Samaritan Pentateuch (1 results)

Single leaf (maximum 275 x 320 mm). Hebrew manuscript in Samaritan script on vellum. God speaks to Moses and demonstrates His power to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt in this hitherto unpublished fragment from Exodus in Samaritan. Remarkably early among preserved manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch, it is also of imposing dimensions, deriving from a once imposing codex. - The text, in an admirably clear Samaritan hand, relates the conversation between Moses and God, the latter promising to deliver his chosen people "unto a land flowing with milk and honey". In response to Moses' questions, God gives demonstrations of His power, including turning Moses' rod into a serpent and back. When asked by Moses who he should say sent him, God answers "I am that am". - The earliest fragments of the Samaritan Pentateuch date to the eleventh century CE, but most of the manuscripts cited in the recent critical edition by Stefan Schorch date between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Our fragment, apparently dating to the middle of the twelfth century, thus has a place among some of the very first witnesses to the Holy Scriptures in the language of Samaria. - The Samaritan script appears to have evolved at some point after the fourth century CE on the basis of the Palaeo-Hebrew alphabet, which was used in the Davidic kingdom. Although earlier Samaritan inscriptions use the Aramaic or standard "square" Hebrew alphabet, the development of a system of writing based on the pre-captivity script was probably a development meant to assert a separate Samaritan identity against a broader Jewish tradition which was rejected. - In contrast to Jews, Samaritans only regarded the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch or Torah) as canonical. The Samaritan Pentateuch includes a number of smaller variants from the Hebrew Bible, often agreeing more closely with the text of the Septuagint, in addition to the more substantial difference of mandating worship on Mount Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem. - A defining moment in Biblical history and a testimony to the endurance of one of the most ancient Israelite communities. Also, an extreme rarity: Rare Book Hub lists only two other sales of Samaritan Pentateuch leaves from the twelfth century, in 2021 and 1978 at Sotheby's. - Irregular edges, stained and worn. Three small holes in leaf plus marginal loss but text overwhelmingly present. Overall in good condition for a fragment of this age. - 1) Pacific School of Religion, Badé Museum of Biblical Archaeology, Berkeley, California. - 2) De-accessioned in 2013 as part of the sale of the Howell Collection of Bibles and other theological rarities. - 3) John Windle, San Francisco. - 4) European private collection. - Cf. S. Schorch (ed.), The Samaritan Pentateuch: A Critical Editio Maior. I: Genesis (2021), III: Leviticus (2018), Exodus forthcoming. B. Tsedaka & S. Sullivan (eds.), The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah (2013). A. D. Crown, Samaritan Scribes and Manuscripts (Tübingen, 2001).…