Luk 10:25 And see, a
certain one learned in the Torah stood up, trying Him, and saying, “Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit everlasting life?”
Luk 10:26 And He
said to him, “What has been written in the Torah? How do you
read it?”
Luk 10:27 And he
answering, said, “ ‘You shall love יהוה your
Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your
strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your
neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Luk 10:28 And He
said to him, “You have answered rightly. Do this and you shall
live.”
Luk 10:29 But he,
wishing to declare himself righteous, said to יהושע, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luk 10:30 And
replying, יהושע said, “A certain man was going down from Yerushalayim to
Yeriḥo, and fell among robbers, who, both stripping and
beating him, went away, leaving him half dead.
Luk 10:31 “And
by a coincidence a certain priest was going down that way. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 “And
likewise a Lĕwite also, when he came to the place, and seeing, passed by on the
other side.
Luk 10:33 “But
a certain Shomeronite, journeying, came upon him. And when he saw him, he had
compassion on him,
Luk 10:34 and he
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And having placed
him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and looked after him.
Luk 10:35 “And
going out on the next day, he took out two pieces of silver, gave them to the
innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Look after him, and whatever more you spend I
shall repay you when I return.’
Luk 10:36 “Who,
then, of these three, do you think, was neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
Luk 10:37 And he
said, “He who showed compassion on him.” Then יהושע said to
him, “Go and do likewise.”
There was one learned of the Torah who asked Yahusha what must
he do to attain everlasting life. Yahusha asks him what has been written in
Torah and how do you read it? The lawyer quoted the two greatest commands on
which hang the entire ‘Torah, the prophets and the writings’. He wishing to
declare himself righteous asked Yahusha who his neighbor was? The parable of
the Good Samaritan is the most diluted parable taught to portray good works in
this world to be right with Aluahym. In our society the ‘good Samaritan’ is a
term commonly used to help others. While I am not against helping others, which
is our social and human obligation to being human to everyone but when it comes
to faith/belief this parable needs to be understood in its right perspective
scripturally and spiritually. The first thing that needs to be understood is
the term ‘neighbor’ in scripture.
The word ‘neighbor’ in Hebrew is ‘rauth’ H7468 which
means a female associate; generally an additional one:
- + another (an additional one-not outside foreigner), mate, neighbor.
This
word ‘rauth’ is from two words:
רָעָה
H7462 ‘rah’ which means ‘to tend
a flock, that is, pasture it; intransitively to graze (literally or figuratively); generally to rule;
by extension to associate with (as a friend):
- X break, companion, keep company with, devour, eat up, evil
entreat, feed, use as a friend, make friendship with, herdman, keep [sheep]
(-er), pastor, + shearing house, shepherd, wander, waste’
רֵעַ
H7453 ‘ra’ an associate (more or
less close): - brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, lover, neighbor, X
(an-) other
There is a big discrepancy in the same word ‘rah’ being
spelled how it is used to mean ‘wicked/evil’. How can the same word spelling be
the same for ‘neighbor’ as well as ‘evil/bad/wicked’?
The
word ‘rah’ H7451 written by Strong’s and the Hebrew bibles we have is actually H7489 ‘raa’ רָעַע which means ‘do evil,
hurt, displease, do mischief, vex, wicked, worse’
‘rah’ H7451 is from H7489 and means;
bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or
morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: -
adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (-ure), distress, evil
([-favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (-vous), harm,
heavy, hurt (-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (-vous), misery, naught
(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked
(-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) wretchedness, wrong. [Including feminine ra’ah; as adjective or noun.]’
The word translated as
‘wicked/evil’ should actually be written as ‘raa’ (resh ayin ayin), in ancient Hebrew it was pronounced as ‘ra aah’. Modern Hebrew changed it to ‘rah’ (resh ayin ha). The pen of the
scribes changed the word when copying over which is why the confusion exists.
To those who don’t know Proto Canaanite Hebrew had a sound ‘ghayin’ which Jeff
Benner says it was a separate letter which means ‘twisted, dark, wicked’
alongside ‘ayin’. Ayin means ‘eye/see/perceive’. This letter ‘ghayin’ was actually
‘ayin’ in the Paleo Hebrew as seen below (see middle Hebrew which is paleo
Hebrew) with a positive as well as negative meaning i.e. the good eye and the
evil eye. Whenever it meant negatively it was written as ‘ayin ayin ’ (like a
twisted eye which looks like a twisted rope (see the first pic below) and had the
pronunciation ‘aaah’
The count of the letters
still remains 22 alphabets in Hebrew. The ayin is pronounced as ‘ah’ and
wherever the evil appears its pronounced as ‘aaah’ with a hoarse part of the
throat.
So we must differentiate
the word ‘raa’ (raaah) describing the evil man from ‘rah’ the neighbor.
Below is the example of
the word ‘rah’ which should actually be ‘raa’ (raaah)
Gen 13:13 But the
men of Seḏom were wicked/rah H7451 and sinned before יהוה,
exceedingly so.
For those who are ignorant
of the Hebrew would go by what Strong’s means and looks so absurd to mean it
the way its mentioned below:
Gen 13:13 But the
men of Seḏom were neighbor/rah H7451 and sinned before יהוה,
exceedingly so.
