Who were the Samaritans and where did they come from?

SAMARITAN WATCH: The Confusing Story of the Samaritans and the Jews: Who Split From Whom? Jewish tradition says the Samaritans descend from foreign settlers. The evidence says they are mostly what they claim to be: Israelites who never left (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).

Even the scholars who stress the Assyrian upheaval accept that some Israelites stayed, so the Samaritans descend at least in part from northern Israelites. What remains in dispute is how much of the old northern kingdom survives in today's 850 Samaritans – and that, the evidence cannot settle.

Knoppers's position is the cautious one: real Israelite continuity, reduced by deportation, mixed by absorption. Nodet's is the maximal one – the Samaritans are "to this day the direct heirs of the ancient Israelites," and rabbinic Judaism is the younger tradition, formed by the reforms the Bible attributes to Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah which the Israelites of the former northern kingdom – the Samaritans' ancestors – never adopted.

This is a well-informed, detailed, survey of the evidence for and the scholarly discussion about the Samaritans. Well worth a careful read.

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Burning apocryphal scriptures in Renaissance India

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: A Renaissance Purge Of Ancient Scripture (Philip Jenkins).

Renaissance thinkers were entranced by the idea of finding ancient manuscripts and texts that would illuminate the history of religion and of spiritualities broadly defined, and in many cases they invented the evidence they wished they could have found legitimately. Such activities became very intense at the turn of the seventeenth century. In light of that, it seems really paradoxical that at exactly this time, one powerful group of Christians could have found a sizable hoard of quite authentic documents hitherto unknown to them, and which genuinely did throw light on the early Church – and yet they decided to destroy those texts en masse, in a dreadful act of scriptural cleansing. What did they think they were doing?

[...]

I had forgotten about this one, although Philip covered it some years ago and I also noted it here. What a sad story.

This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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Maaloula's Aramaic and architecture

MODERN ARAMAIC WATCH: Maaloula preserves Syria’s ancient language and architectural heritage (N.J/ABD, SANA).

A 2022 academic study titled “The Maaloula Aramaic Corpus” found that the language spoken in Maaloula belongs to the Modern Western Aramaic dialect group, which is also used in Jubb’adin and Bakh’a in Damascus countryside, as well as among some members of these communities living elsewhere.

The study, prepared by researchers Ghattas Eid, Esther Seyffarth and Ingo Plag, was published as part of the proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. ...

Researchers compiled a database of 64,845 words from field recordings provided by 45 native speakers from Maaloula, including stories, legends, religious traditions, local customs, personal experiences, agricultural practices, songs and poems. ...

The Monastery of Saint Thecla and the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus are among Maaloula’s most significant religious and historical landmarks.

This 2022 study is new to me. For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on Maaloula (Ma'aloula, Malula, Maalula - etc!), start here and follow the links. Thecla (Thekla) shows up quite a bit. And for more on Thecla and Maaloula, see here and links.

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AJR on Vayntrub, Body Language

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has a new series on Jacqueline Vayntrub’s new book, Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible (Yale, 2026), whose publication I noted here. I have fallen behind on AJR, so here are links to all the essays.

Voices of Wing and Bone (Anathea Portier-Young)

On Metaphors of Bodies and Archeology (Yosefa Raz)

Speech, Efficacy, and Prophecy (Nathan Mastnjak)

Reading with a Hermeneutics of Presence and Embodiment (Dorothea Erbele-Küster)

Fleshy, Embodied, Embedded Speech (Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme)

An Echo Across the Room: Re-encountering Body Language (Jacqueline Vayntrub)

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Hector Patmore R.I.P.

SAD NEWS: In Memoriam: Hector Patmore (Jeroen Verrijssen for the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven).

It is with immense sorrow that I must share the news of the sudden loss of my Doktorvater, Hector Patmore. In his many roles as husband, father, friend, priest, professor, and colleague, Hector left a lasting mark on those who knew him, and who now grieve his passing.

