Quotes & Sayings
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Walking in the Footsteps of John the Baptist, Part 2
Walking in the Footsteps of John the Baptist - The Samaritans
In 2012 the Israel Nature and Parks Authority began new works under the authority of the Civil Administration, and two weeks ago a newly restored, impressive Samaritan residential compound was open for visitors, enabling them to experience history by walking through the ancient rooms.The compound, dated at around 200-300 BCE, is part of a large city from the Persian and Hellenistic periods which was built around a sacred precinct where once stood the Samaritan Temple, and where today stands the remains of a large Byzantine church built on top of the destroyed Temple, a heavy wall cutting right through the holy Samaritan site where Samaritan tradition holds the Tabernacle stood. During the Muslim period a military guard post was built over one of the church’s towers.The archaeological remains go back about 2,400 years, said site director Netanel Elimelech, with the remains of the Samaritan Temple from the Persian era the oldest.
Samaritans
ࠔࠌࠓࠉࠌ שומרונים السامريون | |
---|---|
Total population | |
~840 (2021)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Israel (Holon) | 460 (2021)Total [sic] in 2021 - 840 souls[1] Total in 2018 – 810 souls[1] Total number on 1.1.2017 - 796 persons, 381 souls on Mount Gerizim and 415 in the State of Israel, of the 414 males and 382 females.[1] |
State of Palestine[a] (Kiryat Luza) | 380 (2021)[1] |
Languages | |
Modern spoken languages: Israeli Hebrew, Levantine Arabic Liturgical languages: Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic | |
Religion | |
Samaritanism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jews; other Semitic-speaking peoples (Levantine Arabs, Mandaeans, etc.) |
Part of a series on |
Samaritanism |
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show Revered figures |
show Practices |
show Related religious groups |
Samaritans (/səˈmærɪtənz/; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠠࠌࠝࠓࠩࠉࠌ,[3] romanized: Šā̊merīm, transl. Guardians/Keepers [of the Torah]; Hebrew: שומרונים, romanized: Šōmrōnīm; Arabic: السامريون, romanized: as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group whose traditions affirm they descend from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic and ethnic religion.
Samaritan tradition states that they descend from the northern Israelite tribes who were not deported by the Neo-Assyrian Empire after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel. They believe that Samaritanism is the true religion of the ancient Israelites, preserved by those who remained in Palestine during the Babylonian captivity;[4] this belief is held in opposition to Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, which Samaritans see as a closely related but altered and amended religion brought back by Judeans returning from Babylonian captivity. Samaritans consider Mount Gerizim (near both Nablus and biblical Shechem), and not the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to be the holiest place on Earth.[5][6]
Once a large community, the Samaritan population shrunk significantly in the wake of the bloody suppression of the Samaritan Revolts against the Byzantine Empire (mainly in 525 CE and 555 CE). Mass conversions to Christianity under the Byzantines, and later to Islam following the Arab conquest of the Levant, also reduced their numbers significantly.[7] In the 12th century, the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela estimated that only around 1,900 Samaritans remained in the regions of Palestine and Syria.[8]
As of 2022, the total Samaritan population stands at less than 1,000 people. The Samaritan community is divided between Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim and the Samaritan compound in Holon.[b][10] The head of the community is the Samaritan High Priest. Samaritans in Holon primarily speak Israeli Hebrew, while those in Kiryat Luza speak Levantine Arabic; for the purposes of liturgy, the languages of Samaritan Hebrew and Samaritan Aramaic are used, written in the Samaritan script. There are also a small number of Samaritans living outside the Levant, in Brazil and in Catania (Sicily), Italy. [11]
Samaritans have a standalone religious status in Israel, and there are occasional conversions from Judaism to Samaritanism and vice-versa, largely due to interfaith marriages. While Israel's rabbinic authorities came to consider Samaritanism to be a sect of Judaism,[12] the Chief Rabbinate of Israel requires Samaritans to undergo a formal conversion to Judaism in order to be officially recognized as Halakhic Jews. Rabbinic literature rejected Samaritans unless they renounced Mount Gerizim as the historical Israelite holy site.[c] Samaritans possessing only Israeli citizenship in Holon are drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, while those holding dual Israeli and Palestinian citizenship in Kiryat Luza are exempted from mandatory military service.
