Buy now Chapter 4 - The Torah Controversy Masoretic Torah   If you Google "Torah controversy" you will find many to choose from. I am going to address the Rabbinical version of the Torah written by the Masoretes versus the Torah of the Samaritans.   The issues at hand are:  Who are the Masoretes and what is the origin of their Torah? Who are the Samaritans and what is the origin of their Torah? Where to offer sacrifices on an altar to Yahuah? What about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Did the Essenes follow the Rabbinical or Samaritan Torah? What is the relationship between the Essenes and Samaritans? Was John the Baptist a Samaritan? Who were the Nazarenes? Did Yahusha frequent Mount Gerizim? If so, could this explain his absence in the Temple at Jerusalem? What would Yahusha be doing with the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim? Once I address the above topics, what do we conclude from the evidence? What, as Nazarenes, do we put our faith in?   Who are the Masoretes and the Masoretic Torah? The Masoretes Torah combined with oral traditions resulted in Rabbinical Judaism. Rabbinical Judaism is the evolution of the cult of Pharisees of the first century who were distinguished from other major cults (Nazarenes, Sadducees, and Essenes) in that they combined oral and written traditions “of the elders” into their text. This continued outside the Masoretic Torah in other written texts they considered almost equal to their Torah (the Talmud for example). Masoretic Text - Wikipedia The Masoretic Torah was primarily copied, edited, and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE). The oldest known complete copy, the Leningrad Codex, dates only to the 11th century CE. The fact that they combined oral traditions with written texts is brought out in the meaning of the name they were known by: Masoretes which means "𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛". The Masoretic Text means "𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛" as compiled by Masoretic Scribes. Mark 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” If what we consider "most accurate" is determined by age, that which is older is the source of edited newer versions, then which Torah is most accurate? The Masoretes Torah or the Samaritan Torah? Who are the Samaritans and the Samaritan Torah? Given the Jews control the Temple Mount, they (if they are legit an have a true High Priest as required) you would imagine they would be obedient to their own law and preserve the ancient script, maintain the Zadok Priesthood as High Priest, slaughter and eat a lamb on Passover, keep the true Enoch Calendar with the New Year in Spring, and so forth. Is there another sect who decends from the Zadok Priesthood who keeps thise vital instructions? Yes.   The Samaritan Torah is much older than the Mosoretes Torah. It is written in Paleo Hebrew not Aramaic. It is the Torah found to be used by the Nazarenes at Qumran. But before we get to that, we need to dive deeper into the Samaritans. The Samaritans were from the line of Zadok Priests. Samaritans - Wikipedia "The Samaritans were a group of Zadokite Priests who rebelled against the fallen priesthood and temple in Jerusalem. "Samaritan" means "Guardians/Keepers of the Torah"; They are known as Israelite Samaritans, and are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic and ethnic religion similar to Judaism, but differing in several important aspects. The Samaritans have retained an offshoot of the Ancient Hebrew script, a High Priesthood, the slaughtering and eating of lambs on Passover eve, and the celebration of the first month's beginning around springtime as the New Year. Yom Teru'ah (the biblical name for "Rosh Hashanah"), at the beginning of Tishrei, is not considered a New Year as it is in Rabbinic Judaism. The Samaritan Pentateuch differs from the Jewish Masoretic Text as well. Some differences are doctrinal: for example, the Samaritan Torah explicitly states that Mount Gerizim is "the place that God has chosen" to establish his name, as opposed to the Jewish Torah that refers to "the place that God chooses". Other differences are minor and seem more or less accidental. Samaritan tradition claims the group descended from the northern Israelite tribes who were not deported by the Neo-Assyrian Empire after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel. They consider Samaritanism to be the true religion of the ancient Israelites and regard modern mainstream Judaism as a closely related but altered religion. Samaritans also regard Mount Gerizim (near both Nablus and biblical Shechem), and not the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to be the holiest place on Earth. They believe that the schism between them and the Jews originated from Eli's establishment of a competing shrine at Shiloh, in opposition to Mount Gerizim “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧. 