Samaria

A watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the “hill of Shomeron,” a solitary mountain, a great “mamelon.” It is an oblong hill, with steep but not inaccessible sides, and a long flat top. Omri, the king of Israel, purchased this hill from Shemer its owner for two talents of silver, and built on its broad summit the city to which he gave the name of “Shomeron”, i.e., Samaria, as the new capital of his kingdom instead of Tirzah (1 Kings 16:24). As such it possessed many advantages. Here Omri resided during the last six years of his reign. As the result of an unsuccessful war with Syria, he appears to have been obliged to grant to the Syrians the right to “make streets in Samaria”, i.e., probably permission to the Syrian merchants to carry on their trade in the Israelite capital. This would imply the existence of a considerable Syrian population. “It was the only great city of Palestine created by the sovereign. All the others had been already consecrated by patriarchal tradition or previous possession. But Samaria was the choice of Omri alone. He, indeed, gave to the city which he had built the name of its former owner, but its especial connection with himself as its founder is proved by the designation which it seems Samaria bears in Assyrian inscriptions, Beth-khumri (‘the house or palace of Omri’).”, Stanley. Samaria was frequently besieged. In the days of Ahab, Benhadad II. came up against it with thirty-two vassal kings, but was defeated with a great slaughter (1 Kings 20:1-21). A second time, next year, he assailed it; but was again utterly routed, and was compelled to surrender to Ahab (20:28-34), whose army, as compared with that of Benhadad, was no more than “two little flocks of kids.” In the days of Jehoram this Benhadad again laid siege to Samaria, during which the city was reduced to the direst extremities. But just when success seemed to be within their reach, they suddenly broke up the seige, alarmed by a mysterious noise of chariots and horses and a great army, and fled, leaving their camp with all its contents behind them. The famishing inhabitants of the city were soon relieved with the abundance of the spoil of the Syrian camp; and it came to pass, according to the word of Elisha, that “a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barely for a shekel, in the gates of Samaria” (2 Kings 7:1-20). Shalmaneser invaded Israel in the days of Hoshea, and reduced it to vassalage. He laid siege to Samaria (B.C. 723), which held out for three years, and was at length captured by Sargon, who completed the conquest Shalmaneser had begun (2 Kings 18:9-12; 17:3), and removed vast numbers of the tribes into captivity. (See SARGON.) This city, after passing through various vicissitudes, was given by the emperor Augustus to Herod the Great, who rebuilt it, and called it Sebaste (Gr. form of Augustus) in honour of the emperor. In the New Testament the only mention of it is in Acts 8:5-14, where it is recorded that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached there. It is now represented by the hamlet of Sebustieh, containing about three hundred inhabitants. The ruins of the ancient town are all scattered over the hill, down the sides of which they have rolled. The shafts of about one hundred of what must have been grand Corinthian columns are still standing, and attract much attention, although nothing definite is known regarding them. (Comp. Micah 1:6.) In the time of Christ, Western Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Samaria occupied the centre of Palestine (John 4:4). It is called in the Talmud the “land of the Cuthim,” and is not regarded as a part of the Holy Land at all. It may be noticed that the distance between Samaria and Jerusalem, the respective capitals of the two kingdoms, is only 35 miles in a direct line.

