Once however, during his rambles, he found the governor’s protection of great importance to him. He had joined some Samaritans who had laid themselves down in the shade of some olives on the sloping side of Gerizim, and were conversing about their temple and their worship, the rites of which were still celebrated amidst its ruins. They reviled Hyrcanus and his sons, and exalted the memory of Sanballat and Manasseh. This was more than Helon could endure. He started up and exclaimed, “Where is your temple? When Moses commanded that on the entrance of the tribes into the promised land, one half should stand on Ebal to curse the ungodly, and the other half on Gerizim to bless the godly, (as was done under Joshua,) he said, ‘When ye go over the Jordan ye shall raise up stones upon mount Ebal, and plaster them with lime, and there build an altar of stones to Jehovah your God.’[118] And ye, contrary to the express command of God, have built a temple upon Gerizim!”
The Samaritans arose, and in violent anger exclaimed, “Thou art a Jew, one of those who through hatred against us have corrupted the law, have effaced the name of Gerizim and inserted that of Ebal.”
“We alone possess the genuine law,” exclaimed the Samaritans. “And ye have the curse,” replied Helon with equal emotion.
The dialogue was growing so warm, that Helon might probably have suffered some personal violence from them, had not the officers of justice made their appearance, who carried them all before the governor. He speedily decided the matter, dismissed the Samaritans with scorn—giving Helon at the same time many sarcastic admonitions, to controul his zeal and enthusiasm more carefully in future. At the evening’s banquet he had again to endure his raillery; and when he was alone he could not help exclaiming, “Well may Sichem be called in Judæa _Sichar_, for it is in truth the place of drunkenness and lies!”
On the following morning he took his departure. The governor politely gave him an escort as far as Samaria; fearing, as he said, that he should expose himself to the same dangers as on mount Gerizim: Helon accepted the offer, but shook off the dust of Sichem from his feet when he had quitted it.
Samaria was in the former territory of the tribe of Manasseh. Omri, the sixth king of Israel, and father of Ahab, built it, and called it after Samer, the possessor of the ground.[119] Thirza, which had before been the royal residence, having been reduced to ashes, Samaria became the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and remained so till its destruction. At that time it was a league in circumference, was called the head of Ephraim, and contained a magnificent temple of Baal which Jezebel had erected.[120] It slighted the warnings of Elijah and Elisha, and was destroyed by the Assyrian Salmanasser, after a siege of three years.[121]