The word there should be
‘raa’ (raaah)
So when we look at the word ‘neighbor/rauth’ we
see a neighbor cannot be a stranger or a wicked/evil person because the word
itself means ‘to tend a flock’ and ‘pasture it’, a mate, friend, shepherd,
companion, loved one, husband. The one who is a neighbor relates to us as a
‘kinsman’ not a stranger/foreigner/another/outsider.
Psa
15:3 He has not slandered with his
tongue, He has not done evil/rah
H7451 to his neighbour/raya H7453 (reyah
same as H7462 rah), Nor lifted up a reproach against his friend;
If you notice Psalms 15:3 the Strong’s has both the words for evil and
neighbor as ‘rah’ which actually should be ‘raaah’ (resh ayin ayin) for evil
and ‘rah’ (rah) for neighbor.
Now with this background let’s look at the parable of the good
Shomeri/Samaritan who became the ‘rah/neighbor’ to the one who was wounded by
the robbers.
Firstly, who were
Samaritans/Shomeri’s?
The word ‘Shomeri’ comes from the root word ‘shamar’ which means
‘guard/keeper/watcher’. The Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Ephraim
and Menashsheh.
The Samaritans had
invented an alternate way of worship, when the Torah said that Yerushalam is
the place to worship they chose Mt Gerizim as the place to worship, this
action was a continuation of Yeroboam's policy of separating the ten northern
tribes from the one true Alahym at Yerushalam.
Joh 4:20 “Our fathers
worshipped on this mountain, but you people say that in Yerushalayim is the
place where one needs to worship.”
The Samaritans,
therefore represented all the worst of the Yahudi’s in that they opposed Aluahym’s
choice of Daud/David, Yerushalam and polluted their bloodlines which forever
disqualified them from producing the Mashiyach. In about 538 BC, after Yahudah
returned from Babylonian captivity, the Samaritans chose Mt. Gerizim as the location
of sacrifice rather than Yerushalam (maybe because they thought Yahuah asked
Yasharal to proclaim blessings from Mount Gerizim-please read Josh 8:30-35),
nevertheless they were Yahudite’s who lost their Abary roots and we see Yahusha
ha Mashiyach visiting them and turning them back to him.
When they read the
Torah of Masha/Moses half of them who stood in front of Mt Gerizim proclaimed
all the blessings mentioned in the Torah for those who obey it and the other
half who stood in front of Mt Eybal pronounced all the curses written in the
Torah for those who don’t obey it. They made a vow to obey everything written
in the Torah there. Hence, we see Yahushua/Joshua obeying the words of Yahuah
through the mouth of Masha/Moses his servant to build an altar to Yahuah of
unhewn stones on Mount Eybal and then proclaim blessing to Mount Gerizim and
curse Mount Eybal. This mount Gerizim became Yerushalam of the Samaritans.
The Samaritans,
influenced by Yeroboam, adopted Shekem as their home base with Mt. Gerizim as
their "real Yerushalam"
We know the story of
Yeroboam how he was anointed king of Yasharal and the 10 tribes broke away from
the house of Daud/David because of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son who did not heed the
voice of the elders who asked him to be gentle to the people who were put under
the yoke of forced labor in his fathers reign. The 10 tribes left his house and
joined Yeroboam, Yeroboam greatly feared the union of the 10 tribes back to
Daud’s house in Yahudah so he made two altars one he placed in Bethel and the
other in Dan.
1Ki 12:25 And Yaroḇʽam built Sheḵem
in the mountains of Ephrayim, and dwelt there. And he went
out from there and built Penu’ĕl.
1Ki 12:26 And
Yaroḇʽam
said in his heart, “Now the reign shall return to the house of Dawiḏ.
1Ki 12:27 “If
these people go up to do slaughterings in the House of יהוה at Yerushalayim, then the heart of this people shall turn
back to their master, Reḥaḇʽam sovereign of Yehuḏah, and they shall
slay me and go back to Reḥaḇʽam sovereign of Yehuḏah.”
1Ki 12:28 So the
sovereign took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It
is too much for you to go up to Yerushalayim. See, your mighty ones, O
Yisra’ĕl, which brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim!”
1Ki 12:29 And he
set up one in Bĕyth Ěl, and the other he put in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 And
this matter became a sin, for the people went before the one as far as Dan.
1Ki 12:31 And he
made the house of high places, and made priests from all sorts of people, who
were not of the sons of Lĕwi.
The Samaritan woman
told Yahusha ‘’Our fathers worshiped on this mountain…’’ because Shekem was the
place where Yahuah appeared to Abraham and he built and altar to Yahuah who
told him that ‘’To your seed I give this land’’
Gen 12:6 And Aḇram passed through
the land to the place of Sheḵem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. At
that time the Kenaʽanites
were in the land.
Gen 12:7 And יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said, “To your seed I give this
land.” And he built there an altar to יהוה,
who had appeared to him.
Yaaqob also set up an altar in Shekem
Gen 33:18 And Yaʽaqoḇ came safely to
the city of Sheḵem, which is in the land of Kenaʽan, when he came from
Paddan Aram. And he pitched his tent before the city.
Gen 33:19 And he
bought the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent, from the
children of Ḥamor, Sheḵem’s
father, for one hundred qesitah.
