Editing Samaritans (section)

== Etymology and terminology ==
Inscriptions from the Samaritan diaspora in [[Delos]], dating as early as 150–50 BCE, provide the "oldest known self-designation" for Samaritans, indicating that they called themselves "Bene Israel" in Hebrew (English: "Children of Israel", i.e. literally the descendants of the biblical prophet Israel, also known as [[Jacob]], more commonly "[[Israelites]]").<ref>{{cite web |title=Samaritan |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samaritan |publisher=Britannica |access-date=14 September 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Kartveit|2019|pp=9–10}}

In their own language, [[Samaritan Hebrew]], the Samaritans call themselves "Israel", "B'nai Israel", and, alternatively, ''Shamerim'' (שַמֶרִים), meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers", and in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''al-Sāmiriyyūn'' ({{lang|ar|السامريون}}).{{sfn|Manzur|1979}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bowman |first1=John |title=BANŪ ISRĀ'ĪL IN THE QUR'ĀN |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20832712 |journal=Islamic Studies |date=8 February 1963 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=447–455 |publisher=Islamic Research Institute |jstor=20832712 |access-date=14 September 2023 |quote=This tiny community called by the Jews and the Christians, the Samaritans, call themselves Israel or Shomerim, the Keepers (of the Torah, i.e., Tawr?t).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Samaritan Identity |url=https://www.the-samaritans.net/ |publisher=The Israelite Samaritan Community in Israel |access-date=15 September 2023 |quote="Our real name is, 'Bene- Yisrael Ha -Shamerem (D'nU- -D'7nU) – in Hebrew, which means 'The Keepers', or to be precise, the Israelite – Keepers, as we observe the ancient Israelite tradition, since the time of our prophet Moses and the people of Israel. The modern terms, 'Samaritans' and 'Jews', given by the Assyrians, indicate the settlement of the Samaritans in the area of Samaria, and the Jews in the area of Judah."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Keepers: Israelite Samaritan Identity |date=26 May 2020 |url=https://www.israelite-samaritans.com/history/keepers-israelite-samaritan-identity/ |publisher=Israelite Samaritan Information Institute |access-date=15 September 2023 |quote="We are not Samaritans; this is what the Assyrians called the people of Samaria. We, The Keepers, Sons of Israel, Keepers of the Word of the Torah, never adopted the name Samaritans. Our forefathers only used the name when speaking to outsiders about our community. Through the ages we have referred to ourselves as The Keepers."}}</ref> The term is [[cognate]] with the [[Biblical Hebrew]] term ''Šomerim'', and both terms reflect a [[Semitic root]] שמר, which means "to watch, guard".
Historically, Samaritans were concentrated in [[Samaria]]. In [[Modern Hebrew]], the Samaritans are called ''Shomronim'' (שומרונים), which means "inhabitants of Samaria", literally, "Samaritans". In modern English, Samaritans refer to themselves as Israelite Samaritans.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Samaritans – Israelite Samaritans in Israel |url=https://www.the-samaritans.net/ |publisher=Israelite Samaritan Community |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Israelite Samaritans information Institute |url=https://www.israelite-samaritans.com/ |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref>{{Efn|"Since they attach great importance to their identity as the true Israelites, they added a note that their self-identification is not 'Samaritans', but 'Israelites whose center of life is Mt. Gerizim'. Generally, they call themselves 'Israelite Samaritans'." {{harv|Pummer|2016|p=2}}}}

That the meaning of their name signifies ''Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/[[Samaritan Pentateuch]]]'', rather than being a [[toponym]] referring to the inhabitants of the region of Samaria, was remarked on by a number of Christian [[Church Fathers]], including [[Epiphanius of Salamis]] in the ''[[Panarion]]'', [[Jerome]] and [[Eusebius]] in the ''[[Chronicon]],'' and [[Origen]] in ''The Commentary on Saint John's Gospel.''{{sfn|Pummer|2002|pp=123,42,156}}{{sfn|Crown|1989|p=196}}{{sfn|Epiphanius|2009|p=30}} The historian [[Josephus]] uses several terms for the Samaritans, which he appears to use interchangeably.{{efn|''Samareis'' Σαμαρεῖς (49 times); ''Samar(e)itai'' Σαμαρ(ε)ιται (18); ''Sikimitai'' Σικιμῖται (17 times); ''Hebraioi'' Ἑβραῖοι and ''Khouthaoi'' Χουθαοι (8 times). The form Σαμαρεῖται was the term favoured in the Persian period, but scribes transmitting Josephus's works used the forms interchangeably {{harv|Kartveit|2009|pp=71–79, 71–73}}.}} Among them is a reference to ''Khuthaioi'', a designation employed to denote peoples in [[Media (region)|Media]] and [[Iran|Persia]] putatively sent to Samaria to replace the exiled Israelite population.{{efn|"Once [[Shalmaneser V|Salmanasses]] had then deported the Israelites, he settled in their place the nation of Chouthaites (τὸ τϖν Χουθαίων ἔθνος), who previously were in the interior of Persia and Media. Thereafter, however, they were called the Samareians (Σαμαρεῖς)  getting this name from the country in which they were settled. Josephus, ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' 10:184." {{harv|Kartveit|2009|p=74}}}}{{efn|"(The Chouthaioi brought to Samaria their own gods and worshipped them and thereby) provoked the Most High God to anger and wrath. ... And so they sent some elders to the king of the Assyrians and asked him to send priests.. and after being instructed in the laws and worship of this God, they worshipped him with great zeal. ... They continue to practice these same customs even to this day, those who are called Chouthaioi in the Hebrew language, and Samareitai (Σαμαρείται) in the Greek; those who alternatively (πρὸς μεταβολὴν) call themselves their relatives whenever they see things going well for the Jews, as if they were descendants of Joseph and had family ties with them in virtue of that origin; when, however, they see that things are going badly for them (i.e., for the Jews), they say that they are not at all close to them and that they have no claim to their loyalty or race; instead they make themselves out to be migrants of another nation(μετοίκους ἀλλοεθνεῖς)." Josephus, [[Antiquities of the Jews]] 9.288-291 {{harv|Kartveit|2009|p=74}}.}} These Khouthaioi were in fact [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] Phoenicians/Sidonians. ''Samareis'' (Σαμαρεῖς) may refer to inhabitants of the region of Samaria, or of the city of that name, though some texts use it to refer specifically to Samaritans.{{efn|Joseph also uses the term "those of Gerizim" (τϖν ἐν Γαριζείν) [[Antiquities of the Jews]] 12:7 {{harv|Kartveit|2009|p=72}}.}}