(watch mountain). This city is situated 30 miles north of Jerusalem and about six miles to the northwest of Shechem, in a wide basin-shaped valley, six miles in diameter, encircled with high hills, almost on the edge of the great plain which borders upon the Mediterranean. In the centre of this basin, which is on a lower level than the valley of Shechem, rises a less elevated hill, with steep yet accessible sides and a long fiat top. This hill was chosen by Omri as the site of the capital of the kingdom of Israel. He “bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of the owner of the hill, Samaria.” (1 Kings 16:23,24) From the that of Omri’s purchase, B.C. 925, Samaria retained its dignity as the capital of the ten tribes, and the name is given to the northern kingdom as well as to the city. Ahab built a temple to Baal there. (1 Kings 16:32,33) It was twice besieged by the Syrians, in B.C. 901, (1 Kings 20:1) and in B.C. 892, (2 Kings 6:24-7; 2 Kings 6:20) but on both occasions the siege was ineffectual. The possessor of Samaria was considered Deuteronomy facto king of Israel. (2 Kings 15:13,14) In B.C. 721 Samaria was taken, after a siege of three years, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, (2 Kings 18:9,10) and the kingdom of the ten tribes was put an end to. Some years afterward the district of which Samaria was the centre was repeopled by Esarhaddon. Alexander the Great took the city, killed a large portion of the inhabitants, and suffered the remainder to set it at Shechem. He replaced them by a colony of Syro-Macedonians who occupied the city until the time of John Hyrcanus, who took it after a year’s siege, and did his best to demolish it entirely. (B.C. 109.) It was rebuilt and greatly embellished by Herod the Great. He called it Sebaste=Augusta, after the name of his patron, Augustus Caesar. The wall around it was 2 1/2 miles long, and in the centre of the city was a park 900 feet square containing a magnificent temple dedicated to Caesar. In the New Testament the city itself does not appear to be mentioned; but rather a portion of the district to which, even in older times it had extended its name. (Matthew 10:5; John 4:4,5) At this clay the city is represented by a small village retaining few vestiges of the past except its name, Sebustiyeh, an Arabic corruption of Sebaste. Some architectural remains it has, partly of Christian construction or adaptation, as the ruined church of St. John the Baptist, partly, perhaps, traces of Idumaean magnificence, St. Jerome, whose acquaintance with Palestine imparts a sort of probability to the tradition which prevailed so strongly in later days, asserts that Sebaste, which he invariably identifies with Samaria was the place in which St. John the Baptist was imprisoned and suffered death. He also makes it the burial-place of the prophets Elisha and Obadiah.

SAMA'RIA (watch-post), a noted city of Central Palestine, founded by Omri, king of Israel. Situation. - The city of Samaria was 30 miles north of Jerusalem and 6 miles north-west of Shechem, and situated near the centre of a beautiful basin about 6 miles in diameter and surrounded by hills. The hill of Samaria was to the east of the centre of this basin, and about 1542 feet in height above the level of the sea. It was of an oblong form, with steep and terraced sides. The whole region about it is fertile, the site being a strong one for defence and the view from the summit very beautiful. From its top the Mediterranean Sea can be plainly seen. History. - Shemer sold the ground upon which Samaria was built to Omri, the king of Israel, for two silver talents, and the latter built a city, calling it Samaria, b.c. 925. 1 Kgs 16:23-24. It appears that previous to this Shechem had been the capital, and Tirzah the court-residence in summer. 1 Kgs 15:21, 1 Kgs 15:33; 1 Kgs 16:1-18. But Omri now made Samaria the capital of Israel - a position which it continued to hold for two hundred years, until the fall of the northern kingdom, b.c. 721. It was the seat of many idolatrous practices. Ahab erected a great temple to Baal; Jehu destroyed it, and massacred the priests. 1 Kgs 16:32-33; 2 Kgs 10:18, 2 Kgs 10:28. Twice the city was besieged by the Syrians - in the reign of Ahab, b.c. 901, and in the reign of Joram, b.c. 892. 1 Kgs 20:1. At the latter siege the people were reduced to the most terrible distress by famine, but were wonderfully delivered, in accordance with the prophecy of Elisha. 2 Kgs 6:24-33; 2 Kgs 7:1-20. About one hundred and seventy years later the city was captured by the king of Assyria, after a siege of nearly three years; the northern kingdom was destroyed, and the ten tribes carried into captivity. 2 Kgs 18:9-12. Colonists from Assyria were sent to repeople the country. 2 Kgs 17:24; Ezr 4:9-10. The city of Samaria continued to be a place of some importance. It was captured by Alexander the Great, who peopled it with Syro-Macedonians; it was again taken by John Hyrcanus, after a year's siege, and razed to the ground, b.c. 109. It was rebuilt and adorned by Herod the Great, who named it Sebaste in honor of Augustus, who gave it to him, and settled a colony of six thousand persons there, composed of veteran soldiers and peasants. He enlarged the city, and surrounded it with a wall and colonnade. In N.T. times, Philip preached the gospel in Samaria, Acts 8:5, Gal 1:9, and the place became an episcopal see. Septimius Severus planted a Roman colony there in the third century of the Christian era, but politically it was secondary to Caesarea. The city was Ruins of the Colonnade of Samaria. also surpassed in prosperity by Neapolis (Sichem). During the siege of Jerusalem, Samaria fell into the hands of the Muslims, but the Crusaders established a Latin bishop there, thus reviving the old episcopal see. In a.d. 1184, Saladin marched through the city; and notices of the place occur in the accounts of travellers from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Present Condition. - The ancient city of Samaria is now represented by the modern village Sebastiyeh (from "Sebaste"), situated upon the slope of the hill, having houses built of stones taken from the ancient remains. In and among the houses are scattered many fragments of ancient buildings, such as hewn blocks, shafts of columns, capitals, and portions of entablatures. Vines grow luxuriantly around the bases of broken shafts, grain is planted amid shattered columns, sculptured blocks of limestone are embedded in the rude terraces of the vineyards. The most imposing ancient building is the half-ruined church of John the Baptist, now turned into a mosque. Tradition states that John the Baptist was buried here. The church stands in a conspicuous position on the brow of a hill, the present edifice being the work of the Crusaders of the twelfth century. On the round hill above the village, to the west, are the remains of the palace erected by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus. On the terrace to the south runs the famous colonnade, about 2000 feet in length, of which one hundred columns still remain, some standing, some overthrown or buried beneath the soil. Besides the tomb of John the Baptist, tradition points out the resting-place of Obadiah and Elisha under a stone slab near the ruined church. The prophet declares, "I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof." Mic 1:6. This prophecy has been literally fulfilled.

