The "Samaritan" Error In The Qur'an

[فداء الرسول]

6. Conclusions
Until the middle of the 20th century it was commonly believed that the Samaritans originated from a mixed race people living in Samaria at the time of the Assyrian conquest (722 BCE). In a similar vein, some people and apologists have claimed that the Samaritans as a distinct people only emerged after the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel and the resettlement of the area under king Sargon II after 722 BCE. Based solely on the evidence of II Kings 17, those and apologists claim the Qur'anic mention of the name al-Samiri sometimes translated as "the Samaritan" (Qur'an 20:85, 87 and 95) during the time of Moses is a historical contradiction.
Contrary to the claims of those and apologists, specialists in Samaritan studies have noted that the use of the term shomronim in II Kings 17 tells us nothing about the origins of the Samaritans. Shomronim means the "inhabitants of Samaria" and it has nothing to do with shamerin, "keepers" or "observers" of the Torah, which the Samaritans use for themselves. Furthermore, the narrative in II Kings 17:18-24 claiming that the population of Israel in its totality was deported by Assyrians and exchanged to an alien population is unsupported by archaeology. This historical discrepancy severely undermines the veracity of the biblical claim concerning Samaritan origins. Consequently, modern scholars have conclusively rejected II Kings 17 as a source for the origins of Samaritans.
In recent years, research based on a more careful study of the Chronicles of the Samaritans has led to a re-evaluation of their origins. Specifically, with the publication of the Samaritan Chronicle II (Sefer ha-Yamim), the fullest Samaritan version of their own history became available. A historical analysis of this chronicle reveals that the Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and until the 17th century C.E. they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas. The common ancestry of both the Jews and Samaritans was also established by recent genetic studies, going back to cohen or the Jewish priestly family. This study also validated both local and foreign origins of the Samaritans.
Those and apologists, ignorant of the Samaritans' own version of their history as well as recent scholarly investigation and critical analysis, content themselves with repeating the claim made by William St. Clair Tisdall. Unfortunately, Tisdall was also not fully cognizant with the Chronicles of the Samaritans or the extant archaeological evidence; consequently, those and apologists make claims contrary to recent historical investigation. As we observed in this study, the Qur'anic mention of the name al-Samiri sometimes translated as "the Samaritan" (Qur'an 20:85, 87 and 95) is consistent with modern investigations into the origins of the Samaritan sect.
And Allah knows best!
References & Notes
[1] C. W. Wilson, "Samaria, Territory Of" in J. Hastings, A Dictionary Of The Bible, 2004 (Reprint of 1898), Volume IV, Part 1, University Press of the Pacific: Honolulu (Hawaii), p. 376. A similar description of the Samaritans is given by J. H. Thayer in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon Of The New Testament Coded With Strong's Concordance Numbers, 2005 (7th Printing), Hendrickson Publishers Inc.: Peabody (MA), p. 568.
[2] H. Lammens (Translated from French by Sir E. Denison Ross), Islam: Beliefs and Institutions, 1929, Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, p. 39.
[3] Dr. A. A. Shorrosh, Islam Revealed: A Christian Arab's View Of Islam, 1988, Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, p. 209; Also see S. Masood, The Bible And The Qur'an: A Question Of Integrity, 2001, OM Publication: Carlisle, UK, p. 86.
[4] E. M. Caner & E. F. Caner, Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look At Muslim Life And Beliefs, 2002, Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids (MI), p. 90.
[5] M. Elass, Understanding the Koran: A Quick Christian Guide To The Muslim Holy Book, 2004, Zondervan: Grand Rapids (MI), p. 181.
[6] G. L. Archer, A Survey Of Old Testament Introduction, 1994, Updated & Revised Edition, Moody Press: Chicago, p. 552.
[7] 'Abdallah 'Abd al-Fadi, Is The Qur'an Infallible?, 1995, Light of Life: Villach (Austria), pp. 37-38.
[8] R. Morey, The Islamic Invasion: Confronting The World's Fastest Growing Religion, 1992, Harvest House Publishers: Eugene (OR), pp. 143-144.
[9] D. Ali & R. Spencer, Inside Islam: A Guide To Catholics, 2003, Ascension Press: West Chester (PA), p. 73.
[10] J. Jomier (Trans. Zoe Hersov), The Great Themes Of The Qur'an, 1997, SCM Press Ltd.: London, p. 75.
