-10
[22] ibid. 13:3
[23] ibid. 13:10-11
[24] ibid. 13:18, 14:13
[25] ibid. 18:1
[26] ibid. 50:24-26.
[27] Joshua 24:32
[28] Genesis 33:19-20
[29] G. Ernest Wright, Shechem, The Biography of a Biblical City, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York, Toronto, Published 1965. p.328. (Testament of Joseph
20:6)
[30] Genesis 37:14
[31] Bereishis, Genesis/ A new translation with a commentary anthologized from
Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translation
and commentary by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. Published by Mesorah Publications, ltd.
Brooklyn, NY. Second Edition, two volumes, third impression…may, 1989. v 2,
p.1580.
[32] Encyclopaedia
Judaica,
Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, v. 11, p.674.
[33] Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Archaeological Commentary On The Bible, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1984, p. 20.
[34] Capt. Wilson, R.E., Capt. Warren, R.E., Etc., Etc., Etc., The
recovery of Jerusalem., A narrative of Exploration and Discovery in the City
and the Holy Land,D. Appleton& Company, New York, 1871, p.31
[35] Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Archaeological Commentary On The Bible, Doubleday
& Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1984, p. 21.
[36] Magnus Magnusson, Archaeology of the Bible, v.?, p. 42. (found on the internet but unable to verify the source)
[37] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter
Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, v. 11, p.674.
[38] Josephus II, 7,2.
[39] Acts 7:156-16.
[40] John Macdonald, The Theology of the Samaritans, SCM Press,
London, 1964, p.329.
[41] Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., The Samaritan Chronicle or the Book of
Joshua, the Son of Nun, translated from the Arabic, with Notes, John B.
Alden, Publisher, New York, 1890, p 99, f. 74, p 165-6, n. 74. a few miles
south of Nablus on the range of hills which shirts the plain of Mukhna toward
the west.
[42] ibid. p 67, f. 47, p.159. in its immediate neighborhood lie buried
Joseph, Eleazer, Ithamar, Phinehas, Joshua the son of Nun, Caleb and the
seventy Ancients. Also see, John W. Nutt, Fragments of a Samaritan Targum,
Georg Olms Verlag, Hidesheim- New York, 1980, p.13, f. 4.
[43] Ibid. p. 100-1
[44]
Jacob, son of Aaron, Mount Gerizim, The One True
Sancutary, Translated by Abdullah ben Kori; edited by Rev. William E.
Barton, D.D., Reprinted from the Bibliotheca Sacra for July, 1907. Oak Park,
Illinois, the Puritan Press, 1907
[45] Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., The Samaritan Chronicle or the Book of
Joshua, the Son of Nun, translated from the Arabic, with Notes, John B.
Alden, Publisher, New York, 1890, p.124.
[46] J.T.Milik, “Notes d’epigaphie et de topographie palestiniennes,” RevueBibligue
LXVI, 1959, pp. 556 f., 560-562.
[47] Reinhard Pummer, The Samaritans, Samaritan Material Remains and
Archaeology, edited by Alan Crown, J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Tubingen, 1989,
pg. 151-155, 162.
[48] G. Ernest Wright, Shechem, The Biography of a Biblical City, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York, Toronto, Published 1965. p.12.
[49] ibid. p.244. f 6.
[50] Amihai Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible- 10,000-586
B.C.E., Doubleday, New York, 1992, p.99.
[51] Genesis 23:17
[52] Ibid 23:8-9
[53] Joshua 24:32
[54] Acts 7:16
[55] Genesis 19:22-23
[56] Leviticus 27:24
[57] Genesis 33:19
[58] Joshua 24:32
[59] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, v7, p.1249.
[60] Numbers 32:9, De. 1:24
[61] Genesis 35:16, 19.
[62] C.W.Ceram, The Secret of the Hittites, The Discovery of an Ancient
Civilization, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1956, p.4.
[63] ibid. p. 6.
[64] ibid. p. 21.
[65] ibid. p.14.
[66] ibid. p.26.
[67] Werner Keller, The Bible as
History, A Confirmation of the Book of Books, A bantam Book, William Morrow
& Co., Inc., 1980, f. 17, p.108.
[68] Israel Pocket Library, Archaeology, Keter Publishing House,
Jerusalem Ltd, Jerusalem, 1974, pg.6, A photo of a Philistine clay jug from the
12th century B.C.E.
[69] Genesis 10:15
[70] The origin of the Hittite empire appears from an unknown country. The
only known origin comes from the Book of Genesis.
[71] C.W.Ceram, The Secret of the
Hittites, The Discovery of an Ancient Civilization, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New
York, 1956, p.259-260.
