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GERIZIM

(Heb. gĕrizîm),

MOUNT

A mountain 3 km. (1.9 mi.) NW of Shechem and 48 km. (30 mi.) N of Jerusalem. The summit, at 880 m. (2887 ft.), may be reached by a path from the Samaritan quarter of Nablus at the northern foot of the mount.

Mt. Gerizim is explicitly mentioned four times in the OT. God’s blessings for the people of Israel are to be placed on Mt. Gerizim (Deut. 11:29), and six tribes are appointed to stand on the mount for the blessing (Deut. 27:12; Josh. 8:33). Gerizim also plays a central role in the abortive reign of Abimelech (Judg. 9). Jotham, speaking from the crest of Mt. Gerizim, delivers a tale of unqualified brambles assuming rule over qualified but unwilling trees to warn Israel of Abimelech’s incompetence. Later, Abimelech successfully thwarts Gaal’s revolt by sending troops down from Tabbur-erez, translated “navel” (ómphalos) of the world in the LXX.

In Samaritan tradition, Mt. Gerizim is considered the oldest, most central, and highest mountain in the world. It is the location of the Garden of Eden and the place where Abraham brought Isaac for sacrifice. Finally, it is the central sacred site for the Samaritan religious community (cf. John 4:20). Under Antiochus IV Epiphanes the temple was renamed in honor of Zeus-the-Friend-of-Strangers (2 Macc. 5:23; 6:2). The site was ravaged by the Hasmonean ethnarch and Jewish high priest John Hyrcanus (in 111/110 b.c.e. according to archaeological evidence). It was besieged by the Romans late in the 1st century b.c.e., and a temple to Zeus built by Hadrian in the 2nd century c.e. The site was cleared or modified by Zeno, the Roman emperor of the east, early in the 5th century for a church in honor of Mary (rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian later in that century). Between these times it was the chief center of worship for the Samaritan community, as it is today.

Remains of several structures are found on its summit. Among them are the 5th-century Theotokos church and a fortification constructed by Justinian, and a 16th-century watchtower later made into the tomb of Sheikh Ghanin. Ca. 100 m. (328 ft.) further south on the same peak are remains of three Samaritan cultic sites, and on yet another nearby mound, known as Tell er-Ras (175178), are the remains of Hadrian’s temple of Zeus.

Bibliography. R. T. Anderson, “Mount Gerizim: Navel of the World,” BA 43 (1980): 217-21.

Robert T. Anderson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GERIZIM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)