Hector received his PhD in Theology at the University of Durham in 2008. He went on to pursue postdoctoral research at the Protestant Theological University of the Netherlands in Kampen (2008-2012). The next six years would take him to Cardiff University, where he became Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Ancient Judaism. In 2019, he and his family moved to Leuven, following his promotion to Associate Professor (2019-2025) and eventually Full Professor in Biblical Studies (2025). Hector also led more than twenty study programmes in Israel and the Palestinian territories. From 2020-2025, he acquired a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for the project TEXTEVOLVE, studying the evolution of the Targums.

Hector’s research interests included the development of Jewish beliefs in Antiquity, in particular in the field of demonology; New Testament literature in the context of Judaism; the translation and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, especially the Targums; and the exchange of ideas between Jews and Christians in Antiquity. His many publications, including his two monographs (Adam, Satan and the King of Tyre [2012]; The Transmission of Targum Jonathan in the West [2015]) show a rare breadth and depth of scholarship, and reflect the high standards he placed upon his work.

HT Drew Longacre at the OTTC Blog and many others.

Very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Professor Patmore at the age of 45 in a hiking accident in Scotland. Requiescat in pace.

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Underwater archaeology at Tyre

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Divers are returning to ancient Tyre’s submerged ruins, unscathed in Lebanon war. As shaky ceasefire holds, visitors are coming back to explore Roman and Phoenician remains off coast of southern Lebanese city (AP and TOI STAFF).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the history and archaeology of the city of Tyre, start here and follow the links. Cross-file under Maritime (Marine, Underwater) Archaeology

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A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of John (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of John

Series:
The New Testament Gospels in their Judaic Contexts, Volume: 4

Volume Editors: Bruce D. Chilton, Alan Avery-Peck, Craig A. Evans, Darrell Bock, and Daniel M. Gurtner

John’s discursive and narrative techniques are targeted in this volume by means of a fresh translation, in order to assess how streams of tradition, comparable to several Judaic literatures, may be seen to have been incorporated within characteristically Johannine cycles of presentation. The central section, “Analysis,” as in previous books in the series “The New Testament Gospels in Their Judaic Contexts,” sets out resources of particular note for understanding John, and constitutes the principal focus. An Epilogue provides a resumé of the cycles and streams of presentation, providing an explanation of John’s radical departure from the structure of the Synoptic Gospels.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75433-1
Publication: 08 Jun 2026
EUR €170.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75432-4
Publication: 18 Jun 2026
EUR €170.00

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The Book of Numbers (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Book of Numbers

Composition, Reception, and Interpretation

Series:
Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature, Volume: 202/10
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 202/10

Volume Editors: Christian Frevel, Benjamin Kilchör, and Craig Evans

Over the past two decades, the Book of Numbers has increasingly moved from the margins to the center of Pentateuchal studies, as it has become clear that it is a litmus test for many theories of this field. It describes Israel in the fictional setting of the formative desert period between Sinai and the country's border. In doing so, it addresses and reflects theologically on themes central to post-exilic Israel, including election, leadership, social organization, and land. This volume brings together 42 essays by renowned experts in their field, providing both an overview and new insights into the current state of research on the Book of Numbers. The essays cover a wide range of topics, including textual tradition and transmission, structure, narrative and literary history, contexts, and reception.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75427-0
Publication: 13 Aug 2026
EUR €173.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-52986-1
Publication: 09 Sep 2026
EUR €173.00

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Sukkot 2026

THE SEVEN-DAY FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT (BOOTHS, TABERNACLES) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those observing it.

Last year's Sukkot post is here. See also here and here.

For the biblical background to Sukkot, see here and here.

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Fake and real DSS fragments isolated in the Schøyen Collection?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Authentic Fragments Identified in Schøyen Dead Sea Scroll Collection, Among Many Fraudulent Manuscripts (The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts Press Release).