Gen 33:20 And he set up an altar there and called it
Ěl Elohĕ Yisra’ĕl.
Because of Yeroboam
who led Yasharal to sin against him Yahuah caused all of Yasharal to be carried
captive into Assyria/Ashshur.
2Ki 17:24 And the
king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from
Hamath and Sephar-vaim, and settled
them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Yisrael. And they
possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.
2Ki17:25 And it came
to pass, at the beginning of their living there, they did not fear Yahuah; and
Yahuah sent lions among them, and they were destroying among them
2Ki17:26 And they
spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations/guym which you have removed,
and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the El of the
land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they
do not know the custom of the El of the land.
Rabbanical Judaism
reject Samaritans as non Yahudites because they believe that the ones living in
Samaria were not Samaritans but Babylonians, they believe that none of the
Samaritans who originally lived there are living there but the Babylonians whom
the king of Assyria brought to live there who are not Jews.
2Ki
17:18 So יהוה was very enraged with Yisra’ĕl, and removed them
from His presence – none was left but
the tribe of Yehuḏah alone.
Ezra 4:2, 9-10 implies that later Assyrian king also returned more Yasharalites
back to Samaria. These Samaritans who now resettled in the land of Yasharal had
inter-married with the Babylonians of the five nations that the king of Assyria
brought into Samaria. They along with the other Yashariltes who had resettled offered
to help Zerubbabel and the heads of the father’s houses build the house of
Yahuah but they were adversaries of Yahudah and Binyamin and Zerubbabel refused
their offer.
Ezr
4:1 And when the adversaries of Yehuḏah and Binyamin heard that the sons of the exile were building the Hĕḵal of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl,
Ezr
4:2 they came to Zerubbaḇel and the heads of the fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your Elohim as you do. And we have slaughtered to Him since the
days of Ěsarḥaddon sovereign of Ashshur, who brought us
here.”
Esarhaddon was the son
of Sennacherib.
Sennacherib had sent the Rabshekah (1 Kings 18) to threaten Hezekiah king of
Yahudah who was faithful to Yahuah and Yahuah sent the prophet YashaYahu asking
the king not to be afraid of his threats for he will not shoot a single arrow.
2 Kings 18:34 is a threat of the Rabshekah to king Hezekiah showing that
Samaria was in his possession as it had been taken by Shalmaneser - 2 Kings 18:9
and it was in his possession.
2Ki 18:34 ‘Where are the mighty ones of Ḥamath and Arpaḏ? Where are the mighty ones of Sepharwayim and Hĕna and Iwwah? Did they deliver Shomeron from my hand?
Who was Sennacherib?
Sennacherib was the son of the king of Assyria Sargon II who was also the son of Tiglath-Pileser (Pul) and he overthrew his elder brother Shalmaneser and took over the kingdom from him. Hence those carried into captivity under his father and brothers reign were now his.
You may read the
entire account in 2 Kings 18 and 19.
2Ki 19:36 So
Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at
Nineveh.
2Ki 19:37 And it came
to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his mighty one, that
Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped
into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon
his son reigned in his stead.
Yahuah protected
Hezekiah king of Yahudah and Sennacherib was killed by his two sons and his son
Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. We see the Shomeri and other
Yasharalites who come to Zerubbabel asking them to allow them to build the
house of Yahuah tell him that they have been worshipping Yahuah only from the days
of Esarhaddon (as previous to their captivity they worshiped Yeroboam's golden calves and other gods)
Ezr
4:2 they came to Zerubbaḇel and the heads of the fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your Elohim as you do. And we have slaughtered to Him since the
days of Ěsarḥaddon sovereign of Ashshur, who brought us
here.”
This shows that
Esarhaddon resettled them back in their lands from where they were taken
captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria. Zerubbabel refused
their help for these men were wicked.
Ezr
4:3 But Zerubbaḇel and Yĕshua and the
rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Yisra’ĕl said to them,
“It is not for you and for us to build a house for our Elohim, but we alone
build to יהוה
Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, as Sovereign
Koresh the sovereign of Persia has commanded us.”
Ezr
4:4 And it came to be that the
people of the land were weakening the hands of the people of Yehuḏah and troubling them in their building,
After
the refusal these people sent a letter to the king which we will see a little
later.
First a little bit of history of what had happened. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by
the Neo-Assyrian monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul)
and Shalmaneser V.
Here is the proof:
2Ki 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser (Pul) king of
Assyria,
and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and
Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to
Assyria.
1Ch
5:26 So the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl stirred up the spirit
of Pul sovereign of Ashshur, even the
spirit of Tiglath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur. And he took the Re’uḇĕnites, and the Gaḏites, and the half-tribe of
Menashsheh into exile, and brought them to Ḥalaḥ, and Ḥaḇor, and Hara, and the river of Gozan, unto this day.
2 Kings 15:29 records the lands taken in captivity and 1 Chr 5:26
records the tribes of those lands taken in captivity by Tiglathpileser
The
other half tribe of Menashsheh (son of Yoseph) was Shomeron/Samaritans who were
taken captive by Shalmaneser the son of Tiglath-Pileser (Pul) in the very same
places where Reubenites, Gadites, the other half-tribe of Menashsheh were taken
into exile (as mentioned in 1 Chr 5:26).
