Tradition Kept: The Literature of the Samaritans (review)

The last decade or two have seen a boom in Samaritan studies. Although for a long time this small religious minority has attracted the attention of a few distinguished specialists, who have labored long and hard to produce editions of texts and the like, this work has now accelerated, new tools such as grammars and dictionaries have been added, excavations on Mt. Gerizim are continuing, and works of synthesis as well as specialized studies continue to appear.

Outside the circle of specialists, however, the main interest of scholars in the Samaritans (when it has not been simply a question of romanticism) has been as an adjunct to other concerns, such as textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible (especially, but not exclusively, the Pentateuch), the history of early varieties of Judaism, background to the New Testament, linguistic and philological research, and so on. The great merit of the present book is that it seeks to provide some basic texts for students in a way which treats the Samaritans as a subject of interest in their own right.

Seven texts (or in one case types of text) are introduced and reproduced either in whole or in part in English translation. Four are grouped under the heading "The Samaritan Story," and the other three under the title "Samaritan Theology and Worship." In the first part, attention is given to the Samaritan Pentateuch (which really could have come in a category of its own) and then to three of the chronicle-like compositions which each start in the Biblical period but which bring the story down to a successively later date.

In the case of the Pentateuch, a full translation is not provided, for obvious reasons, but some distinctive recensional extracts, such as the Decalogue, are included in full. The substantial introduction to the work (over 40 pages) gives attention to a number of relevant topics, ranging from its position within the textual history of the Bible to a description of some of the characteristic features of the distinctive layout of most manuscripts. Appreciation of the importance of this text-form has been immeasurably increased by the relatively new evidence furnished by the Dead Sea Scrolls, and full attention is given to this within the confines possible for a student readership who may have little or no knowledge of Hebrew. This limitation results in some oversimplifications or even misleading expressions, though the intention is laudable.

There then follow introductions to and translations of parts or the whole of the Samaritan Joshua, the Annals of Abu'l Fath and the so-called Chronicle II. No attempt is made to adjudicate generally on matters of historical reliability, though some account is given of the complex use of possible earlier sources in these compilations. In some quarters there is a persistent attempt to use these materials to re-write, or at least supplement, other accounts, stretching back even to Biblical times. The likelihood of medieval or later materials, regardless of the use of earlier sources, retaining reliable independent evidence on this is remote, however, so that Anderson and Giles do well to stress that the chief value of these materials is the light they shed on the Samaritans' own self-understanding—a fully emic approach, which is the only sensible one to take.

The second section of the book continues this method by introducing and citing from two central religious texts—the famous Memar Marqah (tibat marqe) and the Samaritan liturgy, a "text" which is itself the product of many centuries. Finally, a few inscriptions with religious texts are included.

As already indicated, the aims and general approach taken in this book are laudable. It is less clear to what extent such a work is really necessary. Most of the texts here are already available in translation, and there are fuller introductions in such works as A.D. Crown (ed.), The Samaritans (Tübingen: Mohr, 1989). For all the present popularity of Samaritan studies in scholarly circles, the...