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Samaritan Exodus

Samaritan Penteteuch

About this book
Chapter 3

1 And Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 2 And the angel of Shema appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bush, and he looked, and, look, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not burned up. 3 And Moses said: “I will go over, and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn up.” 4 And when God saw that he went over to see, God called to him from the middle of the bush, and said: “Moses, Moses”. And he said: “Here I am.” 5 And he said: “Do not come near, take your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said: “I am the God of your ancestors,⁠ the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 And Shema said: “I have surely seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know his sorrow; 8 and I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 And now, look, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, also I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” 11 And Moses said to God: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And he said: “I will certainly be with you, and this shall be the sign to you, that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.” 13 And Moses said to God: “Look, when I come to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses: “I AM THAT I AM,” and he said: “You shall say this to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 And God also said to Moses: “You shall say this to the children of Israel, ‘Shema, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’. This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered through all generations. 16 Go, and gather the elders of the children of Israel together, and say to them, ‘Shema, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ‘I have surely observed you, and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the suffering of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey,’ 18 and they shall listen to your voice. And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, ‘Shema, the God of the Hebrews, has called upon us. Please let us travel for three days into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to Shema our God.’

19 And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you permission to go, except by a mighty hand. 20 And I will reach out my hand, and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in it, and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every man shall ask his neighbor, and every woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman staying in her house, for silver vessels, and gold vessels, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters, and you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Samaritan Exodus 3:6 and Acts 7:32

Samaritan · New Testament

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Summary

Acts 7, when quoting Exodus 3, differs from most Greek and Hebrew versions by using a plural form where others use the singular, a variation closer to the Samaritan Pentateuch. The author of Acts may have followed a Samaritan textual tradition.

Passages

Samaritan Exodus 3:6

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
4 And when God saw that he went over to see, God called to him from the middle of the bush, and said: “Moses, Moses”. And he said: “Here I am.” 5 And he said: “Do not come near, take your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said: “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 And Shema said: “I have surely seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know his sorrow;
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Exodus

Acts 7:32

New Testament
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, 32 ‘I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. 33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Acts

References

"... Acts 7:32: From the synopsis it is evident that each line differs slightly from the Old Testament source; however, presently it is part b which interests us. The Septuagint (also the Masoretic text, and Syriac versions) reads singular, while Acts presents the plural ... One could easily account for the difference between Acts 7 and the Septuagint in terms of the author's redactional activity ... The other solution - related to the source employed - could be seen in view of the plural reading of the Samaritan Pentateuch and its targum. Proponents of Samaritan theories readily appeal to this data. Once again, the textual evidence is impressive and points to a solution beyond the Samaritan traditions ..."
Earl Richard, “Acts 7: An Investigation of the Samaritan Evidence,” CBQ (1977): 190–208.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Samaritan Exodus 3:6 and Acts 7:32

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