2Ki
17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshĕa (king of Yasharal), the sovereign of
Ashshur captured Shomeron and exiled Yisra’ĕl to Ashshur, and settled them in Ḥalaḥ and Ḥaḇor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
2Ki
18:9 And it came to be in the fourth
year of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshĕa son of Ělah, sovereign
of Yisra’ĕl, that Shalmaneser sovereign
of Ashshur came up against Shomeron and besieged it,
2Ki
18:10 and they captured it at the end
of three years. In the sixth year of Ḥizqiyah, that is the ninth year
of Hoshĕa sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, Shomeron was captured.
2
Kings 17:6 tells us briefly that in the 9th year of Hoshea the king
of Ashshur captured Shomeron and exiled Yasharal to Ashshur and where he
settled them whereas 2 Kings 18:9-10 gives a detailed explanation and the name
of the king of Assyria who besieged Samaria.
How do we know
Samaritans were from the tribe of Menashsheh?
Oba
1:17 “But on Mount Tsiyon there shall be an escape, and they shall
be set-apart. And the house of Yaʽaqoḇ shall possess their possessions
Oba
1:18 “And the house of Yaʽaqoḇ shall be a fire, and the house of Yosĕph a flame, but the house of Ěsaw for stubble. And they shall burn among them and
they shall consume them, so that no survivor is left of the house of Ěsaw.” For
יהוה
has spoken.
Oba
1:19 And they shall possess the
South with the mountains of Ěsaw, and low country with the Philistines. And they shall possess the fields of Ephrayim and the fields of
Shomeron, and Binyamin with Gilʽaḏ,
Ephrayim
and Menashsheh were sons of Yoseph. Yahuah in Obadiah verse 17-18 begins with a
wider perspective calling house of Yoseph as ‘house of Yaaqob’, the reader
shouldn’t misunderstand that the resettlement mentioned is of the twelve tribes
in these lands allotted to the sons of Yoseph because the 12 sons of Yaaqob
comprise the 12 tribes and they were given different lands. The verses 17-18 of
Obadiah narrows down to house of Yoseph being a flame to the house of Esaw and
their possession of the South with the mountains of Esaw and the low country
with the Philistines and fields of Ephrayim and the fields of Shomeron and
Binyamin with Gilead. The reader should not misunderstand Binyamin for Binyamin
was also a son of Yaaqob, but if you remember he was the blood brother of
Yoseph and both Yoseph and Binyamin of the same mother Rachel were step
brothers of the other 10 brothers. Hence, the focus here is on the house of
Yoseph. Obadiah 1:18-19 is a promise of the resettlement of the tribes
spiritually as Obadiah speaks of ‘Day of Yahuah’ near upon the guym i.e. the
tribes. The spiritual promise of Messiah through Yoseph is in the historic
resettlement which happened.
Gen
49:22 “Yosĕph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree, an
offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over a wall.
Gen
49:23 “And the archers have bitterly grieved him, shot
at him and hated him.
Gen
49:24 “But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of
his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Yaʽaqoḇ – from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl –
Jos
18:11 ¶ And the lot of the tribe of the children
of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Yahudah
and the children of Yoseph.
Also
notice ‘Gilead’ was given as an inheritance to Menashsheh
Jos
17:1 And the lot for the tribe of
Menashsheh, for he was the first-born of Yosĕph, was: for
Maḵir the first-born of Menashsheh, father of Gileaḏ, because he was
a man of battle, therefore he had Gileaḏ and Bashan.
De
3:15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir. (Makir was the first-born of Menashsheh). We read in 2 Kings 15:29 and 1 Chr 5:26 Gilead which was given to the half tribe of Menashsheh was already taken away captive by
Joh
4:3 He/Yahusha left Judaea, and
departed again into Galilee.
4 ¶ And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which
is called Sychar, near to the parcel of
ground that Yaaqob/Jacob gave to his son Yoseph.
Ge
33:18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city
of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram;
and pitched his tent before the city.
Ge
33:19 And he bought a parcel of a field,
where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's
father, for an hundred pieces of money.
Ge 33:20 And he erected there an altar, and called
it Ěl
Elohĕ Yisra’ĕl.
Yahusha
came to the Samaritans/Shomeri’s near the parcel of the field that Yaaqob gave
his son Yoseph, near Shechem in a city called Sychar which was also a part of
Samaritan’s. Yoseph’s bones when carried from Egypt were buried in Shechem.
Jos
24:32 And the bones of Yosĕph, which the children
of Yisra’ĕl had brought up out of Mitsrayim, they buried at Sheḵem, in the plot of ground which Yaʽaqoḇ had bought from the sons of Ḥamor the father of Sheḵem for one hundred pieces
of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Yosĕph.
Num
26:29 Sons of Menashsheh: of Maḵir, the clan of the Maḵirites. And Maḵir brought forth Gilʽaḏ; of Gilʽaḏ, the clan of the Gilʽaḏites.
