How do we handle the Samaritan Pentateuch?
Question 1051
When you start digging into biblical manuscripts, you’ll eventually come across something called the Samaritan Pentateuch. It sounds exotic and perhaps a bit intimidating, but understanding what it is and how it relates to our Old Testament is actually quite straightforward once you get your bearings. The question is this: if the Samaritans have their own version of the first five books of the Bible, and it differs in places from the Hebrew text we use, how should we handle it?
What Is the Samaritan Pentateuch?
The Samaritan Pentateuch is the version of the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—preserved by the Samaritan community. The Samaritans, as you’ll recall from Scripture, were a mixed population descended from Israelites who remained in the northern kingdom after the Assyrian conquest in 722 BC and the foreign peoples the Assyrians brought in to settle the land (2 Kings 17:24-41). Over time, they developed their own distinct religious tradition centred on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem.
The Samaritans only accept the Pentateuch as Scripture—they reject the Prophets and the Writings entirely. Their version of the Torah is written in a script derived from the ancient Hebrew (paleo-Hebrew) script, which looks quite different from the square Aramaic script used in standard Hebrew Bibles today. This script alone makes Samaritan manuscripts visually distinctive.
Now here’s what’s important: the Samaritan Pentateuch is not a translation. It’s a Hebrew text. It represents an independent textual tradition that diverged from what became the Masoretic Text (the standard Hebrew text behind our English Old Testaments) at some point in antiquity—probably around the 2nd or 1st century BC, though some scholars push it earlier.
How Does It Differ from the Masoretic Text?
There are approximately 6,000 differences between the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Text. Before you panic, let me put that in perspective. The vast majority of these are minor spelling variations, grammatical smoothing, or stylistic changes that make no difference to the meaning whatsoever. Many are simply cases where the Samaritan scribes made the text easier to read or more grammatically consistent.
About 1,900 of these differences align with the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament made in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC), which suggests that in these places, either the Samaritan Pentateuch or the Septuagint—or both—preserve an older reading that differs from what the Masoretes passed down. This is actually quite useful for textual criticism.
However, there are also sectarian changes—alterations the Samaritans made deliberately to support their own theological positions. The most obvious example is in the Ten Commandments. After the command about the Sabbath, the Samaritan Pentateuch inserts an additional commandment requiring worship on Mount Gerizim. This is cobbled together from Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:2-7. You can see immediately that this isn’t an ancient variant but a theological insertion designed to legitimise Samaritan worship practices.
Similarly, in Deuteronomy 27:4, where the Masoretic Text says the altar should be built on Mount Ebal, the Samaritan Pentateuch reads Mount Gerizim. This is a clear sectarian alteration. Interestingly, one Dead Sea Scrolls fragment (4QDeutn) may support the reading “Gerizim,” which complicates matters—but the scholarly consensus is that the Masoretic reading “Ebal” is original and the Samaritan reading is a deliberate change.
What Value Does It Have for Bible Study?
Despite its sectarian elements, the Samaritan Pentateuch is genuinely valuable for several reasons.
First, it provides an independent witness to the text of the Pentateuch. When the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Text agree, we have strong confirmation that the reading is ancient and reliable. When they differ, and especially when the Samaritan reading agrees with the Septuagint or the Dead Sea Scrolls, it can help us identify places where the Masoretic Text may have suffered corruption in transmission.
Second, it demonstrates the overall reliability of the Pentateuchal text. Despite 6,000 differences, the two traditions tell the same story, present the same laws, and convey the same theology (apart from the Mount Gerizim insertions). The text has been remarkably well preserved across independent communities for over two thousand years.
Third, it sheds light on scribal practices and textual transmission in the Second Temple period. The kinds of changes we see in the Samaritan Pentateuch—harmonisations, grammatical smoothing, explanatory additions—are precisely the kinds of changes scribes were tempted to make. Understanding these tendencies helps us evaluate variant readings elsewhere.
How Should We Handle It Practically?
So what do we actually do with it? Here are some practical principles.
When studying the Pentateuch, recognise that the Masoretic Text remains our primary authority. This is the text the Jewish community preserved with meticulous care, the text Jesus and the apostles used (in its Hebrew and Greek forms), and the text that underlies our English translations. We don’t abandon it because another tradition exists.
However, when you encounter textual notes in a good study Bible or commentary indicating that the Samaritan Pentateuch has a different reading, pay attention. If that reading also appears in the Septuagint or Dead Sea Scrolls, it deserves serious consideration. Textual scholars weigh these witnesses carefully when determining the most likely original reading.
Be especially cautious about readings unique to the Samaritan Pentateuch, particularly anything relating to Mount Gerizim or the Samaritan-Jewish controversy. These are almost certainly sectarian alterations rather than preserved originals.
Finally, appreciate the Samaritan Pentateuch for what it is: evidence that God’s Word has been preserved across hostile communities and thousands of years. The Samaritans and the Jews had no love for one another—remember the woman at the well saying, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9)—yet both communities treasured and transmitted the same Torah. That’s a testimony to the resilience of Scripture.
A Word on the Samaritans and the Gospel
It’s worth remembering that Jesus treated the Samaritans with dignity and brought the gospel to them. The woman at the well became an evangelist to her own people (John 4). The parable of the Good Samaritan used a Samaritan as the moral exemplar (Luke 10:25-37). And in Acts 8, Philip preached the gospel in Samaria with great success. The Samaritans, despite their incomplete Bible and theological errors, were not beyond the reach of God’s grace.
Today, a tiny community of Samaritans still exists—only about 800 people living near Mount Gerizim and in Holon, Israel. They still worship according to their ancient traditions and still use their Pentateuch. They remain a living link to the biblical past, even as they remain outside the faith of Jesus the Messiah.
Conclusion
The Samaritan Pentateuch is neither a threat to biblical authority nor an alternative Scripture. It’s a valuable textual witness that, when used carefully, helps confirm the reliability of the Pentateuch and occasionally illuminates difficult passages. We handle it the same way we handle any textual evidence: with discernment, recognising both its value and its limitations, and always measuring it against the received text that has been preserved and passed down through God’s providence.
The existence of multiple textual traditions—Masoretic, Samaritan, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls—might seem unsettling at first. But actually, it’s reassuring. These traditions agree on the overwhelming substance of Scripture. Where they differ, careful study can usually determine the best reading. And through it all, God’s Word has been preserved—not in a single miraculous manuscript, but through the faithful transmission of multiple communities who, despite their differences, treasured the same sacred text.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
Bibliography
- Tov, Emanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. 3rd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012.
- Würthwein, Ernst. The Text of the Old Testament. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
- Tsedaka, Benyamim, and Sharon Sullivan. The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.
- Brooke, George J., and Barnabas Lindars, eds. Septuagint, Scrolls and Cognate Writings. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992.
- Crown, Alan D. The Samaritans. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989.