watch-mountain

SAMA'RIA, KINGDOM AND COUNTRY OF, a territory which lay north of Judah, and, in N.T. times, between that country and the region known as Galilee. Situation and Extent. - The kingdom of Samaria, as referred to in the O.T., was synonymous with the kingdom of Israel. This varied in extent at different times, at one period embracing all the territory allotted to the ten tribes, at others covering a more limited region. In the days of Jeroboam it extended on both sides of the Jordan; but this territory was much reduced, first by the invasion of Pul, and later by that of Tiglath-pileser, when the Israelites on the east side were taken captive. The extent of the kingdom was then confined to the region between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, and to that portion north of the kingdom of Judah, it being, in fact, only a subject province of Assyria. See Israel, Kingdom of. In N.T. times Samaria was the region between Galilee on the north and Judaea on the south. Its boundaries have been traced by the British Ordnance Survey in accordance with the description by Josephus. The northern limit is defined by the towns of Beth-shan (Beisan), En-gannim (Jenin), and Caphar-outheni (Kefr Adhan), being properly commensurate with the northern boundary of Manasseh. Beth-shan and the valley of Jezreel at one time belonged to Samaria, but were subsequently taken by the Jews. The southern boundary, as noted by Josephus, appears to have been the great valley called Wady Deir Ballut, which rises near the Libben (the ancient Lebonah), and leaves Shiloh in the territory of Judah. Antipatris (Ras el-Ain), Annath (Aina), and Borceas (Brukin) are found on the frontier-line. According to Josephus, Samaria had no sea-coast, since the whole plain of Sharon up to Ptolemais belonged to Judah. It is doubtful, also, what portion of the west Jordan valley belonged to Samaria, but it probably did not extend south of the Wady Far'ah. The Roman highway from Galilee to Jerusalem ran along the Jordan by way of Jericho, and was the one commonly used by pilgrims. It is important to note this position of Samaria as throwing light upon the route pursued by Jesus and other Galileans in going up to Jerusalem, for they would avoid, as far as possible, passing through the territory of their neighbors, the Samaritans. History. - The history of the country of Samaria to b.c. 720 belongs to the kingdom of Israel. After Israel was carried into captivity the history of the Samaritans, as such, begins. Who were these Samaritans? The word occurs only once in the O.T., 2 Kgs 17:29, and then it seems to be used rather of

