Classical Samaritan Poetry

Laura Suzanne Lieber

• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781646021826
• eBook ISBN: 9781646021918
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

This book introduces the evocative but largely unknown tradition of Samaritan religious poetry from late antiquity to a new audience. These verses provide a unique window into the Samaritan religious world during a formative period.

Prepared by Laura Suzanne Lieber, this anthology presents annotated English translations of fifty-five Classical Samaritan poems. Lieber introduces each piece, placing it in context with Samaritan religious tradition, the geopolitical turmoil of Palestine in the fourth century CE, and the literary, liturgical, and performative conventions of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, shared by Jews, Christians, and polytheists. These hymns, composed by three generations of poets—the priest Amram Dara; his son, Marqah; and Marqah's son, Ninna, the last poet to write in Samaritan Aramaic in the period prior to the Muslim conquest—for recitation during the Samaritan Sabbath and festival liturgies remain a core element of Samaritan religious ritual to the present day.

Shedding important new light on the Samaritans' history and on the complicated connections between early Judaism, Christianity, the Samaritan community, and nascent Islam, this volume makes an important contribution to the reception of the history of the Hebrew Bible. It will appeal to a wide audience of students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, early Judaism and early Christianity, and other religions of late antiquity.

Table of contents

• COVER Front
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Abbreviations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Samaritans in Antiquity Through the Eyes of Others
• Chapter 2: For Samaritans, by Samaritans
• Chapter 3: Samaritan Liturgy and Poetry: The Scholarly Context
• Chapter 4: The Samaritan Literary Context
• Chapter 5: Samaritan Piyyutim in the Context of Late Antique Hymnography
• Chapter 6: Key Themes and Effects in Classical Samaritan Piyyut
• Chapter 7: A Note on Texts and Translations
• “Chapter 8: Since There Is No God but the One” (SL, 38–39; RPH, 41–43)
• Chapter 9: Unto You Do We Pray, O Our Master” (SL, 39; RPH, 44–45)
• Chapter 10: “O Steadfast One, Toward Whom Everything Bows” (SL, 39;RPH, 45–48)
• Chapter 11: O Good One, Who Eternally Does Good” (SL, 40; RPH, 48–50)
• Chapter 12: “The Almighty Is Powerfully Strong” (SL, 40; RPH, 51–53)
• Chapter 13: “Great Is God, and None Like Him” (SL, 40–41; RPH, 53–55)
• Chapter 14: “When You Rise Up at Daybreak” (SL, 41; RPH, 55–57)
• Chapter 15: “You Are the Glory, O God Concealed from All” (SL, 41–42;RPH, 57–59)
• Chapter 16: “Imposing and Fearsome Fences” (SL, 42; RPH, 59–62)
• Chapter 17: “The King Who Is over All” (SL, 42; RPH, 62–65)
• Chapter 18: “Exalted God, Hear Our Voice” (SL, 46; RPH, 65–67)
• Chapteer 18: “Lo, a Great Glory Is the Glory of the Sabbath Day” (SL, 44;RPH, 67–69)
• Chapter 19: “We Have Arisen from Our Slumber” (SL, 43–44; RPH, 70–72)
• Chapter 20: “Great Is the God Who So Desires” (SL, 45–46; RPH, 72–73)
• Chapter 21: “O Faithful One, O Steadfast One” (SL, 46; RPH, 74–75)
• Chapter 22: “God, Exalted and Honored” (SL, 45–46; RPH, 79–80)
• Chapter 23: “To God, the Mighty and Triumphant” (SL, 46–47; RPH,80–82)
• Chapter 24: “Blessed Is the House of Jacob” (SL, 47; RPH, 82–84)
• Chapter 25: “Great Is God, Who Thus Commanded” (SL, 47; RPH, 84–86)
• Chapter 26: “O Beneficent Rememberer Who Does Not Forget” (SL, 47–48;RPH, 86–88)
• Chapter 27: “You Are the One Who Created the World” (RPH, 89–94; D,226–28)
• Chapter 28: “Who Can Reckon Your Greatness?” (SL, 31–32; RPH, 94–100;D, 64–65)
• Chapter 1: “May You Be Worshipped and Praised” (SL, 27–28; RPH, 100–104; D, 73–74)
• Chapter 2: “You Are the One to Whom Divinity Belongs” (SL, 28; RPH,105–10; D, 87–89)
• Chapter 3: “You Who Were Our Creator” (SL, 30; RPH, 110–17; D, 93–95)
• Chpter 4: O Merciful God, Rescue Us” (SL, 29–30; RPH, 117–22; D,105–7)
• Chapter 5: “Gaze upon Us, O Our Master” (SL, 12–14; RPH, 133–46; SAP433–39)
• Chapter 6: “God Who Shall Be Worshipped” (SL, 16–17; RPH, 146–53; SAP439–40; D, 198–99)
• Chapter 7: “You Are Our God (2)” (SL, 18–19; RPH, 159–65; D, 201–3)
• Chapter 8: “It Is Incumbent upon Us” (SL, 19–20; RPH, 166–71; D, 204–5)
• Chapter 9: “Render Praise unto Him” (SL, 20–21; RPH, 171–76; D, 206–7)
• Chater 10: “You Are the Merciful One” (SL, 21–22; RPH, 176–82; D, 208–9)
• Chapter 11: “Happy Are We” (SL, 22–23; RPH, 182–87; D, 210–12)
• Chapter 12: “God Is the First” (SL, 23–24; RPH, 188–93; D, 212–13)
• Chapter 13: “O God, O Enduring One” (SL, 24–25; RPH, 193–98; D, 214–15)
• Chapter 14: “O God, O Singular One” (SL, 25–26; RPH, 198–203; D, 216–18)
• Chapter 15: “O God, ‘El Elyon’ ” (SL, 25–26; RPH, 203–8; D, 218–20)
• Chapter 16: “Lo, the Merciful King” (SL, 26–27; RPH, 208–14; D, 220–21)
• Chapter 17: “Lo, Our Souls Are Sated” (SL, 60–62; RPH, 214–23; SAP 440–44; D, 290–94)
• Chapter 18: “God, upon Mount Sinai” (SL, 50–51, 877–78; RPH, 224–27[ll. 1–49]; D, 271–75)
• “Chapter 19: This Is His Great Writing” (SL, 53–55; RPH, 228–38 [ll. 1–75,76–141, 142–71])
• Chapter 20: “Come in Peace, O Day of Fasting” (SL, 62–63 [ll. 1–36], 666[ll. 37–44]; RPH, 238–41)
• Chapter 21: “O Good One, in Whom the One Who Hopes” (SL, 85; RPH,241–45; D, 244–45)
• Chapter 22: “You Are the One Who Created the World” (SL, 67–68; RPH,244–47; D, 161–62)
• Chapter 23: “You Are the Great Writing” (SL, 55–56; RPH, 247–50; D,280–82)
• Chapter 24: “Lo, the Radiant and Holy Writing” (SL, 56–58; RPH, 250–53[ll. 1–41]; D, 282–86)
• Chapter 25: “This Is the Great Writing” (SL, 56; RPH, 254)
• Chapter 1: Amram Dare (Amram the Elder)
• Chapter 2: Marqe ben Amram
• Chapter 3: Ninna ben Marqe
• Bibliography
• Index