Andronicus ben Meshullam, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

scholar of the 2nd century BCE. According to

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

( ''Ant.'' xiii. 3, § 4), he was the representative of the Jews in their religious dispute with the Samaritans, which was held before King Ptolemy VI Philometor, about the year 150 BCE. Andronicus was said to have proved from the

Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

the historic continuity of the Jewish high priests; and from the great respect which was accorded the Temple of Jerusalem even by the non-Jewish kings of

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, he argued that the claim of the Samaritans that

Mount Gerizim Mount Gerizim ( ; ; ; , or ) is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the nor ...

was the sacred place of worship for the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

was unjustified. Andronicus is said to have argued his case so successfully that the king ordered the execution of Sabbeus and Theodosius, the two champions of the Samaritans, this being the penalty agreed upon beforehand for the losing party.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meshullam, Andronicus Ben Samaritan culture and history Ptolemaic Jews 2nd-century BCE Jews 2nd-century BC scholars Mount Gerizim