The similarities the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) shares with the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), as well as many similarities with the Septuagint (LXX), challenge the longstanding view that the Samaritan Pentateuch is a later, borrowed, and altered form of the Masoretic Text (MT). The historical devaluation of the Samaritan Pentateuch requires reevaluation, based upon the contextual cohesiveness of the Samaritan Pentateuch, agreement with the most ancient texts of the DSS and LXX, and the uninterrupted and non-dispersed oral transmission of the Ancient Israelite Samaritans.
The Samaritans claim their Torah is older and more authentic. They lived in one place for thousands of years and kept their Torah preserved.
The Israelite Samaritan people are one of the most ancient indigenous people, continuously living in the Middle East, counting their ancestry back to over 125 generations. The religious customs of the Israelite Samaritans have remained relatively constant for thousands of years. Their transmission of the Torah has been uninterrupted.
In the winter of 1947, a group of archeological specialists searching through 11 caves in Qumran happened upon the Dead Sea Scrolls. After rigorous study of the scrolls, researchers have come to believe there were several versions of the Torah being studied throughout Jewish history, according to Eugene Ulrich, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame.
“Finding the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that there were two versions, if not more, of the Torah circulating within Judaism, but they were all dealt with equal validity and respect,” said Ulrich, who served as one of the chief editors on the Dead Sea Scrolls International Publication Project. “The Samaritan Torah and Masoretic Torah used to be studied side by side. The Masoretic text wasn’t always the authoritative version. They were both seen as important during the Second Temple time period.”