[72] Ira Maurice Price, Ph.D.,
The Monuments and the Old Testament, Oriental Light on Holy Writ, The Christian
Culture Press, Chicago, 1905, p.126
[73] Joshua 1:4.
[74] Genesis 23:10
[75] Numbers 13:29
[76] Genesis 13:10
[77] ibid. 37:14
[78] Encyclopaedia
Judaica, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, v.6,
p.179-180.
[79] Numbers 13:22
[80] James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible,
A Concise Dictionary of the Words in The Hebrew Bible with their renderings in
the Authorized English Version, Broadman & Holman Publishers,
Nashville, Tennessee, 1996, p. 36, number 2267.
[81] Francis Brown, with the cooperation of S.R. Driver and Charles A.
Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an Appendix
Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody,
Massachusetts, November 1997, p. 289b.
[82] Bereishis, Genesis/ A new translation with a commentary anthologized
from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translation and commentary by
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. Published by Mesorah Publications, ltd. Brooklyn, NY.
Second Edition, two volumes, third impression…may, 1989. v 1, p.862.
[83] Genesis 33:18-20.
[84] ibid. 35:6-7.
[85] ibid. 35:12.
[86] ibid. 35:27.
[87] ibid. 35:29.
[88] Hebron translated from the Hebrew means ‘a league’.
[89]
Place of the oath
[90] Genesis 26:33
[91] ibid. 33:18.
[92] Bereishis, Genesis/ A new translation with a commentary anthologized
from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translation and commentary by
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. Published by Mesorah Publications, ltd. Brooklyn, NY.
Second Edition, two volumes, third impression…may, 1989. v. 1,p.xxi.
[93] ibid. v. 1, p.776.
[94] ibid. v. 1, p.884.
[95] I Chronicles 6:70
[96] Genesis 23:19
[97] ibid. 12:6.
[98] James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in The Hebrew Bible with their renderings in
the Authorized English Version, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1996, p. 63, number 4176.
[99] N. Na’aman, Borders and Districts in Biblical Historiography, Seven
Studies in Biblical Geographical Lists, Simor Ltd., Jerusalem, 1986, p.154.
[100] Thord and Maria Thordson, Qumran and the Samaritans, Emerezian
Establishment, Jerusalem, 1996, p240, n.380. Book of Jubilee 32:9f. (Cited by
name in Qumran CDC 16:2-4) Grunbaum. Bererkungen uber die Samaritaner. In ZDMG
16/1862. p. 392.
[101] Genesis 12:6-7. Tthe same as verse 8, this is concerning the same place.
[102] ibid. 13:3-4. and 18.
[103] ibid. 12:6-8 and 13:4
[104] Thord and Maria Thordson, Qumran and the Samaritans, Emerezian
Establishment, Jerusalem, 1996, p117, n. 180. Corpus Christianotum Series
Latina 175:13. Itineraria et alia geographica. Notice this occurred before the
Masoretes in 800-900 AD.
[105] Genesis 13:11.
[106] ibid. 13:18
[107] ibid. 49:30.
[108] ibid. 15:18-20.
[109] ibid. 14:13, and concerning when Abraham went to war see 14:24.
[110] ibid. 14:18-24.
[111] ibid. 33:18.
[112] ibid. 14:17.
[113] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter
Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, v.4, p.383.
[114] ibid. v.4, p.383-4 (Gen. 21:33; 26:23-24, 32-33: 46:1).
[115] Genesis 15:18, 17:1-27, 18:
[116] ibid. 18:1-15, It has been said that these three men were angels. I on
the read puffer to think it was Anor, Eschol and Mamre. They were with Abraham
and Melchizedek. Surely they knew the same God. That I believe is why they
lived together in the same area.
[117] ibid. 21:23
[118] ibid. 21:32 this verse shows that they left Abraham.
[119] ibid. 21:25
[120] ibid. 16:14
[121] Bereishis, Genesis/ A new
translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and
Rabbinic Sources. Translation and commentary by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. Published
by Mesorah Publications, ltd. Brooklyn, NY. Second Edition, two volumes, third
impression…may, 1989.v 1,p. 554.
[122] Genesis 21:31
[123] Bereishis, Genesis/ A new translation with a commentary anthologized
from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Translation and commentary by
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. Published by Mesorah Publications, ltd. Brooklyn, NY.
Second Edition, two volumes, third impression…may, 1989. v 1, p.776.
[124] Genesis 21:33
[125] ibid. 22:2
[126] ibid. 12:8
[127] ibid. 12:7
[128] ibid. 22:13-14, (on the mountain, God is seen).
[129] ibid. 22:19.