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩, 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 3600 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. Excavations at the site at Mount Gerizim were initiated in 1983 and continued until 2006 and yielded tens of thousands of finds. Remnants found there identified that a Samaritan temple existed atop Mount Gerizim by the mid-5th century BC, and that it was eventually destroyed and rebuilt in the early 2nd century BC, only to be destroyed again in 111–110 CE by Jewish forces under the orders of the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus. Samaritan Hebrew is written in the Samaritan alphabet, a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, which in turn is a variant of the earlier Proto-Sinaitic script dating to the time of Abraham." Samaritan Script   Samaritan Script - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan_Hebrew 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐵𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤, 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑢𝑑𝑎ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 6𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝐵𝐶𝐸. 𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 3𝑟𝑑 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝐵𝐶𝐸, 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 "𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒" 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑑 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑐, 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑜-𝐻𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡.     Scribal Changes/Additions to the Masoretic Torah As I stated earlier, Judaism would have us believe THEIR Torah was faithfully maintained dating back to Moses. In reality, it only dates back to the Mesoretes. We are told there were no scribal errors or additions. We are not told of the competitive atmosphere among the royal scribes, the priestly scribes, the temple scribes, and the synagogue scribes. Each adding and twisting the text to their advantage. From Masoretic Text: Wikipedia "Early rabbinic sources, from around 200 CE, mention several passages of Scripture in which the conclusion is inevitable that the ancient reading (Samaritan Torah) must have differed from that of the present text (Masoretic Torah). The explanation of this phenomenon is given in the expression "Scripture has used euphemistic language", i.e. to avoid anthropomorphism and anthropopathism (redefine the Mystery Language). Rabbi Simon ben Pazzi (3rd century) calls these readings "emendations of the Scribes" rather than edits/additions to the oldest Samaritan Torah. This view was adopted by the later Midrash and by the majority of Masoretes. In Masoretic works these changes are ascribed to Ezra; to Ezra and Nehemiah; to Ezra and the Soferim; or to Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Haggai, and Baruch. All these ascriptions mean one and the same thing: that the changes were assumed to have been made by the Men of the Great Synagogue. The emendations (additions/changes) are of four general types: Removal of unseemly expressions used in reference to God; e.g., the substitution of ("to bless") for ("to curse") in certain passages. Safeguarding of the Tetragrammaton; e.g. substitution of "Elohim" or "Adonai" for "YHWH" in some passages. Removal of application of the names of pagan gods, e.g. the change of the name "Ishbaal" to "Ish-bosheth". 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎." It is this last point of scribal alterations I want to address. "𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎." Why would this be necessary?     Where to Offer Sacrifices on the Altar to Yahuah?   In the Masoretic Torah, the scribes altered the ancient Torah to "𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎.". Why would this need to be done if the Scriptures clearly declared the worship of Yahuah is to be conducted on Mount Mariah? Because Scripture does not support moving the sacrifices from Mount Gerizim to Mount Mariah. From: Mount Gerizim  Wikipedia 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 lime, to make sacrificial offerings on the altar, eat there, and write the Mosaic Law in stones there. The Samaritan Pentateuch, as well as an ancient manuscript of the biblical text found in Qumran, 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. 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. The Pharisees needed "proof" in scripture to move the temple/altar from Mount Gerizim to Mount Mariah to ensure their power and authority. They created Scriptural support by doctoring up the Scriptures (much like Christianity did)! Giving us "the Torah" we have all been taught while hiding the truth found in the ancient Scriptures. https://www.ifcj.org/news/stand-for-israel-blog/on-this-mountain-the-biblical-mount-gerizim "𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑, “𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑂𝑅𝐷 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐺𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠” (𝐷𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 11:29), 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑦 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐸𝑏𝑎𝑙. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝑎𝑠 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚: “𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐸𝑏𝑎𝑙, 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑂𝑅𝐷 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙” (𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 8:33). 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 Yahusha 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟, “𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚” (𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 4:23)."   Samaritans the True Zadokite Priesthood?   In the paper "𝙀𝑺𝙎𝑬𝙉𝑬 𝑺𝙀𝑪𝙏𝑨𝙍𝑰𝘼𝑵𝙄𝑺𝙈 𝘼𝑺 𝑨 𝑱𝙐𝑫𝘼𝑰𝘾 𝘼𝑳𝙏𝑬𝙍𝑵𝘼𝑻𝙄𝑽𝙀 𝙏𝑶 𝑷𝙃𝑨𝙍𝑰𝙎𝑨𝙄𝑺𝙈 𝘼𝑵𝘿 𝙎𝑨𝘿𝑫𝙐𝑪𝙀𝑨𝙉𝑰𝙎𝑴 𝑩𝙔 𝙋.𝘿. 𝑩𝙊𝑻𝙃𝑨 we read": "𝑁𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑎ℎ 8 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐸𝑧𝑟𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 "...𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑌𝑎ℎ𝑤𝑒ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙". (𝑁𝑒ℎ.8:1) 𝐴𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 (1984:95-6) 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑧𝑟𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤. 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑧𝑟𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑙, 𝑎 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐽𝑒𝑤 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡. 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑍𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑍𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ-𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 (𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒) 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑍𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚." Speculation and Debate Among Scholars  𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑡: * 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑐 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑘. * 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑏𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒, 2 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 3:1 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 Ἀμωρία. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑒ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑟, 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 12:6. 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 "מוריה‎" 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢.     Summary and Conclusions   Mount Gerizim – Wikipedia 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. 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 of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin were to be sent to Gerizim, while those of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali were to remain on Ebal. The altar to God is again mentioned in the Book of Joshua, when, after the Battle of Ai, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones, the Israelites made peace offerings on it, the law of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings on Mount Gerizim and curses on Mount Ebal, as instructed in the law of Moses. Allow me to summarize and then draw a conclusion not from the tradition of the Pharisees but from historical evidence. 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 lime, to make sacrificial offerings on the altar, eat there, and “The M write the Mosaic Law in stones there. When Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at Shechem (present-day Nablus near Mount Gerizim) and gave a farewell speech, and set up "a stone as a witness", placing it "next to the sanctuary of Yahweh, under the oak tree", which indicates that a sanctuary to God existed on Mount Gerizim. In the Book of John in the New Testament, in his discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well, Yahusha reveals his feelings about worshipping in either Mount Gerizim (as the Samaritans did) or Jerusalem (as the Sadducees and the Jews did): Yahusha said to her, 𝑱𝙤𝒉𝙣 4:21–24 "Wᴏᴍᴀɴ, ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ, ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜʀ ɪs ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ᴛʜᴇ Fᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ɴᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴍᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴ ɴᴏʀ ɪɴ Jᴇʀᴜsᴀʟᴇᴍ. Yᴏᴜ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ; ᴡᴇ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ, ꜰᴏʀ sᴀʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴄᴏᴍᴇs ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴇ ᴏꜰ Jᴜᴅᴀʜ. Bᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜʀ ɪs ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪs ɴᴏᴡ ʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴇ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘᴇʀs ᴡɪʟʟ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ᴛʜᴇ Fᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ɪɴ sᴘɪʀɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ, ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ Fᴀᴛʜᴇʀ sᴇᴇᴋs sᴜᴄʜ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ʜɪᴍ. Yᴀʜᴜᴀʜ ɪs sᴘɪʀɪᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ʜɪᴍ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴡᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ɪɴ sᴘɪʀɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ." There is more "between the lines" of this story. If Yahusha was simply there as some unknown visitor to gather water from the well, there would have been no reason for the Samaritan woman's question. However, if Yahusha was there as the legit Zadok High Priest of Israel that would have explained what motivated her question. And beg the question today "What was Yahusha doing there as High Priest?" The answer is obvious in light of the historical finds in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yahusha was trained as a High Priest by John the Baptist at a temporary Temple in the wilderness at Qumran. 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. This would explain why Yahusha's visit to the Temple in Jerusalem was to condemn it. 