Num
26:30 These are sons of Gilʽaḏ: of Iyezer, the clan of the Iyezerites; of Ḥĕleq, the clan of the Ḥĕleqites;
Num
26:31 of Asri’ĕl, the clan of the
Asri’ĕlites; of Sheḵem, the clan of the Sheḵemites;
Num
26:32 of Shemiḏa, the clan of the Shemiḏaites; of Ḥĕpher, the clan of the Ḥĕpherites.
Num
26:33 And Tselophḥaḏ son of Ḥĕpher had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of
Tselophḥaḏ: Maḥlah, and Noʽah, Ḥoḡlah, Milkah, and Tirtsah.
Num
26:34 These are the clans of
Menashsheh, and their registered ones: fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
Jos
17:5 And ten portions fell to
Menashsheh, besides the land of Gilʽaḏ and Bashan, which were beyond the Yardĕn,
Jos
17:6 because the daughters of
Menashsheh received an inheritance among his sons. And the rest of Menashsheh’s sons had the land of
Gilʽaḏ.
Jos
17:7 And the border of Menashsheh was from Ashĕr to Miḵmethath, which
is on the face of Sheḵem. And the border
went up to the right to the inhabitants of Ěn Tappuwaḥ.
Jos
17:8 The land of Tappuwaḥ belonged to Menashsheh, but
Tappuwaḥ on the border of Menashsheh belonged to
the children of Ephrayim.
The
sons of Yoseph Ephrayim and Manashsheh shared their borders with each other on
the mountains of Ephrayim where Yeroboam dwelt by building the city of Shekem
(1 Kings 12:25).
Coming
back to Ezra 4, The letter written by the Samaritans/Shomeronites along with
the others dwelling in Yasharal and Yahudah when Yahudah were in captivity to
king Aḥashwĕrosh, they identify themselves as rest of the people whom the
great and noble Osnapper (notice the king of Assyria who took them into
captivity were Tiglath-Pileser & Shalmaneser) as the one who brought them
into the cities of Shomeron and the rest beyond the River
Ezr
4:9 Reḥum the governor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their
companions – the judges, and the
emissaries, the consuls, the officials, the people of Ereḵ and of Baḇel and of Shushan, the Dehawites, the Ěylamites,
Ezr
4:10 and the rest of the people whom the great and noble
Osnapper brought over and settled in the cities of Shomeron and the rest beyond the River. And now,
Ezr
4:11 this is a copy of the letter
that they sent him, to Sovereign Artaḥshashta from your servants the men beyond the River. And now,
Now we read in Ezra 4:2 the Samaritans and the Yasharalites telling
Zerubbabel that they have started worshiping Yahuah and slaughtering only to
him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Ashshur who brought us here.
Ezr
4:2 they came to Zerubbaḇel and the heads of the fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your Elohim as you do. And we have
slaughtered to Him since the days of Ěsarḥaddon sovereign of Ashshur, who brought us here.”
We learnt Esarhaddon was the son of Sennacherib who succeeded him after
his brothers killed their father. If Esarhaddon brought them back who is ‘Osnapper’
whom they say in Ezra 4:10 who brought them back? Is there a contradiction?
Ezr
4:10 and the rest of the nations
whom the great and noble Osnapper brought
over and settled in
the cities of Shomeron and the rest beyond the River. And now,
There is no contradiction here. When we turn to the historical facts
Esarhaddon son was ‘ASHURBANIPAL’ and Esarhaddon crowned him prince of
Assyria in 668 B.C. and his brother as crown prince of Babylonia whose name was
‘Shamash-shum-ukin’. At
the father's (Esarhaddon’s) death the latter, however, was only permitted to
become viceroy of Babylonia. Ashurbanipal is the great and ‘noble
Osnappar’ who in the days of his father Esarhaddon was ‘crowned prince of Assyria’ and under his
father Esarhaddon orders resettled them back from where they were
taken as captive.
While being resettled back the Shomeri/Samaritans intermarried foreign wives, Rabbanical Judaism accuses them of only reading the 5 books of Torah and that Samaritans don't believe the prophets and the writings of Tanak. Rabbanical Talmud calls them 'Kuthim' because the king of Assyria had brought people from Babylon and resettled them in place of the Samaritans.
2Ki 17:24 And the sovereign of Ashshur brought people from Baḇel, and from Kuthah, and from Awwa, and from Ḥamath, and Sepharwayim, and placed them in the cities of Shomeron instead of the children of Yisra’ĕl. And they took possession of Shomeron and dwelt in its cities.
This contemptuous relationship between the Samaritan's and Yahudites continued right into Renewed Testament
times. Samaritans even refused to receive Yahusha when his face was set for Yerushalam because they reject Yerushalam as the place of worship and worship Yahuah on Mt. Gerizim
Luk 9:51 And it came to be, when the days of His taking up were being completed, even He set His face to go to Yerushalayim,
Luk 9:52 and He sent messengers ahead of Him. And they went and entered into a village of the Shomeronites, to prepare for Him.
Luk 9:53 And they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Yerushalayim.
Joh
4:9 The woman of Shomeron therefore
said to Him, “How is it that You,
being a Yehuḏite, ask a drink from me, a woman of Shomeron?” For Yehuḏim do not associate with Shomeronites.
Luk 17:11 And it came to be, as He went to Yerushalayim, that He passed through the midst of Shomeron and Galil.