[130] ibid. 23:1-20
[131] ‘Well of the Living one’
[132] Genesis 26:6
[133] ibid. 26:23-24
[134] ibid. 26:4
[135] ibid. 26:25
[136] ibid. 28:11
[137] ibid. 28:13-15
[138] ibid. 28:10
[139] ibid. 28:19
[140] James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in The Hebrew Bible with their renderings in
the Authorized English Version, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1996, p. 59, number 3870.
[141] Many scholars conclude that the correct translation is a kind of almond
tree while Strong’s gives us a root word meaning to stop, usually over night
(see James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in The Hebrew Bible with their renderings in
the Authorized English Version, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1996, p. 59, number 3885.) If this is the root, we can understand
concerning that Jacob slept there.
[142] Genesis 28:20-22
[143] ibid. 31:48
[144] ibid. 31:25
[145] ibid. 31:54.
[146] ibid. 32:9-12
[147] ibid. 32:31
[148] ibid. 33:18
[149] ibid. 33:17
[150] ibid. 33:19-20
[151] ibid. 35:2-4, Tthis is why Laban never found his idols, because Jacob
buried them under the oak before Laban arrived.
[152] ibid. 35:9
[153] ibid. 35:10-15
[154] ibid. 35:27
[155] ibid. 35:1
[156] If not familiar with the firstborn birthright, you may e-mail me at Shomron@Yahoo.com for a copy of “Blessing
upon Joseph.”
[157] Genesis 46:1
[158] ibid. 12:6, 8; 13:3; 21:31-33; 28:11; 26:23; 22:9, 14.
[159] ibid. 14:13; 21; 31-33; 26:23.
[160] ibid. 28:19
[161] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem,
Israel, 1972, v.11, p.839 (Mamre). v.12. p.1294
[162] Genesis 18.
[163] ibid. 18:1, 4 and 8.
[164] ibid. 35:4
[165] ibid. 21:33
[166] ibid. 23:17
[167] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., Jerusalem,
Israel, 1972, v.11, p.839 (Mamre).
[168] Ibid.
[169] Genesis 23:19; 35:27.
[170] ibid. 35:8.
[171] James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, A
Concise Dictionary of the Words in The Hebrew Bible with their renderings in
the Authorized English Version, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1996, p. 12, number 424.
[172] Ibid. number 427.
[173] Ibid. number 422 and 423.
[174] Ibid. number 421
[175] Ibid. number 436.
[176] Genesis 26:25-28.
[177] ibid. 21:23-32.
[178] ibid. 28:20
[179] ibid. 28:18-20 and 31:13.
[180] ibid. 31:44-49.
[181] G. Ernest Wright, Shechem, The Biography of a Biblical City, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York, Toronto, Published 1965. p.209.
[182] Genesis. 28:22.
[183] ibid. 31:13
[184] Deuteronomy 12:26
[185] Exodus 23:20
[186] Abram Spiro, Samaritans, Tobiads, and Judahites in Pseudo-Pilo, use
and abuse of the Bible by Polemicists and doctrinaires, The American
Academy for Jewish research, New York, 1951, p. 318, n. 78. (Salem is a
locality near Shechem, Jubilees 30:1; Judith 4:4; A. Alt, in PJB 25 (1929), pp.
52-4, (he quotes Euseb. Onom. 152.4, and the Medaba mosaic map, in which
Salem is equated with Shechem proper); cf. F.M. Abel, Geographie de la
Palestine II (1938), p. 26.
[187] Abram Spiro, Samaritans, Tobiads, and Judahites in Pseudo-Pilo, use and
abuse of the Bible by Polemicists and doctrinaires, The American Academy for
Jewish research, New York, 1951, p. 318
[188] G. Ernest Wright, Shechem, The Biography of a Biblical City, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York, Toronto, Published 1965.
[189] Ibid. p. 81
[190] Ibid. p.86
[191] ibid. p.257, f 22.
[192] Ibid.
[193] Genesis 28:22
[194] ibid. 49:24
[195] Deuteronomy 32:4-5
[196] ibid. 32:15-18.
[197] G. Ernest Wright, Shechem, The Biography of a Biblical City, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York, Toronto, Published 1965. p.136
[198] Evidence of this renewal is shown in the Samaritan book of Joshua.
Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., The Samaritan Chronicle or the Book of Joshua, the
Son of Nun, translated from the Arabic, with notes, John B. Alden, Publisher,
New York, 1890, p. 100-101. the son of Phashas put the people under the covenant.
[199] ibid pg. 137-138.
[200] Joshua 24:25-26
[201]Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., The Samaritan Chronicle or the Book of
Joshua, the Son of Nun, translated from the Arabic, with notes, John B.
