The Samaritans

Judaism, Christianity and Islam aren’t the only Abrahamic religions. A number of minor religions still survive that are not part of any of the other three, including Mandaeans, Yezidis, Druze and, still, Samaritans.

The Samaritans

The split between the Jews and the Samaritans is the mother of all feuds. As best we can tell, the two communities divided in the 8th Century BCE: an astonishing 2,800 years ago. That is basically so far in the past that it’s difficult to separate fact from myth.

The Samaritans have their own version of the Torah with thousands of differences to the Hebrew Scriptures, although most are minor or even grammatical.

They were around in Jesus’ time and famously appear in the parable of the Good Samaritan, a reference to a person from a despised religious minority who, to the listeners’ surprise and probably consternation, is declared to enjoy God’s favour.

Today there are just 800 living Samaritans, split between Israel and the West Bank. They still worship on “the mountain” (Mount Gerizim near Nablus) just as they did in Jesus’ time.