chosen of God, maintaining that it alone had not been covered by the flood, as the Jews
asserted of Mount Moriah; they were most strict and zealous in what of Biblical or
traditional Law they received; and lastly, and most important of all, they looked for the
coming of a Messiah, in Whom the promise would be fulfilled, t hat the Lord God would
raise up a Prophet from the midst of them, like unto Moses, in Whom his words were to
be, and unto Whom they should hearken. 106 107 Thus, while, in some respects, access to
them would be more difficult than to His own countrymen, yet in others Jesus would find
there a soil better prepared for the Divine Seed, or, at least, less encumbered by the
thistles and tares of traditionalism and Pharisaic bigotry.
100. The doctrinal views, the festive observances, and the literature of the Samaritans of
a later period, cannot be discussed in this place. For further information we refer to the
following:, The Articles in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, in Winer's Bibl. Real-
Wörterb., and especially in Herzog's Real-Encykl. (by Petermann); to Juynboll,
Comment. in Hist. Gentis Samarit.; Jost, Gesch. des Judenth.; Herzfeld, Gesh. des
judisch. Volkes, passim; Frankel, Einfluss der Paläst. Exeg. pp. 237-254; Nutt, Sketch of
Samaritan History, &c.
101. Gitt. 10 b; Nidd. 33 b.
102. Siphré on Nu mb. xv. 31; Sanh. 90 b.
103. Epiphanius, Hæres. iv., xiv.; Leontius, De Sectis viii.; Gregory the Great, Moral. i.
xv. Grimm (Die Samariter &c., pp. 91 &c.), not only strongly defends the position of the
Fathers, but holds that the Samaritans did not even believe in the immortality of the soul,
and maintained that the world was eternal. The 'Samaritan Chronicle' dates from the
thirteenth century, but Grimm maintains that it embodies the earlier views of that people
(u. s. p. 107).
104. This seems inconsis tent with their disbelief of the Resurrection, and also casts doubt
on the patristic testimony about them, since Leontius falsely accuses them of rejecting the
doctrine of Angels. Epiphanius, on the other hand, attributes to them belief in Angels.
Reland maintains, that they regarded the Angels as merely 'powers' - a sort of impersonal
abstractions; Grimm thinks there were two sects of Samaritans - one believing, the other
disbelieving, in Angels.
105. For their horrible distortion of later Jewish Biblical history, see Grimm (u. s.), p.
107.
106. Deut. xviii. 15, 18.
107. They expected that this Messiah would finally convert all nations to Samaritanism
(Grimm , p. 99). But there is no historic ground for the view of Mr. Nutt (Sketch of Samar.
Hist. pp. 40, 69) that the idea of a Messiah the Son of Joseph, which holds so large a
place in later Rabbinic theology, was of Samaritan origin.
Chapter 8
JESUS AT THE WELL OF SYCHAR
(St. John 4:1-42.)