𝑴𝙖𝒕𝙩𝒉𝙚𝒘 21:12-13 12 Tʜᴇɴ Yᴀʜᴜsʜᴀ ᴇɴᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴇᴍᴘʟᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛs ᴀɴᴅ ᴅʀᴏᴠᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʙᴜʏɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ sᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ. Hᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴛᴜʀɴᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀʙʟᴇs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴇʏ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀᴛs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ sᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴠᴇs. 13 Aɴᴅ Hᴇ ᴅᴇᴄʟᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ, “Iᴛ ɪs ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ: ‘Mʏ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ᴀ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴘʀᴀʏᴇʀ.’ Bᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ɪᴛ ‘ᴀ ᴅᴇɴ ᴏꜰ ʀᴏʙʙᴇʀs.’” The Essenes were a group who separated from the Samaritans in expectation of the coming Messiah. As a Zadokite High Priest trained by Essenes Yahusha would have frequented Mount Gerizim to offer the Passover Sacrifice and celebrate the Feasts. Evidence proves the Masoretic Text was altered by their scribes to "𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒎" to bolster their control and authority away from the Samaritan Torah (the oldest version of the Torah written in Paleo-Hebrew the language of Moses) which gave the line of Zadok High Priests their rightful authority at Mount Gerizim! These edits/additions to the Jewish Torah vs the age of the Samaritan Torah support the understanding that the Samaritans were "keepers of the Torah". So which Torah do we trust, the oldest version written in Paleo-Hebrew kept by the Samaritans which means "keeper of the Torah" that exists all the way back to before Ezra? Or the Rabbinical Torah written by the Masoretes which means "𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛" whose version only dates back to the 11th century CE? It comes down to the "written Torah" vs the "Torah of Tradition". Where do we as Nazarenes put our trust?   𝑴𝙖𝒓𝙠 7:5 Sᴏ ᴛʜᴇ Pʜᴀʀɪsᴇᴇs ᴀɴᴅ sᴄʀɪʙᴇs ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ Yahusha: "Wʜʏ ᴅᴏ Yᴏᴜʀ ᴅɪsᴄɪᴘʟᴇs ɴᴏᴛ ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʟᴅᴇʀs? We see that the Nazarenes did not keep "the traditions of the elders". Why was Sha'ul called by Yahusha? Because it would take a Pharisee to overcome the oral traditions of the elders with the written Truth. 𝑮𝙖𝒍𝙖𝒕𝙞𝒂𝙣𝒔 1:14 I ᴡᴀs ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄɪɴɢ ɪɴ Jᴜᴅᴀɪsᴍ ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀɪᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀs ᴇxᴛʀᴇᴍᴇʟʏ ᴢᴇᴀʟᴏᴜs ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ꜰᴀᴛʜᴇʀs. Next, I will continue to address the controversy with the Torah: 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑰𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒄? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔/𝑵𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒀𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏? 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏?  𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏?  𝑱𝙤𝒉𝙣 𝙩𝒉𝙚 𝘽𝒂𝙥𝒕𝙞𝒔𝙩 - 𝙏𝒉𝙚 𝙏𝒆𝙖𝒄𝙝𝒆𝙧 𝙤𝒇 𝑹𝙞𝒈𝙝𝒕𝙚𝒐𝙪𝒔𝙣𝒆𝙨𝒔  𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒚 - 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔• 𝑨𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 "𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆" 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑺𝒆𝒂 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒔? 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 f𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒉? Once I finish the discussion above, we will begin laying a firm foundation to reveal the "secret knowledge" passed down through the Zadokite Priesthood. I will begin rebuilding our trust and faith in The Truth and establish a baseline for understanding the Torah and Prophets.   Where did Abraham Sacrifice Isaac? Jacob's Well and Joseph's Tomb are both at Mount Gerizim. This means Isaac's son and grandson and future generations would inhabit that area of land called Shechem in the Bible. We see that land was given to Jacob and is where an altar was built: 𝑮𝙚𝒏𝙚𝒔𝙞𝒔 33:18-20 18 Aꜰᴛᴇʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙ ʜᴀᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Pᴀᴅᴅᴀɴ-ᴀʀᴀᴍ, ʜᴇ ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴇᴅ sᴀꜰᴇʟʏ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ᴏꜰ Sʜᴇᴄʜᴇᴍ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴏꜰ Cᴀɴᴀᴀɴ, ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴍᴘᴇᴅ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ. 19 Aɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴏᴛ ᴏꜰ ɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴘɪᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ ʜɪs ᴛᴇɴᴛ, ʜᴇ ᴘᴜʀᴄʜᴀsᴇᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ sᴏɴs ᴏꜰ Hᴀᴍᴏʀ, Sʜᴇᴄʜᴇᴍ’s ꜰᴀᴛʜᴇʀ, ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ʜᴜɴᴅʀᴇᴅ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇs ᴏꜰ sɪʟᴠᴇʀ. 