[11] N. A. Newman, Muhammad, The Qur'an & Islam, 1996, Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute: Hatfield (PA), p. 368.
[12] Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall, The Original Sources Of The Qur'an, 1905, Society For The Promotion Of Christian Knowledge: London, p. 113; Also see St. Clair-Tisdall, "The Sources Of Islam " in Ibn Warraq (Ed.), The Origins Of The Koran: Classic Essays On Islam's Holy Book, 1998, Prometheus Books, p. 253.
[13] J. A. Montgomery, The Samaritans The Earliest Jewish Sect: Their History, Theology And Literature, 1907, The Bohlen Lectures For 1906, The John C. Wilson Co.: Philadelphia, p. 24.
[14] J. Macdonald, The Samaritan Chronicle No. II (Or Sepher Ha-Yamim) From Joshua To Nebuchadnezzar, 1969, Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft - Volume 107, Walter de Gruyter & Co.: Berlin, I Kings XII-XXII, I, C*, p. 163.
[15] J. A. Montgomery, The Samaritans The Earliest Jewish Sect: Their History, Theology And Literature, 1907, op. cit., p. 24.
[16] "Samaritans" in G. A. Buttrick (Ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible, Volume 4, 1962 (1996 Print), Abingdon Press, Nashville, p. 191.
[17] "Samaritans" in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, Volume 14, Encyclopaedia Judaica Jerusalem, col. 728.
[18] M. Broshi & R. Gophna, "Middle Bronze Age II Palestine: Its Settlements And Population", Bulletin Of The American School Of Oriental Research, 1986, Volume 261, pp. 73-90, especially pp. 86-87.
[19] Y. Shiloh, "The Population Of Iron Age Palestine In The Light Of A Sample Analysis Of Urban Plans, Areas, And Population Density", Bulletin Of The American School Of Oriental Research, 1980, Volume 239, pp. 25-35, especially p. 32.
[20] A. D. Crown, "Samaritan Judaism" in J. Neusner, A. J. Avery-Peck & W. S. Green (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia Of Judaism, 2004, Volume V, Supplement Two, Brill: Leiden, p. 2243.
[21] R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life And Institutions, 1997, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (Grand Rapids) and Dove Bookseller (Livonia), p. 66.
[22] J. B. Pritchard (Ed.), The Ancient Near East: An Anthology Of Texts And Pictures, 1958, Princeton University Press: Princeton, p. 195. The inscription reads:
I besieged and conquered Samaria (Sa-me-ri-na), led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it.
For the complete transcription of the inscription and its translation see H. Tadmor, "The Campaigns Of Sargon II Of Assur: A Chronological-Historical Study", Journal Of Cuneiform Studies, 1958, Volume 12, pp. 33-40. The actual number of prisoners appears to be either 27,280 or 27,290.
[23] This figure is reached by taking into account the estimated population to be 560,000 and the depopulation of 27,290 people from Samaria after the conquest of northern kingdom of Israel by Sargon II.
[24] I. J. Gelb, "Prisoners Of War In Early Mesopotamia", Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, 1973, Volume 32, p. 72.
[25] A. D. Crown, "Samaritan Judaism" in J. Neusner, A. J. Avery-Peck & W. S. Green (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia Of Judaism, 2004, Volume V, Supplement Two, op. cit., p. 2243.
[26] R. J. Coggins, Samaritans And Jews: The Origins Of Samaritanism Reconsidered, 1975, Basil Blackwell: Oxford, pp. 17-18.
[27] F. M. Cross, From Epic To Canon: History And Literature In Ancient Israel, 1998, The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore & London, pp. 174-175.
[28] "Samaritans" in G. A. Buttrick (Ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible, 1962 (1996 Print), Volume 4, op. cit., pp. 191-192. The text says:
The biblical story of successive exchange of population, following the fall of Samaria in 722, is confirmed, in its broader outlines, by the Assyrian records.

It is plain from these documents, however, that the Hebrew historian has confused and "telescoped" his data. In the first place, it was not Shalmaneser, but his successor Sargon (who, in fact, completed the siege), that effected the exchange in question. Secondly, it seems more probable that the colonization mentioned in II Kings 17:24 actually took place over several years and under successive monarchs. Thus, the Hamathites were probably transported to Samaria only after Sargon had quelled a revolt in that city in 721 - a revolt in which the Samaritans indeed participated; while the deportation of the Israelites to Media would seem to have counterbalanced one of the Medians to Samaria, following a successful campaign against them in 714. Similarly, the introduction of Babylonians and Cutheans is more plausibly assigned to Ashurbanipal than to Shalmaneser, for it may well have been an act of retribution for their share in the civil war raised by the former's rival, Shamashshumukin.

