Everyone wrongly assumed the samaritans changed the text from mt. The samaritan bible consists of the torahthat is, the five books of moses also called the samaritan pentateuch sp. The samaritan pentateuch contains the text of the torah, the first five books of the hebrew bible, written in the consonantal samaritan script, a development from. A critical edition of the samaritan pentateuch is one of the most urgent desiderata of hebrew bible research. The samaritan pentateuch sp is the sacred scripture of the samaritans, a tenacious religious. It constitutes their entire biblical canon some six thousand differences exist between the samaritan and the masoretic text. Lexicon of samaritan hebrew according to the samaritan. The dead sea scrolls, with their large cache of ancient evidence, have signif icantly enriched our under standing of the hebrew bible, the spectrum and variety of. Pentateuch is a historical creed is in danger of losing sight of the important theological statements about creation in those chapters. Variants in the samaritan pentateuch of the hebrew bible. The samaritan pentateuch, as mentioned above, is written in a paleo hebrew script dating to the time of the hasmoneans, indicating that this particular exemplar of the harmonisticexpansive texttype was chosen right at the time when the estrangement between the two communities was growing, with the probable loss of communication among the. Gerizim until the recent discovery of a 2100yearold hebrew dead sea scroll that 100% validated the samaritan pentateuch against the hebrew masoretic text. The jewish bible contains in addition the prophets and the writings, a total of 39 books. Jubilees imposes an artificial chronological framework onto the biblical.
Even though these traditions are subject to the various vernaculars and sometimes differ markedly from each other, their common basis is evident. The samaritan pentateuch is an essential text for understanding the complex textual history of the old testament texts. Like the masoretic text, whose earliest manuscript dates to the 10 th century a. The shared tradition of the septuagint and the samaritan. The samaritan pentateuch is one such text, with an ancient history of competition with the jewish masoretic text. The samaritan pentateuch provides an important witness to the early textual history of the first part of the hebrew bible. Comparison of the numerical divergences in genesis 5 and 11 in the masoretic mt, septuagint lxx, and samaritan pentateuch sp. The samaritan sect broke away from orthodox judaism around 400bc.
Pdf the samaritan and jewish versions of the pentateuch. Although the samaritan pentateuch is most commonly known for its sectarian readings, such as gods command to build. In 1616 the traveler pietro della valle had purchased a copy of the text in damascus, and this manuscript, now known as codex b, was deposited in a parisian library. Yes, jesus told the samaritan woman at the well that jerusalem was gods holy mountain. Genesis 5 18 as published by jean morin in 1631 in the first publication of the samaritan pentateuch. Pentateuch, the samaritan international standard bible. The samaritan and jewish versions of the pentateuch. The present volume on genesis is the second out of. May 16, 2014 the samaritans only adhere to the pentateuch the first five books of the holy bible, and it is one of the five principles of the samaritan faith.
These books also form part of the jewish canon, which we call the hebrew bible hb, the masoretic tradition mt or the tanak. The samaritan pentateuch written in samaritan script by five scribes in the 12th century, ms add. Footnotes provide further explanations for some of the numbers given. The shared tradition of the septuagint and the samaritan pentateuch 279 in his prolegomena. Like the masoretic text, whose earliest manuscript dates to the 10th century a. Shows a page from the samaritan pentateuch from 14c ce exodus. The samaritan pentateuch is in paleo hebrew and is a copy of the book of the law josiah found in 623 bc. In addition, the samaritan pentateuch offers new perspectives on problematic biblical passages. The samaritan pentateuch will often agree with the greek septuagint and latin vulgate against the masoretic text. It was considered authoritative by at least some of the new testament writers, and it remains the sacred text of the samaritan community.
