Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Actually the comments that you reacted to were Uri's, not mine. I thank you
very much for your response.

Yigal

----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas L. Thompson" <tlt AT teol.ku.dk>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 9:03 PM
Subject: VS: SV: [b-hebrew] Samaritans


> Dear Yigal,
> I don't really have a "position" about a temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by
the neo-Babylonians. I expect that it was built and destroyed. When it would
have been built, I cannot say. I see Jerusalem becoming a significant
regional power between the mid-8th and mid 7th centuries and so certainly
think of this period, but I have no compelling reason. In Jerusalem, one
would expect the temple deity would be Yahweh, but Ba'al and Asherah might
also be included.
>
> I fail to understand your rhetoric concerning "one of the inventions made
up in Hellenistic times." It is not quite my own.
>
> I will take a look at Kitchen's remarks, as it has been some time since I
read his piece.
>
> I am familiar with some of the literature on Beth Shemesh, but I am
uncertain about what it supports.
> Thomas
>
> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
> Fra: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org på vegne af Uri Hurwitz
> Sendt: ma 21-03-2005 18:25
> Til: Thomas L. Thompson; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Cc: ihj AT hum.ku.dk
> Emne: Re: SV: [b-hebrew] Samaritans
>
>
>
>     Dear Thomas,
>
>      It is not clear from your reponse below  what your position is about
a temple in Jeruslem that according to HB was detroyed by the
neo-Babylonians. Do you accept that such a temple existed,or do you consider
it also one the inventions made up in Hellensitic times? If ,on the other
hand, you accept the existence of such a temple, do you have an appreciation
as to when it was built,   to what deity it was dedicated, and by whom?
>
>   Have you responded to the very specific criticisms of K. A. Kitchen in
pp. 450 - 458 of his On the Reliability of the Old Testament? Surely these
highly specific comments by a major scholar deserve an answer.
>
>   If you're interested, I'll forward you offline an overview of an on
going major archaeological site in Israel  -- Beth Shemesh --the findings of
which support the existence of a stong central political body in the late
10th - 9th century.
>
>   Finally, I'm sure everybody would join me in wishing your wife a speedy
recovery.
>
>    Uri
>
>
>
> "Thomas L. Thompson" <tlt AT teol.ku.dk> wrote:
> Dear Yigal,
> Well the Samaritans and their relationship to Judaism is not directly my
own field, and it has only been a relatively short time that this question
has taken up much of my time, but I will try to address your two questions,
as both of them seem to me to be quite important.
>
> 2) This is an intriguing question. I think quite possibly that Gerizim is
original to the Pentateuch. How early that is is another question that is
partially dependent on a satisfactory description of its composition. I
suspect, for instance that Genesis--or much of it--is later than, for
example Exodus-Numbers. Whether the torah is common to Palestinian
literature or whether it is adopted by Judaism is an important
consideration. If it is common in its origin to both Judaism and
Samaritanism, this might suggest a Persian period + chronology.
> As for the status of Gerizim, the excavations strengthen the idea that
this may be very early indeed. How early is something we will have to wait
for patiently as--insofar as I have understood--they have not gotten down to
bedrock yet, but 6th century is early indeed--far earlier than Jerusalem's
temple.
>
> 1) I argued already in my Early History of 1992 that the populations of
the regions of Judea and Samaria should be dealt with in separate but
related histories from the Iron Age. Judaism seems to be the relatively
latecomer, when one begins to consider identification and self-identity as
Jews and Samaritans (that is, Shomronim)--a relationship of the older
tradition of the Samaritans and the younger Judaism, which has many
confirmations in the biblical traditions (see here my new book, The Messiah
Myth, Basic, New York, April, 2005). Ingrid's 2000 book on the Samaritans
deals extensively--and I think essentially correctly--with Josephus'
treatment of the Samaritans as both tendentious and distorting.
>
> Sincerely,
> Thomas
>
> Thomas L. Thompson
> Professor, University of Copenhagen
>
>
>
> Yigal Levin wrote:
>
> Dear Thomas,
>
> If you are willing to share them, I would be interested to hear your views
> on the following two issues:
> 1. The role that the political division between Samaria and Jerusalem,
> especially during the Persian Period but perhaps also during the Iron Age,
> had on the development of Judaism and Samaritanism into two distinct
groups.
>
> 2. As far as it is possible to tell from the archaeological and textual
> evidence, when do you think that Mt. Gerizim attained its status as the
> Samaritans' cultic center? Was it not only after the sack of Samaria by
> Alexander and its conversion into a Greek city? Or is there evidence of it
> having occurred earlier? Would this not then give us a date for at least
the
> inclusion of Mt. Geranium into the Samaritan Pentateuch?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Yigal
>
>
>
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