Such confirmation of the biblical account does not prove, however, that the Jews are right in regarding the Samaritans as the mere offspring of the colonists rather than the true scions of Israel; and there is, in fact, much to support the Samaritan claim.

In the first place, Sargon himself says distinctly that he deported only 27,290 persons, whereas a computation based on a contemporary record in II Kings 15:19 shows that wealthy landowners alone then numbered 60,000! Furthermore, in II Chr. 34:9, we indeed hear of a "remnant of Israel" still resident in Ephraim and Manasseh about a century later, in the days of Josiah; and the analogy of what happened at the fall of the Southern Kingdom (II Kings 24:14) would suggest that, while more influential citizens may, indeed, have been driven into exile, the proletariat were left where they were. Lastly, it should be pointed out that there is, in fact, nothing in subsequent Samaritan doctrine which betrays any indebtedness to Assyrian ideas, and that the attitude of the Samaritans toward the Jews is wholly and most naturally explicable as a continuance of the inveterate hostility between Israel and Judah.

The most plausible conclusion is, then, that after the fall of Samaria in 722, the local population consisted of two distinct elements living side by side - viz., (a) the remnant of the native Israelites; and (b) the foreign colonists. For tendentious reasons, however, the Jewish version ignores the former; the Samaritan version the latter.
[29] R. J. Coggins, Samaritans And Jews: The Origins Of Samaritanism Reconsidered, 1975, op. cit., p. 18; Also see R. T. Anderson & T. Giles, The Keepers: An Introduction To The History And Culture Of The Samaritans, 2002, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.: Peabody (MA), pp. 15-16; "Samaritans", The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1905, Volume XI, Funk and Wagnalls Company: London & New York, p. 670.
[30] J. Macdonald, The Samaritan Chronicle No. II (Or Sepher Ha-Yamim) From Joshua To Nebuchadnezzar, 1969, op. cit., II Kings - II Chronicles, H, H*-J*, p. 178.
[31] R. J. Coggins, Samaritans And Jews: The Origins Of Samaritanism Reconsidered, 1975, op. cit., p. 18.
[32] "Anti-Samaritan Polemics" in A. D. Crown, R. Pummer & A. Tal (Eds.), A Companion To Samaritan Studies, 1993, J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck): Tübingen, p. 18.
[33] L. L. Grabbe, "Betwixt And Between: The Samaritans In The Hasmonean Period" in P. R. Davies & J. M. Halligan (Eds.), Second Temple Studies III: Studies In Political, Class And Material Culture, 2002, Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament Supplement Series - 340, Sheffield Academic Press: Sheffield (UK), p. 215.
[34] R. T. Anderson & T. Giles, The Keepers: An Introduction To The History And Culture Of The Samaritans, 2002, op. cit., pp. 15-17.
[35] R. J. Coggins, Samaritans And Jews: The Origins Of Samaritanism Reconsidered, 1975, op. cit., p. 163. Also see pp. 9-10 where Coggins says:.
We have already that the word hamernîm occurs only at 2 Kings 17:29, and that its natural meaning is 'inhabitants of Samaria'.... there are no unambiguous references to the Samaritans in the Hebrew Old Testament, and part of the support for this argument is the very fact that none of the terms descriptive of the later Samaritan community are found there.
[36] "Samaritans" in J. D. Douglas (Organizing Editor), New Bible Dictionary, 1984, Second Edition, Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester (UK) and Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Wheaton (IL), p. 1062.
[37] R. T. Anderson & T. Giles, The Keepers: An Introduction To The History And Culture Of The Samaritans, 2002, op. cit., pp. 16-17.
[38] J. D. Purvis, The Samaritan Pentateuch And The Origin Of The Samaritan Sect, 1968, Harvard University Press: Cambridge (MA), pp. 7-8; R. Pummer, The Samaritans, 1987, E. J. Brill: Leiden, p. 3; N. Schur, History Of The Samaritans, 1989, Beitrge Zur Erforschung Des Alten Testaments Und Des Antiken Judentums - Volume 18, Verlag Peter Lang GmbH: Frankfurt am Main, p. 32; R. J. Coggins, "Issues In Samaritanism" in J. Neusner & A. J. Avery-Peck, Judaism In Late Antiquity - Where We Stand: Issues & Debates In Ancient Judaism, 1999, Volume I, Part 3, Brill: Leiden, pp. 68-69; R. T. Anderson & T. Giles, The Keepers: An Introduction To The History And Culture Of The Samaritans, 2002, op. cit., p. 16.