Luk 17:12 And as He was entering into a certain village, He was met by ten leprous men, who stood at a distance.
Luk 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, saying, “יהושע, Master, have compassion on us!”
Luk 17:14 And having seen them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And it came to be, that as they were going, they were cleansed.
Luk 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, praising Elohim with a loud voice,
Luk 17:16 and he fell down upon his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Shomeronite.
Luk 17:17 And יהושע answering, said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
Luk 17:18 “Was no one found to return to give praise to Elohim, except this STRANGER?”
Shomeri’s/Samaritans though were corrupt and spoken against for every reason, there were a remnant still chosen by Yahuah as they were from the tribe of Manashsheh. Yahusha had a plan for them and visited them and we see the whole account in John 4 as to how many of the Samaritans believed that he is the Mashiyach. They wouldn't have believed he was the Mashiyach if they had not read the Torah, the prophets and the writing's which testified about him.
Joh 4:39 And many of the Shomeronites of that city (Sychar) believed in Him because of the word of the woman who witnessed, “He told me all that I have done.”
Joh 4:40 Therefore when the Shomeronites came to Him, they were asking Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days.
Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of His word.
Joh 4:42 And they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this is truly the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.”
Act 8:4 Then those who had been scattered went everywhere bringing the Good News: the Word!
Act 8:5 And going down to the city of Shomeron Philip proclaimed Messiah to them.
Act 8:6 And the crowds with one mind heeded what Philip said, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
Act 8:7 For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralysed and lame were healed.
Act 8:8 And there came to be great joy in that city.
Act 1:6 So when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Master, would You at this time restore the reign to Yisra’ĕl?”
Act 1:7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Act 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Set-apart Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehuḏah and Shomeron, and to the end of the earth.”
Mat 4:12 And יהושע, having heard that Yoḥanan had been put in prison, withdrew into Galil.
Mat 4:13 And leaving Natsareth, He came and dwelt in Kephar Naḥum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zeḇulun and Naphtali,
Mat 4:14 to fill what was spoken by Yeshayahu the prophet, saying,
Mat 4:15 “Land of Zeḇulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Yardĕn, Galil of the gentiles –
Mat 4:16 the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the land and shadow of death, light arose to them.
Their bloodline was corrupted as they had intermarried foreign women and had their Hebrew roots diluted.
Now we can understand why Yaaqob put the younger Ephrayim before Menashsheh the elder and the first-born.
Gen 48:17 And when Yosĕph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephrayim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from the head of Ephrayim to the head of Menashsheh.
Gen 48:18 And Yosĕph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on his head.”
Gen 48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He (Menashsheh) also becomes a people, and he also is great. And yet, his younger brother is greater than he, and his (Ephrayim's) seed is to become the completeness of the nations.”
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them on that day, saying, “In you Yisra’ĕl shall bless, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephrayim and as Menashsheh!’ ” Thus he put Ephrayim before Menashsheh.
Psa 108:7 Elohim has spoken in His set-apartness, “I exult, I portion out Sheḵem, And I measure out the Valley of Sukkoth.
Psa 108:8 “Gilʽaḏ is Mine, Menashsheh is Mine, And Ephrayim is My chief defence, Yehuḏah is My lawgiver.
Yaqoob prophesied to Yoseph that Menashsheh will also be great but his younger brother Ephrayim will be greater than him. We see the story of Ruth who was a Reubenite by roots and Moabitess by geographic location married Naomi's son Mahlon who was an Ephrathite, and Mahlon died leaving Ruth barren. Ruth clung to Naomi by telling her ''Your judge/alahym is my judge/alahym and your people/Ephrathites my people/Ephrathites''
Rth 1:16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you, or to go back from following after you. For wherever you go, I go; and wherever you stop over, I stop over. Your people is my people, and your elohim is my elohim.
She marries Boaz a Yahudite (from Yahudah) and he gives the seed to the dead man Mahlon the Ephrathite as per Torah redeeming her as the nearest kinsman, thus he became the kinsman redeemer and Alahym in his wisdom fulfilled in bringing his Son Yahusha from the lineage of both Yoseph (Ephrayim was his son) as well as Yahudah.
Gen 49:10 “The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him is the obedience of peoples.
Gen 49:24 “But his (Yoseph's) bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Yaʽaqoḇ – from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl –
Boaz and Ruth were great grandparents of king David from whom the Messiah came who is called Son of David.
Rth 4:18 And this is the genealogy of Perets: Perets brought forth Ḥetsron.
Rth 4:19 And Ḥetsron brought forth Ram, and Ram brought forth Amminaḏaḇ.
Rth 4:20 And Amminaḏaḇ brought forth Naḥshon, and Naḥshon brought forth Salmon.
Rth 4:21 And Salmon brought forth Boʽaz, and Boʽaz (from Ruth) brought forth Oḇĕḏ.
Rth 4:22 And Oḇĕḏ brought forth Yishai, and Yishai brought forth Dawiḏ.
This background was necessary to understand who the Samaritans were, were they from Yasharal? Yes they were...from the tribe of Menashsheh and for every bad reason for what they were looked down upon just as we are from the gentiles of the nations whom (12 tribes scattered abroad) Mashiyach heals i.e. his chosen remnant.