Dead Sea Scroll scholar Årstein Justnes of the University of Agder commented that CSNTM’s findings regarding MS 4612-1 “could have major implications for Dead Sea Scrolls research,” revealing the artifact to be potentially “the first known example of a Dead Sea Scroll forgery that predates 2002" – the year numerous fragments purported to be Dead Sea Scrolls surfaced in the market and were acquired by collectors around the world. This second cache of Dead Sea Scroll fragments is now understood to consist primarily of inauthentic documents.

Although the majority of fragments in Schøyen’s Dead Sea Scroll collection appear to be modern forgeries, multispectral imaging technology has captured details that support the hypothesis that some of the Schøyen fragments are authentic.

This sounds like an important development. I would like to know more about the fragments (provisionally?) authenticated by this process.

The CSNTM website is here. For PaleoJudaica posts on those post-2002 mostly fake Dead Sea Scroll-like fragments, see here and links, plus here. For more on the Schøyen Collection, see here and links.

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Data analytics for the Sifting Project

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: DATA ANALYTICS AND THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: RECONSTRUCTING THE TEMPLE MOUNT’S HISTORY.

The analytics and research applied to the vast collection of artifacts in our possession allow us to reveal another layer in the story of the most important and sacred site in the history of the Jewish people. Specifically there – at the very place from which they would announce to the entire Jewish world when a new month, and of course, a new year, was beginning. This symbolism takes on an even deeper meaning, as the sifting work today takes place at Mitzpe HaMasuot (The Lookout of the Beacons), the historic site where the first beacon was lit to broadcast the news of the new month and the new year to Diaspora Jewry and the rest of the world.

Tangentially related to Rosh HaShanah.

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When did making a Sukkah become compulsory?

RABBI STEVEN BOB: When Building a Sukkah Became a Commandment (TheTorah.com).

Farmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading.

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Temple-pilgrimage ritual baths excavated at the Ophel

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Monumental Ancient Ritual Baths Unearthed at Foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Pilgrims flocking to ancient Jerusalem for the holidays in the Second Temple period may have not only purified but had opportunity to clean up before ascending to the holy site (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Now archaeologists have revealed a previously unknown complex in the Ophel, the slope descending from the Temple Mount south toward the City of David, that is where the pilgrims would apparently immerse. The monumental complex includes three mikvaot (ritual baths) plus a strange rectangular pool that was evidently not a ritual bath. Prof. Uzi Leibner and Prof. Orit Peleg-Barkat are responsible for this exciting find. Nearby, the team also found two other installations that appear to have been plastered vats.

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Understanding the Jewish Calendar

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Understanding the Jewish Calendar. Why Jewish holidays shift each year (Nathan Steinmeyer).

This is a useful overview for reference during this calendar-heavy time in the Jewish year.

For a brief overview of the ancient Jewish calendar(s) (in the context of the Antikythera mechanism), see here. For lots more on the ancient Jewish solar calendar, see here and links. For the archaeologically recovered, tenth-century-BCE Gezer Calendar, see here and links. And for Noah's possibly 360-day "administrative calendar" in the Priestly Source, see here. And for even more posts on various aspects of the ancient Jewish calendar, run "calendar" through the blog search engine.

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On manuscripts of the Alexander Romance

VARIANT READINGS: Manuscripts of the Alexander Romance (Brent Nongbri).

The Alexander Romance (or The Life of Alexander of Macedon or the Life and Acts of Alexander, or The History of Alexander the Great, King of the Macedonians…) survives in hundreds of manuscript copies in several languages. The Romance has also sometimes been classified as an “open text,” a fluid cluster of narratives that are similar enough to be recognized as versions of the “same” text but different enough to resist reconstruction of any single, fixed “authorial” text. It is thus quite difficult to make an exhaustive collection of manuscripts of the Romance both because of the number of manuscripts in different linguistic traditions and the uncertainty around the question of whether we actually have the transmission of the “same” text or a transformation into a different text.

Nevertheless, what follows is a small collection of links to some of the most important manuscripts connected to the earliest versions of the Romance.