[39] "Samaritans" in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, Volume 14, op. cit., col. 727.
[40] J. A. Montgomery, The Samaritans The Earliest Jewish Sect: Their History, Theology And Literature, 1907, op. cit., p. 32.
[41] For a recent discussion on the Samaritan Chronicles see L. L. Grabbe, "Betwixt And Between: The Samaritans In The Hasmonean Period" in P. R. Davies & J. M. Halligan (Eds.), Second Temple Studies III: Studies In Political, Class And Material Culture, 2002, op. cit., pp. 209-210.
[42] For example, see P. W. Van Der Horst, "Anti-Samaritan Propaganda In Early Judaism", in P. W. Van Der Horst, M. J. J. Menken, J. F. M. Smit & G. Van Oyen (Eds.), Persuasion And Dissuasion In Early Christianity, Ancient Judaism And Hellenism, 2003, Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan: Leuven, pp. 25-44.
[43] Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman (Trans.), Midrash Rabbah: Genesis II, 1939, Soncino Press: London, XCIV.7, pp. 873-874. It must be emphasized that Genesis Rabbah was redacted after the advent of Islam. However, this post-Islamic redaction would have no bearing on our argument on the Samaritan origins.
[44] N. Schur, History Of The Samaritans, 1989, op. cit., pp. 21-23. We have edited Schur's argument slightly.
[45] M. Gaster, The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines And Literature, 1925, The Schweich Lectures - 1923, Oxford University Press, p. 12.
[46] N. Schur, History Of The Samaritans, 1989, op. cit., p. 23.
[47] F. M. Cross, From Epic To Canon: History And Literature In Ancient Israel, 1998, op. cit., p. 175.
[48] R. Pummer, The Samaritans, 1987, op. cit., p. 1.
[49] I. Ben-Zvi, The Exiled And The Redeemed: The Strange Jewish 'Tribes' Of The Orient, 1958, Valentine. Mitchell: London, pp. 123-124.
[50] B. Bonne-Tamir, A. Nystuen, E. Seroussi, H. Kalinsky, A. E. Kwitek-Black, M. Korostishevsky, A. Adato, V. C. Sheffield, "Usher Syndrome In The Samaritans: Strengths And Limitations Of Using Inbred Isolated Populations To Identify Genes Causing Recessive Disorders", American Journal Of Physical Anthropology, 1997, Volume 104, pp. 193-200.
[51] K. Skorecki, S. Selig, S. Blazer, R. Bradman, N. Bradman, P. J. Waburton, M. Ismajlowicz, M. F. Hammer, "Y Chromosomes Of Jewish Priests", Nature, 1997, Volume 385, p. 32; M. G. Thomas, K. Skorecki, H. Ben-Ami, T. Parfitt, N. Bradman, D. B. Goldstein, "Origins Of Old Testament Priests", Nature, 1998, Volume 394, pp. 138-40.
[52] M. G. Thomas, T. Parfitt, D. A. Weiss, K. Skorecki, J. F. Wilson, M. le Roux, N. Bradman, D. B. Goldstein, "Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype And The Origins Of The Lemba - The "Black Jews Of Southern Africa"", American Journal Of Human Genetics, 2000, Volume 66, No. 2, pp. 674-686.
[53] P. Shen, T. Lavi, T. Kivisild, V. Chou, D. Sengun, D. Gefel, I. Shpirer, E. Woolf, J. Hillel, M. W. Feldman, and P. J. Oefner, "Reconstruction Of Patrilineages And Matrilineages Of Samaritans And Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome And Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation", Human Mutation, 2004, Volume 24, p. 248.
[54] ibid., pp. 257-258.
[55] A. Nebel, D. Filon, B. Brinkmann, P. P. Majumder, M. Faerman & A. Oppenheim, "The Y Chromosome Pool Of Jews As Part Of The Genetic Landscape Of The Middle East", American Journal of Human Genetics, 2001, Volume 69, No. 5, p. 1100 and p. 1103.