Samaritan Pentateuch

The Samaritan Pentateuch is the textual form of the Torah preserved by the Samaritan community. It contains the same five books as the Jewish Torah but differs in language, spelling, and arrangement at numerous points. Some differences reflect interpretive tradition, while others support distinct Samaritan theology, most notably the emphasis on Mount Gerizim as the chosen place of worship. The Samaritan Pentateuch represents an independent textual tradition that developed alongside, not from, the later standardized Hebrew text. It is important for studying the history of the Torah, showing that multiple authoritative textual forms existed in antiquity.