GERIZIM (D4:M ; Sept. PapiTip, Alex. Papts'etp). This mountain has Obtained great celebrity from the fact of its having been the sanctuary of the Samari tans from about the fourth century B. C. till the pre sent time. In the O. T. it is only referred to in connection with two events. When the Israelites entered Palestine the tribes assembled, in obedience to the commands of the Lord given by Moses, in the valley between the mountains of Ebal and Ge rizim. Them the law was read in the presence of tbe whole people, with the blessings and the curs ings attached to it. Six tribes, ranged along the slopes of Ebal, when the curses were read, pro nounced witb one voice the response, AMEN. SiX tribes, ranged along the slopes of Gerizirn, facing the former, when the blessings were read, responded AMEN. Moses had said, Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal ' (Deut. xi. 29 ; xxvii. 12 ; Josh. viii. 33). The difficulties, geographical and topographi cal, connected with this event, have been stated and solved in the article EBAL ; and there, also, a desciiption of the features of the mountain is given. The only other episode in O. T. history with which the name of Gerizim is connected, is the striking parable of Jothain, in which he exposes the folly of the Sbechemites in choosing Abimelecb for their ruler, and predicts the judgments in store for them on account of their ingratitude to the family of Jerubbael his father. The city of Shechem stood in the valley close along the base of Gerizim, the side of which rose over it in bold precipices of naked limestone. On the crest of one of those cliffs Jotham took his stand ; and there, in the hearing of the people below, he spake his parable. The ascent is so difficult that ere any of the followers of Abimelech could climb the hill, he would be far away among the defiles of the neighbouring moun tains (Judg. ix.) Canon Stanley and others have attempted to prove that Geri= was one of the very earliest sanctuaries in this country. He says, It is in the highest degree probable that here, and not at Jeru salem, was the point to which the oldest recollec tions of Palestine pointed as the scene of Abra ham's encounter with Melchizedek, and the sacri fice of Isaac ' (S. and P. 234). His arguments in favour of the former arc far from being conclusive The traditions of the Samaritans have little weig,ht ; and one cannot see why Abraham should have brought the rescued women and children, flocks and herds, and heavy plunder of the cities of the plain, all the way round to Gerizim. His natural route from Dan or Damascus was along the east bank of the Jordan to the plain of Sodom. And the narrative leads to the conclusion that he was going direct towards Sodom when the king went out to meet him.' This would place the valley of Shaveh ' near, or in, the Jordan valley (Gen. xiv. 17 ; compare 2 Sam. xviii. IS ; see, however, Stanley, S. allel P. 246).
That Gerizim was the mountain in the land of Moriah,' on which Abraham was commanded to offer up Isaac, seems to be simply impossible. Abraham was undoubtedly at Beersheba when he received the command (compare Gen. xxi. 33, and xxii. 1-3, 19). It appears from the narrative that, on the third clay, he reached the place, offered the sacrifice, and returned to the spot where he had left bis servants. The distance from Beersheba to Gerizim is about 7o geographical miles, as the crow flies ; which, in such a country, will give go of ac tual travel. Abraham's servants were on foot, carrying wood ; Isaac was also on foot, and Abra ham rode an ass ; they could not, therefore, have travelled such a distance (see MORIAH).
The subsequent history of Gerizim is intimately connected with that of the Samaritans (SANIARI TANS). The circumstances which led to the choice of this mountain as a holy place are alluded to by Nehemiah (xiii. 23), and fully stated by Josephus
(A Wig. xi. 8. 2). A son of Joiada the high-priest laad married a daughter of Sanballet the Persian Satmp, and was consequently excluded from the priest's office, and expelled from Jerusalem. Sanballet thereupon built a temple on Gerizim, and made his son-in-law high-priest there. He thought thus to divide the Jewish nation; and thoug,h unsuccessful in that, he attached the Samaritans to Gerizirn, and excited a lasting enmity between them and the Jews (cir. B. C. 42o). This temple was destroyed by the Jews under John Hyrcanus (A /gig. xiii. 9. 1, cir. B.C. 129). There is no evidence that it was ever rebuilt, though the Samaritans continued to worship on the spot. This illustrates our Lord's discourse with the woman of Sichar at Jacob's well. The well is situated in the opening of the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, close to the base of the latter ; and from its mouth, where Jesus sat, the ruins of the temple on the summit were visible. Hoy,' natural was the woman's question on finding He was a prophet, Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, etc. ;' pointing, doubtless, both to. the mountain and to the ruined sanctuary on its sum mit (John iv. 2o). Gerizim continued to be both a stronghold and holy place to the population of Shechern for several centuries ; as upon the coins of the city we find both mount and temple depicted (Reland, wo6). In A. D. 4S7 the Samaritans were driven from Gerizim, and a Christian church \vas erected on the site of their holy place. This build ing was frequently attacked by the enraged people, and the empelor Justinian, in order to defend it against them, caused it to be surrounded by a for tress (Procopius, de ./Lidific. 7ustin. v. 7 ; Reland, /. c.) It appears that after thc Mohammedan con quest both church and fortress fell to ruin ; and the Samaritans were permitted to return to their old sanctuary, where they have ever since continued to worship, though there is neither temple nor altar on the spot.
The top of Geiizim is now covered with massive ruins, at one corner of which is a small Moham medan Wely, with a white dome, \risible over a large section of central Palestine. The ruins are evidently those of Justinian's fortress. The walls are thick, the masonry massive, and at the angles are square towers. In the foundations of the western wall there are some ten or twelve large stones, and beneath these tradition places the twelVe stones' brought up by the Israelites from the bed of the Jordan (Josh. iv.) A little to the south of the ruins is a smooth surface of natural rock, oval-shaped, and declining towards an exca vated pit. This is the Samaritan 'Holy of Holies,' toward which they turn in prayer. The spot where they assemble to cat the passover is about 2oo yards distant down the western slope of the mountain. The writer was present at their feast in 1858. The whole community were assembled. The lambs, previously selected, were killed. A deep circular pit, lined with rude masonry, was then heated with wood like an oven, The lambs were taken and suspended to a stick laid across the mouth of the pit. The whole was then covered over and allowed to remain so till the flesh was roasted (Exod. xii. 9). All the Samari tans, men, women, and children, except such as are ceremonially unclean, partake of the flesh. They eat it in haste, with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staves in their hand (ver. t). For more detailed accounts of Gerizim, consult Reland, Pal. 1004, sq. ; Robinson, B. R. ii. 276, sq. ; Handbook for S. and P., 337 ; De Saulcey, yourney, etc., ii. 323 ; Thomson, The land and the Book, 476.--J. L. P.