2 - The Other Israelites

Summary

Discussions of the post-exilic period have too frequently assumed that after the Assyrian campaigns of the eighth century, "Israel" was effectively redefined, as those from the kingdom of Judah were all that remained, with the result that "Israelite" and "Jew" became synonymous in this period. This chapter argues that the presence of a competing "Israel" in the region of Samaria and Shechem made this impossible, as the group that eventually came to be known (to outsiders) as Samaritans claimed to be Israelites descended from the northern tribes of Joseph. Neither Jews nor Samaritans, however, regarded Samaritans as Jews, further highlighting the continued distinction between these terms and providing compelling evidence of the persistence of non-Jewish Israelites throughout the Second Temple period and beyond. The chapter concludes with an examination of the ethnonym "Hebrew," arguing that this term, which could apply to Samaritans and Jews alike, served as a linguistic marker in the Second Temple period and therefore overlaps with both "Jew" and "Israelite" but is synonymous with neither.