20 Tʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ sᴇᴛ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴ ᴀʟᴛᴀʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ɪᴛ Eʟ-Eʟᴏʜᴇ-Isʀᴀᴇʟ. It is recorded that Abraham's descendants settled Shechem where Mount Gerizim is located. This is very strong evidence that Mount Gerizim is where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac, not Mount Mariah. Mount Gerizim is specifically mentioned in Scripture as the location of the Altar and sacrifices, meaning Mount Gerizim would have been the righteous location of the attempted sacrifice of Isaac: 𝘿𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 11:29 Wʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ Yᴀʜᴜᴀʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ Gᴏᴅ ʜᴀs ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴇɴᴛᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏssᴇss, ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴄʟᴀɪᴍ ᴏɴ 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒎 ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴇssɪɴɢs, ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴ Mᴏᴜɴᴛ Eʙᴀʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀsᴇs. 𝘿𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 27:12 "Wʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴄʀᴏssᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ Jᴏʀᴅᴀɴ, ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴛʀɪʙᴇs sʜᴀʟʟ sᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴ 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒎 ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴇss ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ: Sɪᴍᴇᴏɴ, Lᴇᴠɪ, Jᴜᴅᴀʜ, Issᴀᴄʜᴀʀ, Jᴏsᴇᴘʜ, ᴀɴᴅ Bᴇɴᴊᴀᴍɪɴ. 𝑱𝙤𝒔𝙝𝒖𝙖 8:33 Aʟʟ Isʀᴀᴇʟ, ꜰᴏʀᴇɪɢɴᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴs ᴀʟɪᴋᴇ, ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴇʟᴅᴇʀs, ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄᴇʀs, ᴀɴᴅ ᴊᴜᴅɢᴇs, sᴛᴏᴏᴅ ᴏɴ ʙᴏᴛʜ sɪᴅᴇs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀᴋ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴠᴇɴᴀɴᴛ ᴏꜰ Yᴀʜᴜᴀʜ ꜰᴀᴄɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ Lᴇᴠɪᴛɪᴄᴀʟ ᴘʀɪᴇsᴛs ᴡʜᴏ ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ ɪᴛ. Hᴀʟꜰ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ sᴛᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴ ꜰʀᴏɴᴛ ᴏꜰ 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒎 ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀʟꜰ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɪɴ ꜰʀᴏɴᴛ ᴏꜰ Mᴏᴜɴᴛ Eʙᴀʟ, ᴀs Mᴏsᴇs ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀᴠᴀɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ LORD ʜᴀᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴀɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴇᴀʀʟɪᴇʀ, ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴇss ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴏꜰ Isʀᴀᴇʟ. 𝙅𝒖𝙙𝒈𝙚𝒔 9:7 Wʜᴇɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴡᴀs ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ Jᴏᴛʜᴀᴍ, ʜᴇ ᴄʟɪᴍʙᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴘ ᴏꜰ 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒎, ʀᴀɪsᴇᴅ ʜɪs ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʀɪᴇᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ: "Lɪsᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ, O ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs ᴏꜰ Sʜᴇᴄʜᴇᴍ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀʏ Gᴏᴅ ʟɪsᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ.   Moriah – Wikipedia 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑎ℎ'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 "𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ" 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑎ℎ'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑐 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚. 𝐼𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 (𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑) 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔-𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 (𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑛ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒), 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 (𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒), 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦𝑟𝑟ℎ (𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒). 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐽𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑎 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑐. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑦𝑎/𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ (𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 22:2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 2 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 3:1) 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦: 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 "מוריה‎" 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧-𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙨𝙖𝙖𝙘 𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙢 – 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢.     The Essenes/Nazarenes; A Remnant of the Samaritan Priesthood The Essenes were an offshoot of the sect of Zadokite High Priests in Samaria (Biblical Shechem). John the Baptist, the Great Notsri, was an Essene. Those who followed John came to be known as Nazarenes. Ultimately the Nazarenes followed Yahusha (after John declared him the Lamb of God). Below is more information on John the Essene and what the Essene’s believed: From: John the Baptist - Wikipedia "𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑖-𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑚. 