Info is a polyglot online bible that contains the hebrew bible and its ancient versions in parallel masoretic text, samaritan pentateuch, aramaic targums, syriac peshitta, greek septuagint, old latin, and latin vulgate, and also the greek versions of aquila of sinope, theodotion, and symmachus. This is the alphabet in which large parts of the hebrew bible were supposedly originally penned, although this is not the consensus of all scholars. More important than the relationship between the samaritan pentateuch and the lxx is that between the samaritan pentateuch and the other hebrew texts. Free online bible library the samaritan pentateuch. The samaritan pentateuch contains the basic text of the first five books of the hebrew bible, yet there are about 6,000 differences between it and the masoretic. Jun 18, 2020 media in category samaritan pentateuch the following 31 files are in this category, out of 31 total. Eusebius of caesarea in his chronicon compares the ages of the patriarchs before abraham in the septuagint with those in the samaritan pentateuch and the massoretic text.
This landmark volume presents the firstever english translation of the ancient israelite samaritan version of the pentateuch, or torah. The samaritan pentateuch has been used in textual criticism for almost two thousand years and for good reason. Shechem and gerizim in deuteronomy and joshua, in g. Before gesenius, the samaritan pentateuch was usually described as a more original text than the mt. Samaritan is a direct descendant of the paleo hebrew alphabet, which was a variety of the phoenician alphabet. The samaritan pentateuch sp contains the text of the torah written in a special version of the early hebrew script. This argument was understandable in the period before the discovery of. The samaritan pentateuch the samaritan community which still exists today produced its own pentateuch, which is the only part of the hebrew bible it regards as sacred. The samaritan pentateuch an introduction to its origin. Download file pdf the samaritan pentateuch an introduction to its origin. Every samaritan member, mentions these five principles of faith in each prayer. A grammar of samaritan hebrew zeev benhayyim hebrew.
The proximity of the pre samaritan qumran scrolls to the sp personal names in the septuagint of isaiah reflections on the septuagint with special attention paid to the postpentateuchal translations. In addition, there are many independent sources that are not exclusively close to others such as several of the qumran texts anduntil further noticethe hebrew. The greek septuagint lxx is the greek translation of the hebrew bible and many other literary works of second temple. This is fundamental in the is raelite samaritan ver. The jews admit that the character in which the samaritan pentateuch is written is older than their square character. Ironically, this obscure village was also the seat of the romans rabbanite nasi, the traditional birthplace of rabbinic judaism known in hebrew as yavneh. Torah, israelite samaritan and masoretic versions in english. In addition to hebrew massoretic recension of the pentateuch, scholars of our day have access to another form of the mosaic law, which has been preserved by the samaritans, and called, in consequence of their relations to it, the samaritan pentateuch. The reader on opening one of the codices of the samaritan pentateuch recognizes at once the difference of the writing from the characters in an ordinary hebrew bible. We know this for a fact due to an accident of history. The samaritan pentateuch, also known as the samaritan torah hebrew. The letter forms are quite similar to those of the paleo hebrew script used in judea around 1c bce although, naturally changed during the years.
Samaritan pentateuch and the lxx will be found to be not as closely related as was thought in the past. Its existence was rediscovered by scholars during the 17th century and its importance as a textual witness has been vigorously debated since that time. One should distinguish between a copy of the samaritan pentateuch and old readings known in the samaritan pentateuch and reflected often in the lxx and elsewhere that appear in pre70 hebrew scrolls. Scott watson, a critical copy of the samaritan pentateuch written in ad 1232 in hebraica 9 18923, p. All these scripts are believed to be descendants of the protosinaitic script. Could you send me the pdf for genesis 49 jacobs blessing of the twelve tribes. Reviews tains an important section about the samaritan. Torah, pentateuch, samaritan text is based on vetus testamentum hebraicum cum variis lectionibus, parallel samaritan pentateuch hebrew samaritan, by benjaminus kennicott, 1780 main page here.
