Gods & Graves

Samaritans: Beliefs and What Separates them from the Jews

In this post we'll cover the beliefs of the Samaritans and discover what separates them from the modern Jews.

Holy Scriptures of the Samaritans The Samaritans only accept their Samaritan Pentateuch as their divine law. The Samaritan Pentateuch consists of the first five books of Moses. They reject the Tanakh (the rest of the bible), the Nevi'im (other prophets), Ketuvim (writings like proverbs found in the rest of the OT), and the Talmud and other rabbinical legal codes. Samaritans DO have a book of Joshua but they do not regard it as scripture.

Holy Scriptures of the Jews Jews accept the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim) in full and consider it all sacred. They also build their legal codes and ethical conditions based on the commentary of Rabbis, the Talmud, and the Halakha.

Holy Sites of the Samaritans Samaritans base almost all of their worship around Mount Gerizim, and mostly in the Nablus/Shechem areas. They believe that Gerizim is the chosen place of God and always has been. They believe that the "Binding of Isaac" took place here. Samaritan synagogues are oriented toward Gerizim

Holy Sites of the Jews The Jews believe Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (otherwise known as Mount Zion) are God's holy places. They believe that the "Binding of Isaac" took place on Mount Zion.

Leadership of the Samaritans Rather than having multiple Rabbis, the Samaritans are lead by a hereditary high priest from the priestly tribe of Levi (Cohen lineage). When a high priest dies, the oldest son of the lineage is chosen to be the next high priest. After the high priest are the other priests and then the elders. Members of the priestly family historically, did not work and devote all time to dealing with religious matters and community matters. From the priestly family also comes the people who lead prayers, and the teachers of the Samaritan language.

Leadership of the Jews The Jews historically have been lead by Rabbis. Technically, any Jewish person could become a Rabbi, but there are some requirements. A person must be Jewish, study four to six years at a rabbinical seminary, and receiving smicha from an authorized seminary or a qualified Rabbi. Aside from Rabbis, Jews are lead by scholars and legal interpreters as well.

Basic Beliefs of the Samaritans

  1. There is one God, YHWH, the God of Abraham, the same God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims (though Christians and Muslims call the deity different names)
  2. The Torah is the only true holy book and was given to Moses by YHWH. they do have a Book of Joshua, but it is NOT regarded as scripture.
  3. Moses is the final prophet of YHWH.
  4. The only authority AFTER Moses are the line of priests who share the hereditary line of Aaron.
  5. Shechem is the true holy sanctuary of YHWH.
  6. One day, there will be a "day of vengeance" which will be the end of days.
  7. During the end of days, a Messiah figure will arise, who will be of the tribe of Joseph. He will bring about the kingdom of Israel and be a prophet for 40 years. He will be a restorer of faith, as well. After this messiah restores the kingdom of Israel, he will resurrect the dead, rediscover the tabernacle and bring it back to the chosen holy place of god.

Festivals and Religious Observances of the Samaritans Samaritans recognize and observe the following:

  1. Passover
  2. Unleavened Bread
  3. Firstfruits
  4. Shavuot
  5. Yom Teruah
  6. Yom Kuppur
  7. Sukkot

Jewish people observe those same seven festivals, but in a different manner. Jewish people also observe Hanukkah and Purim, whereas Samaritans do not.