Samaritan Pentateuch

Overview

The Samaritan Pentateuch is the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch, the five books from Genesis through Deuteronomy, that the Samaritans revere as Scripture. The name does not appear in the Bible itself. It is a term used in discussions of how the biblical text was transmitted. The Samaritans recognize only these five books as Scripture and do not accept the Prophets or the Writings.

Background

The Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim is the place of worship chosen by God, and they separated from the form of Judaism centered on the temple in Jerusalem. A small Samaritan community survives to this day. The Samaritan Pentateuch is written in the Samaritan script, which developed from the ancient Hebrew script. Scholars differ on when the text took its present form, though it is commonly dated to around the second or first century BC. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls are Pentateuch manuscripts that, like the Samaritan Pentateuch, contain expansions of the text. For this reason, many scholars hold that the Samaritan Pentateuch was based on a text type that was widespread in Jewish society at the time. The Samaritans maintain that the Abisha Scroll, kept by the community in Nablus, was written by a great-grandson of Aaron, but scholars regard it as a much later manuscript. Manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch first became known in the Western world in the early seventeenth century.

Major Differences from the Masoretic Text

The Samaritan Pentateuch is reported to differ from the Masoretic Text in about six thousand places. Most of these are minor differences in spelling or grammar. A considerable number of them agree with the Septuagint.

• Passages concerning Mount Gerizim: After the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, the text adds a command to build an altar on Mount Gerizim. In Deuteronomy 27:4, "mount Ebal" appears as "Mount Gerizim." The phrase repeated throughout Deuteronomy, "the place which the LORD shall choose," appears instead as "the place which the LORD has chosen."
• Genealogical chronology: The ages given in Genesis 5 and 11 differ. By the reckoning of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech reportedly all die in the year of Noah's Flood.
• Added words: In Genesis 4:8, the text includes the words of Cain to Abel, "Let us go out into the field." The Septuagint has the same reading, but the Masoretic Text lacks it. The New Korean Revised Version follows the Masoretic Text and says only that Cain "spoke" to Abel.

Relationship to the New Testament

The Samaritan woman says to Jesus, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain" (John 4:20–23). Her words reflect the Samaritan devotion to Mount Gerizim. Scholars commonly cite the following two examples of New Testament passages that agree with the Samaritan Pentateuch rather than with the Masoretic Text.

• Acts 7:4: Stephen says that Abraham left Haran after his father died. The Samaritan Pentateuch gives Terah's age at death in Genesis 11:32 as 145 years, a figure consistent with Stephen's statement.
• Galatians 3:17: The period from the promise to the law is reckoned as 430 years. This reckoning agrees with the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint, which read Exodus 12:40 as referring to the sojourning "in Canaan and in Egypt."

It is not settled, however, whether this means that the New Testament writers used the Samaritan Pentateuch directly. Some take it to indicate only that such readings were in wide circulation at the time.

Interpretation and Issues

The Samaritans claim that their text is the original Law. Judaism and most Christian scholars regard the passages concerning Mount Gerizim as later revisions reflecting the community's position. Some scholars, however, have suggested that "Mount Gerizim" in Deuteronomy 27:4 may be the original reading. The Samaritan Pentateuch is not used as the base text for Bible translations. It is nonetheless treated as important evidence in the comparison and study of the Old Testament text.