Chapter 3 The Mosaic Torah among the Samaritans: The Tablets from Divine Essence
In: The Challenge of the Mosaic Torah in Judaism, Christianity, and IslamSearch for other papers by Magnar Kartveit in
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Abstract
The Pentateuch enjoys a special status among the Samaritans. It constitutes all of Scripture, and is considered divine. We know of some 750 manuscripts, dating from the second millennium CE. They represent a text type with expansions, which has been discovered also among the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the pre-Samaritan manuscripts. They come from ca. 250 BCE to the turn of the eras. This article studies the relation between these manuscripts and the Samaritan manuscripts. It turns out that the latter reflect one type of pre-Samaritan texts, namely those which only employ Pentateuchal text for the expansions. It is possible to trace the textual family to which the Samaritan Pentateuch belongs, and its nearest siblings.