Definition and Scope

The Samaritan Pentateuch is the Samaritan community’s form of the five books of Moses, written in Samaritan script and containing distinctive readings.

Historical Setting

Its textual history includes ancient agreements with some non-Masoretic witnesses, many harmonizations, orthographic differences, and readings connected to Samaritan worship at Mount Gerizim.

Primary Witnesses and Editions

Samaritan manuscripts, early citations, modern critical editions, Masoretic Hebrew, Dead Sea fragments, and ancient versions permit comparison. Exact claims should name the manuscript, edition, date, and relevant passage rather than appeal to a general label.

What the Evidence Can Establish

The witness can preserve old readings and illuminate Pentateuchal transmission. Its antiquity does not make every distinctive reading original or canonically controlling.

Confessional Relevance

It is a significant comparative witness but not the ecclesiastically received Hebrew text of the Reformed churches. Historical evidence serves the recognition and study of Scripture; it does not function as an authority above God speaking in Scripture.

Common Errors to Avoid

Do not treat every agreement with the Septuagint as proof against the Masoretic Text, or every Samaritan difference as deliberate sectarian alteration.

Research Questions

Further work should identify the principal primary sources, compare representative passages, record the history of printed editions, and distinguish established facts from editorial inference.

Related Resources

Begin with the Old Testament textual questions index, Principles and Method, and the Primary Source Catalogue.

Editorial Conclusion

The Samaritan Pentateuch should be studied carefully as a secondary witness whose readings are evaluated under, not over, the received Hebrew text.

Source Record

This page supplies the controlled editorial framework. Manuscript sigla, quotations, images, and numerical claims should be added only from a named catalogue, facsimile, or critical edition and should receive a dated revision record.