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡." From: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Baptist/Possible-relationship-with-the-Essenes "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑎 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛’𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑚 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐵𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛, 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑." From: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pharisees-sadducees-and-essenes 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑦. 𝐽𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠. 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙. 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐽𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑢𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.         Samaritans were Among the First to Accept the Gospel We learn in the Acts of the Apostles that those in Samaria were the first major sect to accept the news that Yahusha (their High Priest) had fulfilled The Heavenly Scroll. This should be expected as the Nazarenes were first Samaritans then Essenes, and finally Nazarenes. Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the King Yahusha. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.   Steven a Samaritan? There are many clues to Steven’s affiliation. It becomes clear in the way and content of his teaching which depends upon the Samaritan Torah not the Jewish Torah. From: https://www.galaxie.com/article/wtj34-1-01 In his Article: 7: 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒔 7: 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓?, author: W. Harold Mare proves the tradition that Stephen was a Samaritan. He quotes Abram Spiro in the volume on The Acts in the Anchor Bible that raises the question by stating: “Stephen was a Samaritan according to the native tradition preserved by Abul-Fath (Vilmar edition, 1865, p. 159). Acts 7:2–50 confirms this, for it depends on the Samaritan Pentateuch and reflects Samaritan views of Old Testament history.”   Yahusha a Samaritan? When asked if he was a Samaritan with a demon, Yahusha did not correct them about being a Samaritan, just that he was not demon possessed. Why would they make this statement “Are we not right to say that you are a Samaritan?” 𝙅𝒐𝙝𝒏 8:48-49 48 Tʜᴇ Jᴇᴡs ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ Hɪᴍ, “Aʀᴇ ᴡᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ sᴀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ Sᴀᴍᴀʀɪᴛᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ Yᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ?” 49 “I ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ,” Yᴀʜᴜsʜᴀ ʀᴇᴘʟɪᴇᴅ, “ʙᴜᴛ I ʜᴏɴᴏʀ Mʏ Fᴀᴛʜᴇʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪsʜᴏɴᴏʀ Mᴇ.   John a Samaritan In his paper “Did John Write His Gospel Partly to Win Samaritan Converts?”, author Edwin D. Freed demonstrates the Gospel of John to be written from a Samaritan point of view to win Samaritans. John the Baptist – The Essene Teacher of Righteousness According to their own belief, the sect was founded by an individual referred to as the Teacher of Righteousness, a priest of Zadokite affiliation. While this teacher is not named and scholars offer other options as the “Teacher of Righteousness”, we can confidently eliminate every contender as Yahusha believed John to be that teacher. 𝑴𝙖𝒕𝙩𝒉𝙚𝒘 11:10-12 This is he of whom it is written, “'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. '   A further split occurred which saw the Teacher of Righteousness and his followers retreat to the wilderness at Qumran to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. There the community immersed themselves in the development of a Judaic cult based on writings already in use by the group prior to the internal split. This viewpoint is reiterated by Davies (1987: 19-30) who is of the opinion that a clear distinction existed between the Essenes and the Qumran-Essenes, the latter being basically a messianic break-away. The texts found at Qumran reveal 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. Source: https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/article-705913 Most people would say it begins with Jesus. But Jesus and at least some of his disciples were influenced by, or followers of, people who called themselves “the sons of light.” Others called them the Essenes – an extremely ascetic Jewish sect, who lived in Jerusalem and in the desert near the Dead Sea. Literary elites, they copied, collected and wrote scrolls, both biblical and secular texts, which have been dated from the beginning of the second century BCE until 70 CE, when the Temple and their community were destroyed. The key figure for our inquiry was John the Baptist, apparently an Essene.   