im, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after
entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to
inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of
Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In
the light of these passages such commands as, for example, that in
Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a
reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the
Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these
Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the
close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded
Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with
the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the
growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign
marriages. The marriage of Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high
priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate
expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and
opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus
recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and
special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were
attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount
Gerizim over which Manasseh and his descendants presided. In many ways the
temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of
those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they
shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their
subsequent history illustrates the psychological truth that of all forms
of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The
bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are
reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24,
25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The
strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the
Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf.
II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of
the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by
the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they
had freely intermarried with the heathen popul