Rev 22:2 In the middle of its street, in between the posts, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations/guym.
The corrupted bloodline of our fathers through marriage with pagans is healed in Mashiyach who is the tree of life. While I could skip all of what and who Samaritans were, I thought it necessary to jot down their history by searching scriptures as people like Micheal Rood (Messianic) teach that Samaritans were pagans based on Rabbanical Judaism. The salvation program was for the lost sheep of the house of Yasharal, never for pagans. Hence the basarah and the covenant is diluted as they teach that pagans had a place in Yahuah's covenant by showing the example of Samaritans.
Yahusha in his parable of the Good Samaritan sets the Samaritan whom the Yahudites considered pagan to be their neighbor.
Luk 10:30 And replying, יהושע said, “A certain man was going down from Yerushalayim to Yericḥo, and fell among robbers, who, both stripping and beating him, went away, leaving him half dead.
The man travelling from Yerushalam in the parable was a Yahudite whose place of worship is Yerushalam. Where was he headed to? Yericho. Where was Yericho located...beyond the Yarden which eastward the children of Reuben, Gad and the other half tribe of Menashsheh received their inheritance.
Num 34:14 “For the tribe of the children of Re’uḇĕn according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gaḏ according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance. And the half-tribe of Menashsheh has received its inheritance.
Num 34:15 “The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo eastward, toward the sunrise.
This other half tribe of Menashsheh beyond the Yarden were not Samaritans, these were carried captive by king of Ashshur named Tiglath-Pileser (Pul)
1Ch
5:26 So the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl stirred up the spirit
of Pul sovereign of Ashshur, even the
spirit of Tiglath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur. And he took the Re’uḇĕnites, and the Gaḏites, and the half-tribe of
Menashsheh into exile, and brought them to Ḥalaḥ, and Ḥaḇor, and Hara, and the river of Gozan, unto this day.
Hence Yericho was beyond the Yarden, the place called Galil of the nations who sat in great darkness on whom the light had risen as Yahusha came to save the remnant from them.
Yericho was a pagan city which Yasharal destroyed after their walls fell flat. The city was utterly destroyed with no one dwelling in it and Yahushua/Joshua pronounced a curse on the one who would build Yericho, he said he who rebuilds Yericho would lay its foundation with his first-born and with his youngest he sets up with his gates.
Jos 6:26 And Yahushua warned them at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before יהוה who rises up and builds this city Yericḥo – he lays its foundation with his first-born, and with his youngest he sets up its gates.”
1Ki 16:33 And Aḥaḇ made an Ashĕrah. And Aḥaḇ did more to provoke יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl than all the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl before him.
1Ki 16:34 In his days Ḥi’ĕl of Bĕyth Ěl built Yericḥo. He laid its foundation at the cost of Aḇiram his first-born, and at the cost of his youngest son Seḡuḇ he set up its gates, according to the word of יהוה, which He had spoken through Yahushua son of Nun.
Later this city Yericho was inhabited by children of Yasharal and that's why we see Yahusha went to Yericho frequently (Matt 20:29,Luke 19:1) and also healed a blind beggar on the way (Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35). The name 'Yericho' H3405 is from two root words 'yarach' which means moon H3994 and 'ruach' H7306 'fragrant'/'ruach' H7307 'Spirit'. This city was considered to be a dark place to be in but the fragrance of Mashiyach was seen in the remnant of the Yasharalites who dwelt in this city.
Now coming back to the parable...parables are not real stories but an 'earthly riddle with a heavenly meaning'. Hence based on circumstantial evidence that Rabbinical Judaism rejected the area beyond the Yarden to be a dark area to live in and those living are pagans, Yahusha spoke this parable to show that he had his remnant even in the darkest place. Hence in the parable of the Good Samaritan we see him saying a man went from Yersuhalam (worship place where the temple was) to Yericho (beyond the Yarden, considered to be an accursed place) and on the way he fell among robbers. The word 'robbers' is an imagery indicating the kind of people living there under the influence of shatan according to Rabbinical Juadaism. Shatan is also called a 'robber' as Yahusha taught ''The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy...''
Luk 10:30 And
replying, יהושע said, “A certain man was going down from Yerushalayim to
Yeriḥo, and fell among robbers, who, both stripping and
beating him, went away, leaving him half dead.
The man going from Yerushalam to Yericho is an imagery of a Yahudite going away from Torah....away from the true worship....away from truth to be part of a people who sat in great darkness and hence he met his fate of being severely judged indicated as being stripped, beaten and half dead.
Luk 10:31 “And
by a coincidence a certain priest was going down that way. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 “And
likewise a Lĕwite also, when he came to the place, and seeing, passed by on the
other side.
'By a coincidence' a certain priest and likewise a Levite also was going down that way and seeing him passed by.
Why did Yahusha say this?
2Ki 17:27 And the sovereign of Ashshur commanded, saying, “Send one of the priests whom you exiled from there (Shomeron), to go there. Let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land.”
2Ki 17:28 And one of the priests whom they had exiled from Shomeron came and dwelt in Bĕyth Ěl, and taught them how to fear יהוה.