The Samaritans, Essenes, and Nazarenes followed the Ancient Path The Ancient Path or “the Good Way” came to be known as The Way by the Nazarenes and defined their faith. Jeremiah 6:16 This is what Yahuah says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient (Enochian) paths (The Heavenly Scroll, The Way), ask where the good way is, and walk in it (AQUARIUS, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36), and you will find rest for your souls (in the Age of AQUARIUS). But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal the Essenes under John the Baptist, the Teacher of Righteousness, used the Book of Enoch extensively and followed the 364-day solar calendar given to Enoch. From: The Essenes - The Way Missions.Org "The Enochian and Nazarene Essenes held more visionary and mystical views, especially that a Messiah was necessary (not just arriving). They were followers of the "ancient path" dating back to Enoch. I will explain more later. As for the Sadducees who served in the Temple, they did not see a need for Messiah, as they thought the Torah was complete and that man needed only to adhere to it. If there was one single factor that unified Pharisaism and Sadduceanism into one Judaic religion it was both groups' endorsement of the same Mosaic Torah. It has already been discussed above that one of the main factors that caused a rift between mainstream Judaism and Samaritanism was the sectarian Book of Law of the Samaritans which differed with the Judaic Torah with regard to the authentic site of the Temple. That a discrepant version of the Torah also seemed to have been the motivating force behind the Qumran community's split from mainstream Judaism is clear from the Damascus Document (Col. V:2-5, VI:5-12). The First Book of Enoch, also known as the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, is a sacred text found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Initially accepted by the Jewish and Christian communities as a viable book of scripture, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏. Even if not, it would still be probable that whatever the real origin of the Book of Enoch, the Qumran community held it to be of paramount importance and used it extensively.   Enochian Essenes From: The Essenes - The Way Missions.Org The Enochian adherent believed there would be an end time and everyone must be prepared. The Nazarenes and the Osseaens held a similar belief. The idea of a designated group, including those who join them, is indicated or stated throughout the Book of Enoch. The Enochians believed a Messiah would be needed to administer the final teachings of the Law and the Prophets. Enoch chapters 38–40: “The first is the merciful, the patient, the holy Michael,” 40.8. The Enochian spiritual emphasis would be the Book of Enoch (Enoch), but otherwise very little is known about them. However, the text of Enoch became a continued influence within the Hebrew Bible and probably has much to do with the Enochian sect’s viability. Also, the Book of Enoch is represented in the New Testament. Revelations 1.13-14 references the Ancient of Days, “His head and his hairs were like wool, as white as snow,” with Enoch’s 46.1-3, “…whose head was like white wool.” Enoch 48.2-5, “In that hour the Son of man invoked before the Lord of spirits, and his name in the presence of the Ancient of Days. Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were formed, his name was invoked,” compared with John 1.1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” Both scriptures would lead one to believe that the disciples John and John of Patmos must have had familiarity with Enochic beliefs, even though both were many generations removed from Enoch. The above scriptures require time, acceptance, refinement, and a continued and organized effort that forms an extended theology. This would infer the Enochic vision as ongoing, a root of Judaism almost from the beginning, perhaps as early as the times of Enoch himself.   Ancient Priesthood We read in the Tanakh that it is the lineage of the Zadok Priesthood that would carry forth the Covenant of Peace and the exclusive right to make atonement sacrifices. Numbers 25:12-13 12 "Therefore say, 'Behold, I give him My Covenant of Peace; 13 and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a Covenant of a Perpetual Priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made Atonement for the Sons of Israel.' This ancient priesthood was centered in the area of Samaria and those of that priesthood were known as Samaritans. Only once we admit the true nature of the Samaritans can we understand the animosity with other sects such as the Pharisees. From: The Essenes - The Way Missions.Org What later is designated as the Zadokite Priesthood is thought to have its roots in earlier priesthoods. The traditions observed within the books of Samuel indicate a true prophet led of the Spirit, for it is he who designates David. But earlier traditions show evidence as well, most prominently Melchizedek, the King of Salem, a priest-king; also, Brothers of the Righteous are mentioned in Enoch, also indicating much earlier priesthoods… All Essene would consider themselves the Sons of Zadok, or Zadokites. “The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and those (those of the Levitical priesthood) who joined them. The Sons of Zadok are the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days…” from the Damascus Document IV, Dead Sea Scrolls (also taken from Ezekiel 44.15-17). The Sons of Zadok were the most knowledgeable of the Zadokite priesthood. The Essenes teachings remained uncluttered by the legalistic approach, later described as spiritual or enlightened (Nazarenes). As Yahusha will demonstrate, the spirit of the law is more important than the written law itself. Early followers of Yahusha were usually referred to as Nazaoreans, or those who practice in "the Way" We see in Acts, Sha’ul, the leader of the sect of Nazarenes, declare The Way was the foundation of their faith. Acts 24:14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets       Passing on “Secret Knowledge” 𝙄𝙄 𝙀𝙨𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙨 14:25 25 Cᴏᴍᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ I ᴡɪʟʟ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀᴍᴘ ᴏꜰ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ. Iᴛ ᴡᴏɴ’ᴛ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴛɪɴɢᴜɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴡɴ. 26 Wʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ꜰɪɴɪsʜᴇᴅ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ, 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲. Yᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ.” This was a theme among the writings of the Nazarenes. 