“... Auctor’s interest in the tabernacle instead of the temple could be said to reflect a Samaritan concern, since the Samaritans rejected the Jerusalem temple, and some Samaritan sources linked the tabernacle to Mt. Gerizim. Following a suggestion of P. Kahle, Scobie thinks that the apparent placing of the altar of incense inside the Holy of Holies in Heb. 9:3f. reflects a reading of the Samaritan pentateuch, in which Ex. 30:1–10 (the description of the incense altar) comes between Ex. 26:35 and 36 — ‘‘It follows immediately upon the description of the veil which separates off the Holy of Holies.’’ ...”

“... Most convincingly, it has been noted that Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 and Heb 9:3–4, which reflects Exod 26:31–33 and Exod 30:1–5, are based on a “pre-Samaritan recension” of the Pentateuch and at least show use of a text tradition that would come to be associated with the Samaritans. The ambiguity of the location of the altar of incense in the Hebrews passage, as opposed to the specific location in the temple as defined in the MT, would certainly cause less offense to the Samaritans. Scobie thinks that the Samaritan reading of Exod 30: 1–10 clarifies the confusion implied by a comparison between the book of Hebrews and the Masoretic reading of Exodus. In the MT, the golden altar of incense does not stand within the Holy of Holies as stated in the book of Hebrews and the SP. ...”