Quick recap: 1) Tiglath-Pileser soverign of Ashshur took the Re’uḇĕnites, and the Gaḏites, and the half-tribe
of Menashsheh into exile and brought them to Halah, and Haḇor, and Hara, and the river of
Gozan (1 Ch 5:26)
2) Tiglath-Pileser’s son Shalmaneser took Shomeron
and the rest of the house of Yasaral and settled them in Halah and Haḇor, the River of Gozan, and in
the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:6, 2 Kings 18:9). He commanded one of the priests who was exiled from Shomeron be brought back to teach them the ways of Yahuah as Yahuah had sent lions to kill the Babylonians who replaced the children of Yasharal there.
3) Sennacherib
was the son of the king of Assyria Sargon II who was also the son of
Tiglath-Pileser (Pul) and he overthrew his elder brother Shalmaneser and took
over the kingdom from him. Hence those carried into captivity under his father
and brothers reign were now his. (2 Kings 18:34)
4) Esarhaddon
reigned in the place of his father Sennacherib as his brothers conspired against
his father and killed him. Esarhaddon by order to his son Osnapper resettled the
exiles into Shomeron and the rest beyond the River. (Ezra 4:2,10)
Hence in the parable of the Good Samaritan there is a priest and a Levite mentioned there by coincidence by Yahusha. The true priests i.e. the Levites had crossed over to Yahudah already in the days of king Rehoboam which we will see in a little.
Luk 10:31 “And
by a coincidence a certain priest was going down that way. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 “And
likewise a Lĕwite also, when he came to the place, and seeing, passed by on the
other side.
In the days of Yeroboam's golden calves, he set up priests from all classes to serve the golden calves and minister to the children of Yasharal. But those faithful i.e. the priests of Levites and few other from other tribes crossed over to Yahudah to be under Rehoboam who served Yahuah.
2Ch 11:13 And from all their borders the priests and the Lĕwites who were in all Yisra’ĕl took their stand with him/Rehaboam.
2Ch 11:14 For the Lĕwites left their open lands and their possessions and came to Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, for Yaroḇʽam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests unto יהוה,
2Ch 11:15 as he appointed for himself priests for the high places, and for goats, and the calf idols which he had made.
2Ch 11:16 And after the Lĕwites left, those from all the tribes of Yisra’ĕl, such as set their heart to seek יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, came to Yerushalayim to offer to יהוה Elohim of their fathers.
In the days of Asa king of Yahudah many of the scattered of Yasharal crossed over to Yahudah. These groups were absorbed into Yahudah. Those who remained on the other side were carried captive by the king of Ashshur later because they were unfaithful to Yahuah and worshiped the golden calves and other gods.
2Ch 15:9 and gathered all Yehuḏah and Binyamin, and those who sojourned with them from Ephrayim, and Menashsheh, and Shimʽon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Yisra’ĕl when they saw that יהוה his Elohim was with him/Asa.
So coming back to the parable (a riddle not reality) Yahusha says there were by coincidence/chance two i.e. one an ordinary priest and one a Levite based on the historical facts that happened on the other side of the Yarden in the days of Yeroboam who chose priests (not of the Levites) and one a Levite (not of the priests as the priests already crossed over in the days of Rehoboam).
Please note that not all Levites were priests, there were the others who ministered in other things as singers, vessel bearers, caring for the temple/tabernacle, gatekeepers, porters etc. Both of them didn't become neighbor/rah to the man who was wounded, stripped and half dead but a Shomeri/Samaritan.
Luk 10:33 “But
a certain Shomeronite, journeying, came upon him. And when he saw him, he had
compassion on him,
Luk 10:34 and he
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And having placed
him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and looked after him.
Luk 10:35 “And
going out on the next day, he took out two pieces of dinaryam, gave them to the
innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Look after him, and whatever more you spend I
shall repay you when I return.’
Yahusha was putting across to the lawyer and the audience listening to him that he had his remnant in Shomeron/Samaria (whom they despised) who are the lost sheep of the house of Yasharal who returned back to him. Of these became they neighbor caring for their brother i.e. the one on the wrong path and leading him back into the right path of being a true Yahudi. Bandaging the wounds, pouring oil and wine, placing him on his own beast and bringing into an inn is an imagery of the journey back to the right basarah/gospel and the right path in the way of Mashiyach.
Mat 22:19 “Show Me the coin of the tax.” And they brought Him a dinar.
Mat 22:20 And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
Mat 22:21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to Elohim what is Elohim’s.”
Mat 22:22 And having heard, they marvelled, and left Him and went away.
Dinar was a silver penny in the days of Yahusha which was the currency of Rome as it had Ceasar's inscription on it. Hence Yahusha was letting them know that the Shomeri/Samaritan was the one who returned from the lost sheep of the house of Yasharal in his days. While he stood , Rome was ruling all the land of Yasharal in Yahusha's day.
Hence the parable of the Good Samaritan is an earthly riddle with a heavenly meaning. Yahusha had all the facts of who Shomerites were (as he is the Master himself) and choosing his remnant from these for which he came. And he also shows the Shomeri/Samaritan becoming a neighbor to his brother fallen among thieves, wounded and half dead while the wicked were among the chief priests, scribes and pharisees who never became a neighbor to those going astray for they themselves were astray as they were like those on the other side in deep darkness.
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