Mount Gerizim & Mount Ebal
Gerizim and Ebal are the twin mountains flanking ancient Shechem, chosen by Moses for one of the most dramatic ceremonies in Israel's history: upon entering the land, six tribes were to stand on Gerizim to bless and six on Ebal to curse, with the Levites proclaiming the covenant's terms into the natural amphitheater between. Joshua carried it out exactly - building an altar on Ebal, writing a copy of the law on stones, and reading every word of blessing and cursing before the whole congregation, strangers and children included. Centuries later the Samaritans built their rival temple on Gerizim, which is why the woman at the well told Jesus, 'Our fathers worshipped in this mountain' - drawing his answer that the hour was coming when true worshippers would worship neither there nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. A small Samaritan community still keeps Passover on Gerizim today.
Details
- Region
- Samaria
- Modern Location
- Flanking Nablus, West Bank
Key Passages
Blessing and Cursing Commanded
Deuteronomy 27:11-13
The covenant is staged as national theater: two mountains, twelve tribes, and every Israelite standing physically inside the choice between blessing and curse.
11nd Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
Joshua Reads the Law Between the Mountains
Joshua 8:33-35
'There was not a word... which Joshua read not' - the whole law, to the whole people, in the land itself; covenant renewal as the conquest's first great act.
33nd all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
"Our Fathers Worshipped in This Mountain"
John 4:20-24
Gerizim's ancient rivalry with Jerusalem becomes the setting for Jesus's declaration that true worship is bound to no mountain at all.
20ur fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Did You Know?
An ancient stone structure matching the dimensions of a great altar has been excavated on Mount Ebal - where Joshua 8 says he built one.
A community of Samaritans, numbering under a thousand, still sacrifices the Passover lamb on Mount Gerizim every year - the oldest continuously practiced sacrifice on earth.
The blessing tribes stood on Gerizim and the cursing tribes on Ebal - and Ebal, the mountain of curses, is noticeably barer of vegetation to this day.