This is an extensive article. The remainder of it may be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans
Walking in the Footsteps of John the Baptist - Part 1
I see the relation of Jesus and John the Baptist as very important historically and theologically. You are of course right that some of John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples, though I am not sure if their history with John would make them continue his baptizing work when they transferred to Jesus, if Jesus was not in favour of it! I take it that Jesus was a ‘baptist’ (John 3:25,4:1) even though the hands-on work of baptizing was done on his behalf by his disciples (as was probably also the case later with Paul and his team of companions). I think there is some reason to think that Jesus’ baptizing may have been embarrassing to early Christians, since it could be argued, and may well have been argued by some followers of John the Baptist, that the one who baptizes is greater than the one baptized; Jesus could have been seen as John’s disciple, as ‘he who comes after me’. John’s gospel clearly wants to refute that idea; see John 3:26-36, and I suspect that John 4:2 is the evangelist distancing Jesus from John in response to this discussion. We see not only John, but also Matthew responding to the same sort of question in 3:13-15.
New textual and archaeological evidence on "Yochanan HaMatvil," or "John the Dipper," including the Suba cave west of Jerusalem.I have uploaded a much shorter private camera version of this lecture before but this one has the slides--they are not the best quality but better than nothing. I am "resurrecting" some of these older lectures because they not only capture the times--but also cover materials that I have not touched upon in many years. This one was done in 2006. All the handouts and references are now found at https://jamestabor.com. Just do a search for "John the Baptist."This lecture was part a Biblical Archaeology Society seminar, publishers of the premiere archaeology magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review. It is used with permission.I encourage viewers to subscribe to the incredible BAS Library, with thousands of articles, books, and videos. There is nothing like this rich archive that coversevery major topic and discovery for more than 40 years. Unlimited access to the library is available for a small annual subscription price, see: https://www.baslibrary.org.
John the Baptist
John the Baptist | |
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Prophet | |
Born | c. 1st century BC[1] Herodian Tetrarchy, Roman Empire |
Died | c. AD 28–36[2][3][4][5][6] Machaerus, Herodian Tetrarchy, Roman Empire |
Venerated in | Christianity (all denominations which venerate saints), Islam, Druze Faith,[7] Baháʼí Faith, Mandaeism |
Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
Major shrine | |
Feast | |
Attributes | Red martyr, camel-skin robe, cross, lamb, scroll with words "Ecce Agnus Dei-", platter with own head, pouring water from hands or scallop shell |
Patronage | See Commemoration |
John the Baptist[note 1] (c. 1st century BC – c. AD 30) was a mission preacher active in the area of Jordan River in the early 1st century AD.[19][20] He is also known as John the Forerunner in Christianity, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christian traditions,[21] and Prophet Yahya in Islam. He is sometimes alternatively referred to as John the Baptizer.[22][23][24]
John is mentioned by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus[25] and he is revered as a major religious figure[26] in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith,[27] the Druze Faith, and Mandaeism. He is considered to be a prophet of God by all of these faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations. According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself,[28] and the Gospels portray John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus.[29] Jesus himself identifies John as "Elijah who is to come",[30] which is a direct reference to the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4:5),[31] that has been confirmed by the angel who announced John's birth to his father, Zechariah.[32] According to the Gospel of Luke, John and Jesus were relatives.[33][34]
Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practiced ritual baptism.[35][36] John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament[37] of his pre-messianic movement. Most Christian scholars agree that John baptized Jesus,[38][39] and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John.[40]
According to the New Testament, John was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded by Herod Antipas around AD 30 after John rebuked him for divorcing his wife Phasaelis and then unlawfully wedding Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. Josephus also mentions John in the Antiquities of the Jews and states that he was executed by order of Herod Antipas in the fortress at Machaerus.[41]
Followers of John existed well into the 2nd century AD, and some proclaimed him to be the messiah.[42] In modern times, the followers of John the Baptist are the Mandaeans, an ancient ethnoreligious group who believe that he is their greatest and final prophet.[43][44]