Mount Gerizim

Biblical Text

Mount Gerizim appears in the Pentateuch and the Historical Books as the mountain from which blessing was proclaimed.

• Deuteronomy 11:29; 27:12 — Moses commands that, after entering Canaan, the people proclaim the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal opposite it. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin were to stand on Mount Gerizim.
• Joshua 8:33–35 — Joshua stations half of the people in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, and reads the law aloud.
• Judges 9:7 — Jotham, the son of Gideon, climbs to the top of Mount Gerizim and tells the men of Shechem a fable about the trees. Through this fable he rebukes them for making Abimelech king.
• John 4:20 — The Samaritan woman says, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain." The text does not name the mountain. However, because the conversation takes place at Jacob's well near Sychar, the reference is usually understood to be to Mount Gerizim.

Background

Mount Gerizim lies on the south side of the valley of Shechem, facing Mount Ebal to the north. Its elevation is generally given as about 880 meters (roughly 2,890 feet). The valley between the two mountains served as a passage through the central highlands, which made Shechem an important city from early times. The meaning of the name in the original language is uncertain.

After the return from exile, the Samaritans of Samaria regarded Mount Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem, as the place of worship chosen by God and built a temple there. The Jewish historian Josephus reports that this temple was destroyed in the late second century BC by John Hyrcanus of the Hasmonean dynasty. The Samaritan community still sacrifices the Passover lamb on Mount Gerizim today.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament, Mount Gerizim visibly represents the crossroads between obedience and disobedience to the covenant. The scene in which blessing and curse were proclaimed from two separate mountains is linked to the appeal of Deuteronomy 30:15–20 to choose between life and death.

In the New Testament, Mount Gerizim symbolizes the dispute over the proper place of worship. Jesus answers that the hour is coming when people will worship the Father "neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem." The point is that true worship is a matter not of place but of worshipping in spirit and in truth (John 4:20–23).

Interpretation and Issues

• The Samaritan Pentateuch, used by the Samaritans, differs from the Masoretic Text in several places. In Deuteronomy 27:4, the Masoretic Text names "Mount Ebal" as the place where the altar was to be built, whereas the Samaritan Pentateuch reads "Mount Gerizim." The Samaritan Pentateuch also adds to the Ten Commandments a passage that explicitly designates Mount Gerizim as the place of worship. Scholars are divided over which reading of Deuteronomy 27:4 is original.
• Samaritan tradition identifies Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac, with Mount Gerizim. Jewish and Christian traditions, by contrast, identify Mount Moriah with Jerusalem on the basis of 2 Chronicles 3:1.
• Protestant denominations do not differ significantly in their interpretation of this mountain.

In the Korean Church

In Korean churches, Mount Gerizim is mentioned chiefly in sermons on worship based on John 4 and in sermons on the blessing-and-curse passages of Deuteronomy. In John 4:24, the phrase "in spirit and in truth" was rendered sinnyeong-gwa jinjeong-euro in the Korean Revised Version and was changed to yeong-gwa jilli-ro in the New Korean Revised Version. Nevertheless, the older expression remains widely used in prayers and sermons.