The Manuscripts of the Old Testament – The Samaritan Pentateuch

Last week we looked at the important Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. This week we return to a Hebrew text – but one that only contains a small portion of the Old Testament. This important text is known as the Samaritan Pentateuch.

The Samaritans separated from the larger Jewish community sometime after the exile but before the time of Christ (between 586 BC and 0 BC). They were comprised mainly of those who had intermarried with Gentiles. They also developed a distinct version of the ancient Jewish faith. 

There were two major distinctions between the Samaritans and the rest of the Jews when it came to the Scripture. First, the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch as canonical, and they preserved their own version. Thus, they did not have the historical books, the Psalms and other writings, nor any of the prophets. This is why their version is known as the Samaritan Pentateuch – it only contains the first five books of the Old Testament.

Second, the Samaritan Pentateuch has many differences from the Masoretic text. Some of these can be traced to changes made by the Samaritans due to their own doctrinal distinctives. For example, the Samaritans rejected the Temple in Jerusalem, so naturally their version differs in places stating that the Temple was to be in Jerusalem! However, in other cases, the Samaritan Pentateuch is closer to the LXX or the Dead Sea Scrolls than the Masoretic Text. Thus it can assist in trying to determine the correct original Hebrew text.

Once again, I want to take a moment to state that all of this should not undermine but rather increase our confidence in God’s Word. We have a rich treasure of resources – far more than any other ancient historical work. Though it takes work, this rich treasure of resources enables us to compare the various ancient manuscripts and text families – all helping us determine what God has revealed to us. What a treasure we have in God’s Word!

In Christ,

Bret