46. As instances we may mention the names of the Angels and devils. One of the latter is
called Yatsara ((ρχψ), which Petermann derives from Deut. xxxi. 21, and Nutt from Ex.
xxiii. 28. I have little doubt, it is only a corruption of Yetser haRa. Indeed, the latter and
Satan are expressly identified in Baba B. 16 a. Many of the Samaritan views seem only
corru ptions and adaptations of those current in Palestine, which, indeed, in the
circumstances, might have been expected.
The political history of the people can be told in a few sentences. Their Temple,47 to
which reference has been made, was built, not in Sa maria but at Shechem - probably on
account of the position held by that city in the former history of Israel - and on Mount
Gerizim, which in the Samaritan Pentateuch was substituted for Mount Ebal in Deut.
xxvii. 4. It was Shechem also, with its sacred associations of Abraham, Jacob, and
Joseph, which became the real capital of the Samaritans. The fate of the city of Samaria
under the reign of Alexander is uncertain - one account speaking of the rebellion of the
city, the murder of the Macedonian governor, the consequent destruction of Samaria, and
the slaughter of part, and transportation of the rest, of its inhabitants to Shechem, 48 while
Josephus is silent on these events. When, after the death of Alexander, Palestine became
the field of battle between the rulers of Egypt and Syria, Samaria suffered even more than
other parts of the country. In 320 b.c. it passed from the rule of Syria to that of Egypt
(Ptolemy Lagi). Six years later49 it again became Syrian (Antigonus). Only three years
afterwards,50 Ptolemy reconquered and held it for a very short time. On his retreat, he
destroyed the walls of Samaria and of other towns. In 301 it passed again by treaty into
the hands of Ptolemy, out in 298 it was once more ravaged by the son of Antigonus. After
that it enjoyed a season of quiet under Egyptian rule, till the reign of Antiochus (III.) the
Great, when it again passed temporarily, and under his successor, Seleucus IV.
(Philopator),51 permanently under Syrian dominion. In the troublous times of Antiochus
IV. Epiphanes,52 the Samaritans escaped the fate of the Jews by repudiating all
connection with Israel, and dedicating their temple to Jupiter.53 In the contest between
Syria and the Maccabees which followed, the Samaritans, as might be expected, took the
part of the former. In 130 b.c. John Hyrcanus destroyed the Temple on Mount Gerizim,54
which was never rebuilt. The city of Samaria was taken several years afterwards55 56 by
the sons of Hyrcanus (Antigonus and Aristobulus), after a year's siege, and the successive
defeat of Syrian and Egyptian armies of relief. Although the city was now not only
destroyed, but actually laid under water to complete its ruin, it was rebuilt by Gabinius
shortly before our era,57 and greatly enlarged and beautified by Herod, who called it
Sebaste in honour of Augustus, to whom he reared a magnificent temple.58 Under Roman
rule the city enjoyed great privileges - had even a Senate of its own. 59 By one of those
striking coincidences which mark the Rule of God in history, it was the accusation
brought against him by that Samaritan Senate which led to the deposition of Pilate. By
the side of Samaria, or Sebaste, we have already marked as perhaps more important, and
as the religious capital, the ancient Shechem, which, in honour of the Imperial family of
Rome, ultimately obtained the name of Flavia Neapolis, which has survived in the
modern Nablus. It is interesting to notice that the Samaritans also had colonies, although
not to the same extent as the Jews. Among them we may name those of Alexandria,
Damascus, in Babylonia, and even some by the shores of the Red Sea.60
47. The Jews termed it σψν+λπ (Ber. R. 81). Frankel ridicules the derivation of Reland
(de Monte Garis iii., apud Ugolini, Thes. vol. vii. pp. 717, 718), who explains the name