the Israelites. But after they were carried away, men from Assyria were brought as colonists into the cities of Samaria, 2 Kgs 17:24, and these were the ancestors of the Samaritans mentioned in N.T. times. A much-debated question has been whether those Samaritans were of purely foreign extraction or were of mixed Jewish blood. The latter opinion seems most reasonable. It is hardly to be supposed that all the Jews could have been carried away out of the land, and this opinion is supported by the fact that money was contributed from the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim to repair the temple in Josiah's time, 2 Chr 34:9, and idols were destroyed in the same region. 2 Chr 34:6-7. The Assyrian colonists obtained a priest to teach them "the manner of the God of the land," and combined some forms of Jehovah-worship with their idolatry. 2 Kgs 17:25-41. When the Jews returned from the Captivity with a spirit more exclusive than ever, the contrast between Jew and Samaritan was very strongly marked. The Samaritans wished to have a share in rebuilding the temple, but the Jews refused to allow them to co-operate. The breach widened, and the Samaritans succeeded in hindering the work at Jerusalem by misrepresentations to the Persian kings. Ezr 4; Neh 4, Neh 6. At length the opposition culminated in the setting up of a rival temple by the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim. The occasion of this seems to have been the expulsion from Jerusalem by Nehemiah of a son of the high priest, who was a son-in-law of Sanballat. Neh 13:28. According to Josephus, the person expelled was Manasseh, whose father-in-law, Sanballat, obtained from Alexander the Great permission to erect the temple. But the temple was probably erected at an earlier date. After this time the city of Samaria declined, and Shechem increased in importance. This temple was destroyed by John Hyrcanus after standing for two hundred years. Conflicts between the Jews and the Samaritans were frequent. A party of Samaritans defiled the temple at Jerusalem with bones of the dead. There was a general insurrection among them in the time of Pilate, whose severity resulted in his removal from office. A crowd arrayed themselves against Vespasian, and he slew 11,600 of them. The bitter animosity between the two races must be understood in order to comprehend many facts in the N.T. history. Thus the Galileans avoided going through Samaria, as far as possible, in their journeys to Jerusalem, since they were exposed to insult, assault, and even danger of death. The Seventy were not to go among the Samaritans, Matt 10:5, and the inhospitality of that people excited the blazing indignation of James and John. Luke 9:52-56. Yet Jesus showed himself to be far superior to the narrow feeling of race by his parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:30, 2 Kgs 18:37; his commendation of the healed Samaritan, Luke 17:11-19; and his conversation with the woman of Samaria. John 4:1-42. This interview throws light upon the Samaritan character and claims. The woman asserts for them Abrahamic descent - "our father Jacob" - but this the Jews would not allow. It was probable that the people had become more and more of a mixed blood, since, according to Josephus, many renegade, apostate, and law-breaking Jews sought refuge among the Samaritans. The gospel gained some success there. Acts 1:8; Acts 8:5-26. But most of the Samaritans adhered to their old religion, and therefore frequently came into collision with Christianity and with the Roman emperors, particularly in a.d. 529. About this time they martyred Christians and destroyed churches. Justinian subdued them and slew many of the insurgents. During the Crusades they are not mentioned. In the twelfth century Benjamin of Tudela found about a thousand adherents of the sect of the Samaritans at Nabltis, and a few also at Ascalon, Caesarea, and Damascus. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries various letters passed between the Samaritans and Western scholars in regard to their Pentateuch. Present Condition. - The only representatives of the Samaritans are found in a community living at Nablus (Shechem). and consisting of some forty to fifty families. They possess the Pentateuch, in the old Hebrew or Samaritan writing, which has attracted great attention from scholars as a very ancient

version. Three times a year, at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles, they make a Cylinder enclosing the Samaritan Pentateuch at Nablus. pilgrimage to the sacred Mount Gerizim. They celebrate all the Mosaic festivals, and at the Passover they offer sacrifices.