Alden, Publisher, New York, 1890, p 67 with Note 53, p.160, The district
embracing the excellent mountain. It is rather remarkable that here Caleb
is associated with Joshua in the possession of the district embracing Mount
Gerizim, when in the canonical Book of Joshua we are informed that he was
assigned to him Hebron for an inheritance. As to Joshua’s possession both
Jewish and Samaritan tradition agree in placing it at Shechem- Joshephus says
that, Joshua ‘lived in Shechem’ (bk. V. 28). In opposition to this, the attempt
in modern times to identify Joshua’s city Timnath-serah (or Heres) with the
present village of Tibneh, situated far south of Shechem in the mountains of
Ephraim, is not very satisfactory.
[202] Oliver Turnbull Crane, M.A., The Samaritan Chronicle or the Book of
Joshua, the son of Nun,John B. Alden, Publisher, 1890 P. 99.
[203] Deut. 12:11
[204] ibid 12:1-9 - (The Samaritan version reads ’in the place I placed my
name’ past tense.
[205] W. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites, The Fundamental
Institutions, Schoken Books, New York, 1972 p.197.
[206] ibid. p.200
[207] ibid. p.201. See Lev. 21:8, 17, etc. cf. Lev. 3:11.
[208]Ibid. p 201, n. 2., Mal.i, 7, 12; Ezek. xli. 22; cf Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p.69. The
same word is used of setting a table and disposing the pieces of the sacrifices
on the fire-altar.
[209] Meaning house of bread.
[210] Genesis 35:19, 48:7.
[211] W. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites, The Fundamental
Institutions, Schoken Books, New York, 1972, p 194.
[212] Deuteronomy 12:1-6 - These are
the statues and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the L-rd
G-d of thy fathers giveth thee to posses it, all the days that ye live upon the
earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye
shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills,
and under every green tree. And ye
shall overthrow their altars, and breaking their pillars, and burn their groves
with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy
the names of them out of this place. Ye
shall not do so unto the L-rd your God.
But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your
tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and
thither thou shalt come. And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and
your sacrifices, and your tithes, and your vows, and your freewill offering,
and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:G-d giveth you to inherit,
and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye
Deu.12:11 - Then there shall be a place which the L-rd your G-d shall choose to
cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you;
your burnt offering, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering
of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the L-rd.
And ye shall rejoice before the L-rd your G-d, ye, and your sons, and your
daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is
within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.
Deu.12:13
–14- Take heed to yourself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every
place that thou seest:But in the place which the L-rd shall choose in one of
thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do
all that I command thee.
Deu.16:2
- Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the L-rd thy G-d, of the
flock and the herd, in the place which the L-rd shall choose to place his name
there.
Deu.16:6
- But at the place which the L-rd thy G-d shall choose to place his name in,
there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun,
at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
Deu.26:2
- That thou shalt take of the first fruit of the first of all the fruit of the
earth, which thou shalt bring of thy
land that the L-rd thy G-d giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt
go unto the place which the L-rd thy G-d shall choose to place his name there.
[213] Lev.17:1-9 - And the L-rd spake
unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the
children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the L-rd hath
commanded, saying, What man so ever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the
camp, or killeth it out of the camp, and bring it not unto the door of the Tabernacle
of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the L-rd before the Tabernacle
of the L-rd; blood shall be imputed unto that man. He hath shed blood and
that man shall be cut off from among his people. To the end that the children
of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even
that they may bring them unto the L-rd, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the
congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the
L-rd. And the priest shall sprinkle the
blood upon the altar of the L-rd at the door of the Tabernacle of the
congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the L-rd. And they shall no more offer their
sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a
statue forever unto them throughout their generations. And thou shalt say unto
them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers
which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice, and bring
it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto
the L-rd. Even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
[214] John W. Nutt, Fragments of a
Samaritan Targum, Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, New York, 1980, p.72.
[215] ibid. p.132.
[216] Moses Gastor, The Samaritan
Hebrew Sources of the Arabic Book of Joshua, Journel of the Royal Asiatic
Society, July, 1930 p. 596 v.143-144.
[217] Genesis 28:22
[218] ibid. 49:24.
[219] Ezekiel 27:17
[220] Hosea 4: 15-17, 5:9, 10:5; Amos 6:1, 7:13: etc.
[221] Israel
Tsedaka is an Israelite-Samaritan living in Holon, Israel. His full speech can
be found in the archives section of the web site, www.The-Samaritans.com. I am honored
to call Israel Tsedaka a friend and thank him for the books that assist me with
my studies and for his scholarly information that he gives us. May he and his
family always receive blessings from the Holy One that watches our deeds daily!