Editing Mount Gerizim (section)

==Biblical account==
[[File:Nablus panorama-cropped.jpg|thumb|Old City of [[Nablus]] and Mount Gerizim in background]]

According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], as related in [[Deuteronomy]], when they first entered [[Canaan]] the [[Israelites]] celebrated the event with ceremonies of blessings and cursings: the ceremonies of blessings took place on Mount Gerizim, and the cursings on nearby [[Mount Ebal]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name=Magen>Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) ''Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.,'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp. 157ff, 183.</ref> The ''[[Pulpit Commentary]]'' suggests that these mountains were selected probably "because they stand in the center of the Land both from north to south, and from east to west". A commentary in the [[Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges]] argues that "the face of Gerizim, the mount of blessing, is the more fertile; the opposite face of Ebal, the mount of curse, much the more bare",<ref>Smith, G. A., [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/deuteronomy/11.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Deuteronomy 11, accessed 2015-11-25.</ref> but the ''Pulpit Commentary'' states that both Gerizim and Ebal are "equally barren-looking, though neither is wholly destitute of culture and vegetation".<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/deuteronomy/11.htm Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 11], accessed 2015-11-25.</ref>

The [[Masoretic Text]] says that Moses had also commanded the Israelites to build an altar on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with [[calcium oxide|lime]],<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> to make [[korban|sacrificial offerings on the altar]], eat there, and write the [[Law of Moses|Mosaic Law]] in stones there.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|27:4-8|OJB}}</ref> The [[Samaritan Pentateuch]], as well as an ancient manuscript of the biblical text found in [[Qumran]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ijco.org/?categoryId=28682|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210101753/http://www.ijco.org/?categoryId=28682|archive-date=2011-12-10|title=An Unknown Dead Sea Scrolls Fragment of Deuteronomy James H. Charlesworth |publisher=Ijco.org |access-date=2014-05-01}}</ref> both bring the same excerpt as the Masoretic Text, with the only difference being the name "Gerizim", instead of "Ebal", therefore stating that Moses commanded the building of the altar on Mount Gerizim.<ref name=Magen/><ref name=Peakes>''[[Peake's Commentary on the Bible]]''</ref> Recent work on the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], which include the oldest surviving manuscripts of the biblical text, further supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch's designation of Mount Gerizim, rather than Mount Ebal, as the first location in the [[Promised Land]] where Moses commanded an altar to be built.<ref>{{cite web|author=Charlesworth, James H.|url=http://blogs.owu.edu/magazine/2012/07/16/the-discovery-of-an-unknown-dead-sea-scroll-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-27/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126051707/http://blogs.owu.edu/magazine/the-discovery-of-an-unknown-dead-sea-scroll-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-27/|archive-date=2015-11-26|title=The Discovery of an Unknown Dead Sea Scroll: The Original Text of Deuteronomy 27?|work=OWU Magazine|date=2012-07-16}}</ref>

All versions of the biblical text then have Moses specifying how the Israelites should split between the two groups that were to pronounce blessings from Mount Gerizim and to pronounce curses from Mount Ebal. The tribes [[Tribe of Simeon|of Simeon]], [[Tribe of Levi|Levi]], [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]], [[Tribe of Joseph|Joseph]], and [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]] were to be sent to Gerizim, while those [[Tribe of Reuben|of Reuben]], [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]], and [[Tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]] were to remain on Ebal.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|27:11–13|HE}}</ref>

The altar to God is again mentioned in the [[Book of Joshua]], when, after the Battle of [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]], Joshua builds an altar of unhewn stones, the Israelites make peace offerings on it, the law of Moses is written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounce blessings on Mount Gerizim and curses on Mount Ebal, as instructed in the law of Moses.<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|8:31–35|HE}}</ref> Biblical scholars believe that the sources of the book of Joshua predate those of Deuteronomy, and hence the order to build the altar and make the inscriptions is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way around, possibly to provide an [[etiology|origin explanation]] for the events narrated in Joshua.<ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman]], ''Who wrote the Bible''; ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Book of Joshua'', ''Deuteronomy'', et passim</ref>

[[File:Samaritans marking Passover on Mount Gerizim, West Bank - 20060418.jpg|thumb|left|[[Samaritan]]s' [[Passover]] [[pilgrimage]] on Mount Gerizim.]]
When Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at [[Shechem]] (present-day [[Nablus]]) and gave a farewell speech, and set up "[[baetyl|a stone as a witness]]", placing it "next to the sanctuary of [[Yahweh]], under the oak tree",<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|24:1–27}}</ref> which indicates that a sanctuary to God existed there.<ref name=Peakes/>

Mount Gerizim was also the site of the first [[parable]] in the Bible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Constable |first=Thomas |title=Constable's Notes on the Bible |chapter=Notes on Judges |chapter-url=https://soniclight.com/tcon/notes/html/judges/judges.htm}}</ref> {{bibleverse|Judges|9:7-20}} records how [[Jotham_(son_of_Gideon)|Jotham]] son of [[Gideon]] stands on the mountain to proclaim the parable of the trees who wanted to make the bramble king among them, an allusion to the people of [[Schechem]] who wanted to make the ungodly and treacherous [[Abimelech_(Judges)|Abimelech]] their king.