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.

“Blood after Leviticus” observes there is initially not “enough” blood in Leviticus, which only “daubs” or “sprinkles” it, with the rest poured on the ground, removed from cultic use. The reinterpretation of Leviticus in the New Testament book of Hebrews imagines much more. Leviticus’ reception history shows how drops of blood become floods in imagination: Blood burgeons at need. The chapter includes accounts of Christian animal sacrifice at sites of St. George in the West Bank and Samaritan animal sacrifice at passover. It reflects on tropes of infinite blood.