Overview:
Mount Gerizzim is a significant biblical location situated in the central region of ancient Israel, near the city of Shechem. It holds considerable historical and religious importance, particularly in the context of the blessings and curses pronounced by the Israelites upon entering the Promised Land. Gerizzim is often mentioned in conjunction with Mount Ebal, its neighboring peak.

Biblical Significance:
Mount Gerizzim is first prominently mentioned in the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses instructed the Israelites that upon entering the land of Canaan, they were to pronounce blessings from Mount Gerizzim and curses from Mount Ebal. This event is detailed in Deuteronomy 11:29: "When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizzim and the curse on Mount Ebal."

The fulfillment of this command is recorded in the Book of Joshua. After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and conquered Jericho and Ai, Joshua led the people to Shechem, where they built an altar on Mount Ebal and conducted a covenant renewal ceremony. Joshua 8:33-34 describes this event: "All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizzim and half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel."

Religious and Cultural Context:
Mount Gerizzim holds a special place in Samaritan tradition. The Samaritans, an ethnoreligious group closely related to the Jews, regard Mount Gerizzim as their holy mountain, believing it to be the true location chosen by God for His temple. This belief is rooted in their interpretation of the Pentateuch, which they hold as their sacred scripture. The Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizzim was destroyed in the 2nd century BC by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus, but the mountain remains a central place of worship for the Samaritan community to this day.

In the New Testament, Mount Gerizzim is indirectly referenced in the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. The woman mentions the mountain in her conversation with Jesus, highlighting the religious divide between Jews and Samaritans: "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem" (John 4:20). Jesus responds by emphasizing the coming era of worship "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23), transcending specific locations.

Geographical Context:
Mount Gerizzim is located in the West Bank, near the modern city of Nablus, which is the ancient city of Shechem. The mountain rises to a height of approximately 881 meters (2,890 feet) above sea level. Its fertile slopes contrast with the more barren Mount Ebal, symbolizing the blessings associated with obedience to God's commandments.

Archaeological Insights:
Archaeological excavations on Mount Gerizzim have uncovered remains of the Samaritan temple and other structures, providing insights into the religious practices and community life of the Samaritans. These findings have contributed to a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural context of the region during the Second Temple period.

Conclusion:
Mount Gerizzim remains a site of profound historical and religious significance, symbolizing the blessings of obedience and serving as a focal point for the Samaritan faith. Its biblical and archaeological legacy continues to be a subject of study and reverence.

Concerning Sanballat and Manasseh, and the Temple which they Built ...
... CHAPTER 8. Concerning Sanballat And Manasseh, And The Temple Which They Built On
Mount Gerizzim; As Also How Alexander Made His Entry Into The City Jerusalem ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 8 concerning sanballat and.htm

How Ptolemy the Son of Lagus Took Jerusalem and Judea By
... a great many captives, both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places
about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 1 how ptolemy the.htm

The Friendship that was Between Onias and Ptolemy Philometor; and ...
... to pass that the Alexandrian Jews, and those Samaritans who paid their worship to
the temple that was built in the days of Alexander at Mount Gerizzim, did now ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 3 the friendship that.htm

Book 13 Footnotes
... the Lord their God shall choose to place his name there," so often referred to in
the Book of Deuteronomy, was Jerusalem any more than Gerizzim, that being not ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 13 footnotes.htm

Book 18 Footnotes
... ch.10. [12] Since Moses never came himself beyond Jordan, nor particularly to Mount
Gerizzim, and since these Samaritans have a tradition among them, related ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 18 footnotes.htm

How
... Of The Jews Forsook The Laws Of Their Country; And How The Samaritans Followed The
Customs Of The Greeks And Named Their Temple At Mount Gerizzim The Temple Of ...
//christianbookshelf.org/josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 how.htm

Prison Meditations Directed to the Heart of Suffering Saints and ...
... a short time before his decease; it is in an exceedingly rare little volume, including
his poems of "One thing needful" and his "Ebal and Gerizzim"; with "a ...
/.../the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/prison meditations directed to the.htm

How Gabinius Caught Aristobulus after He had Fled from Rome, and ...
... he marched over the country with a great army, and slew all the Romans he could
light upon, and proceeded to besiege the mountain called Gerizzim, whither they ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 6 how gabinius caught.htm

How, after the Death of Antiochus, Hyrcanus Made an Expedition ...
... After this he took Samega, and the neighboring places; and besides these, Shechem
and Gerizzim, and the nation of the Cutheans, who dwelt at the temple which ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 9 how after the.htm

That the Judges who Succeeded Gideon Made War with the Adjoining ...
... at Shechem, and all the multitude was there gathered together, Jotham his brother,
whose escape we before related, went up to Mount Gerizzim, which hangs over ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 7 that the judges.htm

Gerizzim (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version Concordance Gerizzim (1 Occurrence). Deuteronomy 27:12 These
do stand, to bless the people, on mount Gerizzim, in your ...
/g/gerizzim.htm - 6k

Gerizim (4 Occurrences)
... ger'-i-zim, ge-ri'-zim (har gerizzim): 1. Scriptural References: Named in the
directions for the reading of the law (Deuteronomy 11:29), and in the account of ...
/g/gerizim.htm - 14k

Germ (2 Occurrences)

/g/germ.htm - 7k

Gerizite (1 Occurrence)

/g/gerizite.htm - 6k

Mount (311 Occurrences)
... ger'-i-zim, ge-ri'-zim (har gerizzim): 1. Scriptural References: Named in the
directions for the reading of the law (Deuteronomy 11:29), and in the account of ...
/m/mount.htm - 68k

Passing (177 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 27:12 These do stand, to bless the people, on mount Gerizzim, in your
passing over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph ...
/p/passing.htm - 36k

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