Deuteronomy 27:4

Hebrew Bible

2 When you cross the Jordan River to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover them with plaster. 3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you. 4 So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster. 5 Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones—do not use an iron tool on them. 6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.

Samaritan Deuteronomy 27:4

Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan

2 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: 3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. 4 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Gerizim, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. 5 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. 6 Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:

 Notes and References

"... Magnar Kartveit ('The Origin of the Samaritans') is of the opinion that the cult site on Gerizim provides the distinguishing mark for the origin of the Samaritan community: “The moment of birth of the Samaritans was the construction of the temple on Mount Gerizim.” He goes on to say, “A Samaritan identity must have developed long enough before the early second century B.C.E. to have spread into the diaspora.” Therefore, “we may confidently assume that the temple was erected in the Persian age”. The manner by which Kartveit identifies the beginning of the Samaritan community with the construction of a cult site on Gerizim only may not be sufficient. While it is certainly true that Samaritans worshiped at Gerizim, particularly in and following the Hellenistic age, all who worshiped at Gerizim may not have been Samaritan, particularly earlier than the Hellenistic age. If, as now appears probable, Deuteronomy 27:4 originally read “Gerizim” instead of “Ebal” in the pre-Samaritan texts, Gerizim is likely to have been visited by more than the Samaritan religious faithful ..."

Anderson, Robert T., and Terry Giles The Samaritan Pentateuch: An Introduction to Its Origin, History, and Significance for Biblical Studies (p. 16) Society of Biblical Literature, 2012

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