Fragments of the samaritan pentateuch and fragments of pre samaritan manuscripts. Shows a page from the samaritan pentateuch from 14c ce. Presented in high resolution images by university of cambridge digital library. A text of growing interest and importance in the field of biblical studies, the samaritan pentateuch preserves a version of the hebrew text distinct from the traditional masoretic text that underlies modern bible translations. Inscriptions taken from the pentateuch decorate public buildings and private homes. The samaritan alphabet first became known to the western world with the publication of a manuscript of the samaritan pentateuch in 1631 by jean morin. The samaritan pentateuch sp constitutes the entire canon of sacred text for the samaritan community. Studies in hebrew bible, septuagint, and dead sea scrolls in honor of emanuel tov ed. Pdf the pentateuch as found in the presamaritan texts and. Tel aviv university, the chaim rosenberg school of jewish studies1994 more. In more than 500 pages the book presents the samaritan torah in english translation. Mar 25, 2021 samaritan pentateuch mss 1232 ad new york public library vellum manuscript with samaritan paleo hebrew script and islamicstyle leather binding. Pdf the pentateuch as found in the presamaritan texts.
The samaritan pentateuch instructs joshua to build his altar on mt. Public reading of the pentateuch is a central component of communal worship and religious festivals. Apologetics press can i trust the numbers in genesis 5. The hebrew samaritan alphabet the hebrew samaritan alphabet is the only, still used, direct descendant of the paleo hebrew alphabet. Masoretic texts, the pre samaritan texts and the samaritan pentateuch, the hebrew texts found at qumran, and a few additional witnesses.
The hebrew samaritan alphabet is the only, still used, direct descendant of the paleo hebrew alphabet. Of the greek fathers origen knew of it and notes two insertions which do not appear in the massoretic textnu. In addition to the hebrew massoretic recension of the. The samaritan bible consists of the torahthat is, the five books of mosesalso called the samaritan pentateuch sp. Its prominent role within the samaritan community is clear.
Thesmallhebrewbiblewiththe variousreadingsofthehebrew samaritan pentateuch. The samaritan pentateuch society of biblical literature. That script was used by the ancient israelites, both jews. This is fundamental in the is raelite samaritan ver sion that abraahm went. Thesmallhebrewbiblewiththe variousreadingsofthehebrew samaritan pentateuch,publishedbythesamefirmin. It contains many similarities to the septuagint and the dead sea scrolls. This explains why the samaritan pentateuch is variant with both the masoretic and septuagint texts on which mountain joshua was to build his altar on. The samaritan pentateuch contains the text of the torah, the first five books of the hebrew bible, written in the consonantal samaritan script, a development from the paleo hebrew script. The hebrew pentateuch of the samaritans logos bible software. The entire antediluvian chronology of the sp mirrors the chronology found in jubilees.
Shared jewish texts related to the samaritan pentateuch. I have faith in you, yhwh, and in moses son of amram your servant, and in the holy torah, and in the mountain of greazim, the house of the lord, and on the day of. Up to about 400 bce these books are the only contents of the jewish bible. Exodus 16 features a tashkil colophon, or, statement of responsibility, written vertically, in characteristic samaritan manner, one letter on top of the other, to avoid possible confusion with the biblical text proper. The samaritan pentateuch edited according to ms 6 c of the shekhem synagogue texts and studies in the hebrew language and related subjects, viii, xii, 211. The israelite samaritan version of the torah benyamim. The hebrew language comes down to us in several versions, each ethnic community having its own unique tradition of pronunciation. The samaritan pentateuch the university of chicago press. Brill, 2003, 21540, and sidnie white crawford, the pentateuch as found in the pre samaritan texts and 4qreworked pentateuch, in changes in scripture ed. The samaritan pentateuch is an equal witness to the autograph word of god as the septuagint lxx than the masoretic text. Studies in hebrew bible, septuagint, and dead sea scrolls in honor of emanuel tov. Analysis of biblical manuscripts and versions focused. Before the scholars of our days stand the great works of wilhelm gesenius on the samaritan pentateuch sp and his lexicographical work on the hebrew bible.
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