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Alexander the Great and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, notably in the Alexander Romance, start here and follow the links. For brief comments on its recensional history, see here. If you want to go down the manuscript and recesional rabbit hole, this Variant Readings post is for you.

And before I got around to posting this, Brent put up another post on the subject: Papyri Related to the Alexander Romance.

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Debunking the Hermetic corpus

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Debunking Sacred Forgeries In The Renaissance (Philip Jenkins).

As the Hermetic texts were presented, they contained huge problems. As we now know, these scriptures were written far later than they initially appeared, and they actually dated from Egypt in the second and third centuries AD. If they resembled Neoplatonism, for example, that was because they were influenced by that movement, rather than the other way round. In retrospect, we see that Hermes Trismegistus himself was a classic product of the religion of Ptolemaic or Roman Egypt, a hybrid that united the Greek Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth.

I think that Ficino, Pico, Bruno, and their colleagues made a strategic error in focusing on an erroneous early date as the source of authority for the Hermetica. When Casaubon debunked the date, everyone dropped the corpus. But its NeoPlatonic-Egyptian-Gnostic philosophy and theology are of some interest in themselves. It took a long time for people to notice that again. See David Litwa's Hermetica I for a recent treatment from this perspective.

This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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Samaritan Yom Kippur and Sukkot

SAMARITAN WATCH: Ancient faith, modern lives: Samaritans prepare for Yom Kippur and Sukkot. From fruit-laden sukkot to a digital prayer book app, a community divided between Holon in central Israel and Mount Gerizim in Samaria combines ancient Israelite traditions with modern Israeli life (Tania Shalom Michaelian, Jewish News Syndicate).

(Sept. 22, 2026 / JNS) While most Israelis begin building their sukkot this week, one small community that traces its roots to the ancient Israelites will wait until the end of October.

The Samaritans (Shomronim in Hebrew) celebrate the festivals commanded in the Torah, but not always on the same dates as Jews. Their year begins with the Hebrew month of Nissan in the spring, rather than with the month of Tishrei in the fall. Their priests calculate leap years independently, based on a count beginning with the Israelites’ entry into the Land of Israel under Joshua. In some years, the festivals coincide; in others, as in 2026, they fall almost a month apart.

This year, Samaritan Yom Kippur will fall on Oct. 20, and Sukkot will begin on Oct. 25.

[...]

For previous notices of Samaritan Sukkot, see here and links.

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David W. Suter (1942-2024)

SAD NEWS, NOTED BELATEDLY:

Dr. David W. Suter

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
- William Blake ("Auguries of Innocence")

Dr. David Winston Suter, 82, of Puyallup, Washington, passed away on Thursday, June 20, 2024. ...

David was actively involved in the Society of Biblical Literature, which enabled him to participate in expeditions to Jerusalem, the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and the foot of Mount Herman in Dan where the group discovered the ruins of the Sanctuary of the Northern Tribes, including the throne where the King of the Northern Tribes sat and judged the people. This travel in pursuit of his scholarship also allowed him to engage in one of his favorite hobbies, photography, documenting these trips with beautiful photos to share with family and friends.

David’s primary scholarly interest was the Book of Enoch. His dissertation involved translating an Ethiopian copy of the Book of Enoch written in Aramaic into English and then using this translation to study and analyze the text. From 2005 to 2019, he was a member of the Enoch Seminar, an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism and the origins of Christianity, who biennially meet in Naples, Italy to share information about their work and discuss topics of common interest. David presented at these seminars and contributed to the joint publications.

I had read Dr. Suter's valuable work on the Parables of Enoch and then got to know him at the Enoch Seminar meetings. You will find him mentioned here occasionally in the early years of this blog. I only found out about his passing this morning when this funeral notice came up in my search, although I see now that I missed an annoucement in a 2024 Enoch Seminar newsletter.

David's Academia.edu page is here, where you can see some of his work on 1 Enoch and related topics.

I am sorry to hear that he is gone. Requiescat in pace.

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