The Samaritans in Recent Research

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Samaritans in Recent Research

We now know from the Dead Sea discoveries that texts similar to the Samaritan Pentateuch were circulating together with texts that foreshadow the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. No “sectarian” differences are present in these manuscripts, which means that the so-called pre-Samaritan texts were used side by side with the other versions. Thus, in its substance, the Pentateuch was common to Yahwistic Samarians and and Yahwistic Judeans long before the Samarian Yhwh worshipers parted company with the latter.

See Also: The Samaritans: A Profile (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016).

By Reinhard Pummer
Department of Classics and Religious Studies
University of Ottawa
December 2015

PaleoJudaica has endless posts on both the ancient and the modern Samaritans. See, for example, here and here and follow the links. Or, for much more, run "Samaritans" through the search engine.