𝙈𝒂𝙩𝒕𝙝𝒆𝙬 13:35 I ᴡɪʟʟ ᴏᴘᴇɴ Mʏ ᴍᴏᴜᴛʜ ɪɴ ᴘᴀʀᴀʙʟᴇs; I ᴡɪʟʟ ᴜᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴋᴇᴘᴛ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ.   1 𝑪𝙤𝒓𝙞𝒏𝙩𝒉𝙞𝒂𝙣𝒔 2:4-8 4 ᴀɴᴅ ᴍʏ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴇᴀᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴ ᴘᴇʀsᴜᴀsɪᴠᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴏꜰ ᴡɪsᴅᴏᴍ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪɴ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴsᴛʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ Sᴘɪʀɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ, 5 sᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀɪᴛʜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇsᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪsᴅᴏᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴇɴ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏꜰ Gᴏᴅ. 6 Yᴇᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴡɪsᴅᴏᴍ ᴀᴍᴏɴɢ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ; ᴀ ᴡɪsᴅᴏᴍ, ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ɴᴏᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪs ᴀɢᴇ ɴᴏʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇʀs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪs ᴀɢᴇ, ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴀssɪɴɢ ᴀᴡᴀʏ; 7 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 (𝑖𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙); 8 ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪsᴅᴏᴍ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɴᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇʀs ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪs ᴀɢᴇ ʜᴀs ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴏᴏᴅ. This "secret knowledge" was passed down to the "wise" via the Zadok Priesthood. 𝑫𝙖𝒏𝙞𝒆𝙡 2 20 Dᴀɴɪᴇʟ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ sᴀɪᴅ, Bʟᴇssᴇᴅ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴏꜰ Gᴏᴅ (Yᴀʜᴜᴀʜ) ꜰᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀ: ꜰᴏʀ Wɪsᴅᴏᴍ ᴀɴᴅ Mɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʀᴇ Hɪs: 21 Aɴᴅ Hᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀsᴏɴs: Hᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴏᴠᴇs Kɪɴɢs, ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴛs ᴜᴘ Kɪɴɢs: Hᴇ ɢɪᴠᴇs (Sᴘɪʀɪᴛᴜᴀʟ) Wɪsᴅᴏᴍ ᴜɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ (Chosen) ᴡɪsᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ Kɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ (Spiritual) Uɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ: 22 Hᴇ ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟs ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴇᴘ ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢs! These deep and secret things were not revealed to the average Israelite as the information was not relative to them. It was passed down to be given to those who live at the end. 𝑫𝙖𝒏𝙞𝒆𝙡 12:9-10 9 Hᴇ ʀᴇᴘʟɪᴇᴅ, “Gᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀʏ, Dᴀɴɪᴇʟ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀʀᴇ ʀᴏʟʟᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ.10 Mᴀɴʏ (chosen by Yahuah to teach) ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴘᴜʀɪꜰɪᴇᴅ, ᴍᴀᴅᴇ sᴘᴏᴛʟᴇss ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇꜰɪɴᴇᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ. Nᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ (chosen by Yahuah) ᴀʀᴇ ᴡɪsᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ.   Summary Today, living at the end of the Age of Pisces, we are at the end of the 6,000-year mark. We have thousands of years of research, archeology, and expert testimony from independent scholars regarding who the first-century Nazarenes were and what they believed. As a branch of the Essenes at Qumran, which was an offshoot of the Samaritans, we can draw the following conclusions: Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Gerizim John the Baptist was The Teacher of Righteousness of the Essenes John was trained by the Zadokite High Priests of the Samaritans  John and Yahusha performed duties as High Priest on Mount Gerizim Samaritans accepted The Yahushaic Covenant Steven was a Samaritan. John authored the Gospel of John to win the Samaritans. The Essenes/Nazarenes followed "the Ancient Path" of Enoch The Essenes/Nazarenes followed the solar Enoch Calendar The Samaritans were an ancient order of priesthood eventually becoming Zadok High Priests The Zadok Priesthood passed on "secret knowledge." The Samaritan Torah dates back to before Ezra in 500 BC  The Samaritan Torah was the version of the Samaritan, Essenes, and Nazarenes. The Jewish Torah dates back to 1000 CE making the Samaritan Torah over 1,500 years older. Samaritan Torah written in Paleo Hebrew vs Jewish Torah written by Mesorites. The Jewish Torah is a compilation of ancient written Torah (the Samaritan Torah) and oral tradition.  The Jewish scribes altered the text to justify worship on Mount Mariah and the Temple Mount. Next, I am going to begin laying a firm foundation in righteousness and truth.

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