SAMARITAN LITURGY
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SAMARITAN LITURGY
2. Moses is the one messenger and prophet ot God for all time, the end of revelalimi, the friend and familiar t^ervant of (jod ; none will ari^e like him.
3. The law is perfect and complete, destined for all time, never to be supplemented or abrogated by later rev- elation.
4. Gerizim is the one abode of God on earth, the home of eternal life ; over It is Paradise, thence comes all rain.
5. There will be a day of retribution, when the pious will rise again ; false prophets and their followers will then be cast into the fire and burned.
Other points in their creed may be noticed. From the prayer of Tobiah v, 24, it seems that the Samaritans believed in ori(/iiial sin. '' For the sal<e of Adam and because o( the end of all flesh, forgive and pardon the whole congref^ation." From a prayer for the Daj' of Atonement we see that the doctrine concerning the Logos was known among them, for which see Heiden- heim, Vierteljahrsschrift, iv, 126 sq. They believe in angels and astrology, which may be seen from a prayer given by Heidenheim, I. c. p. 545 sq.
The belief in a coming Messiah, or " Restorer," who should be the son of Joseph, was current among the Samaritans at a very early age, and this belief is based upon such Messianic prophecies as Gen. xv, 17 ; xlix, 10; Numb, xxiv, 17; and Deut. xviii, 15. All that they had to say concerning this point is contained in the let- ter of Marchib Ibn-.Takub addressed to Thomas Marshall, where we read : " You have spoken of the arrival of the great Prophet. This is he who was announced to our father Abraham, as it is said there appeared ' a smoking furnace and a burning lamp' (Gen. xv, 17) ; ' to him shall the people submit themselves' (ibid, xlix, 10) ; of him also it is said (Numb, xxiv, 17), ' he shall destroy all the children of Sheth, and Israel shall do valiantly ;' of him, ' the Lord thy God shall raise thee up from amidst thy brethren a prophet like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken' (Deut. xviii, 15). Our teachers have said on this point that this prophet shall arise, that all people shall submit to him and believe in him and in the law and iMount Gerizim ; that the religion of Moses, son of Amram, will then appear in glory; that the beginning of the name of the prophet who will arise will be M ; j that he will die and be interred near .loseph, ' the fruit- ful bough ;' that the Tabernacle will appear by his ministry and be established on Gerizim. Thus it is said in our books and in the book of Joshua, the son of Nun" (Eichhorn, Repertorium, ix, 11 sq.). What has been said in this and other letters and works is merely au extract from a hymn composed by the high-priest Abisha ben-Pinchas for the Day of Atonement, and con- tained in Cod. 19,051 Add. MSS. of the British Museum (comp. Heidenheim, v, 170 S(i.). As to the time of his appearance the Samaritans were formerly uncertain. " No one knows his coming but Jehovah," says Ab Zehuta in 1589 (comp. Eichhorn, xiii, 266); "it is a great mystery with regard to Messiah who is to come and who will manifest his spirit; happy shall we be when he arrives," writes Salameh, in 1811 (see De Sacy, Not. el E.rtr. xii, 122). "The appearance of Messiah," writes Peterraann, in 1860, "is to take place 6000 years after the creation, and these have just elapsed; conse- quently he now, though all unconsciously, is going about upon earth. In 1853 the Samaritans expected a great political revolution ; but in 1863 the kings of the earth will, according to them, assemble the wisest out of all nations in order by mutual counsel to discover the true faith. From the Israelites, i. e. Samaritans, will one be sent, and he will be the Taeb. He will gain the day, lead them to Gerizim, where under the twelve stones they will find the ten commandments (or the whole Torah), and under the stone of Bethel the Temple utensils and manna. Tlien will all believe in the law, and acknowledge him as their King and Lord of all the earth. He will convert and equalize all men, live 1 10 years upon earth, then die and be buried near (ierizim; for upon that pure and holy mountain, which is fifteen yards higher than Ebal, no burial can take place. Af- terwards will the earth remain some hundreds of vcars
more till the 7000 are completed, and then the last judg- ment will come in" (Herzog, R.-Eiici/kl. xiii, 373 sq.).
III. Usages. — At the present day the Samaritans celebrate seven feasts in the year, although only one, the Passover, is observed with its former solemnities. A minute and interesting account of the ceremonies of this feast, as celebrated in 1853, is given by Petermann, in Herzog, R.-Kncykl. xiii, 378; also by Stanley, Hist, of the Jewisli Church, i, 513 sq. The liturgj' for this feast is very rich ; thus every evening during the feast the "dream of the priest Abisha" is read, to hear which only the elders are permitted. This dream is contained in Cod. 19,007 Add. MSS. Brit. Museum. There are Passover hymns composed by the high-priests Marka, Pinchas, and Abisha (q. v.), given by Heidenheim, iii, 94 sq., 357 sq., 475 sq. There exists also a History of the Exodus, a so-called Pesach-Uanyaduh, which Dr. S. Kohn published with a German translation in Ahhand- lunyen der D. M. G. v. No. 4 (Leips. 1876).