Texts in Conversation
Leviticus 17 refers to sacrifices offered to “goat demons,” an argument against practices involving divine beings. The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “gates” instead, shifting the focus from those divine beings to sacrifices made at an improper location.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 17:7
Hebrew Bible
5 This is so that the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent—to the priest—and sacrifice them there as peace-offering sacrifices to the Lord. 6 The priest is to splash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 So the people must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, acting like prostitutes by going after them. This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.”’ 8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Samaritan Leviticus 17:7
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
5 So that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, so that they may bring them to Shema, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them as peace offerings to Shema. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Shema, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to Shema. 7 And they shall no longer offer sacrifices at the gates to which they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’ 8 And you shall say to them, ‘If any one of the house of Israel or of the foreigners who live among them offers a burned offering or sacrifice,
Date: 130–120 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Notes and References
"... Leviticus 17:7 In the Israelite Samaritan text it is written: “Sharem” = Gates, but in the Jewish Masoretic text it is written “Sherim” = Demon Goats. The latter does not make sense, because Shehmaa wants His sacrifice offered in a pure gate, like the gate of the tent of meeting, and not in a non-sacred public gate where even whores and prostitutes would be ..."
Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, trans. Benyamim Tsedaka (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 270.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,