The Samaritan Pentateuch ()   The Samaritans, a Jewish sect residing (still) near contemporary Nablus and ancient Shechem, originated some time in the post-exilic period and accepted as their Bible only the Torah or Pentateuch. Their version of those five books is based on an old text type in evidence at Qumran (4QpaleoExod-m, Hasmonean-era [100-25 B.C.E.]), and exists today in some 150 known manuscripts dating from the 9th to the 20th centuries. The Samaritans themselves honor the Abisha Scroll (c.1149 C.E.) as their sacrosanct text, named for the great-grandson of Aaron who is credited with inscribing it. The Samaritan Pentateuch is somewhat different from what would become the standard Masoretic text; it has harmonistic expansions and linguistic simplifications not found in the MT.   Text von Gall, August F., ed. Der hebräische Pentateuch der Samaritaner. Giessen: A. Töpelmann, [1966] 1918.   Translations Sadaqa, A. and R.  Jewish Version, Samaritan Version of the Pentateuch.  Tel Aviv, 1961-1965.   Shehadeh, Haseeb.  The Arabic Translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch: Critical Edition with Introduction, Sources and Studies in Samaritan Literature.  Jerusalem: ha-Akademyah ha-leumit ha-Yisreelit le-madaim, 1977.   Studies Heller, Chaim.  The Samaritan Pentateuch: An Adaptation of the Massoretic Text.  Berlin: Buchdr. für fremde sprachen M. Schersow, Kirchhain, N. L., 1923.   Purvis, James D. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origins of the Samaritan Sect. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1968.   Pummer, Reinhold.  The Samaritans.  Leiden: Brill, 1987.   Waltke, Bruce K.  "Samaritan Pentateuch."  In Anchor Bible Dictionary (ed. David Noel Freedman; New York: Doubleday, 1992) 5.932-40. © 2017 Catherine Murphy, Associate Professor cmurphy@scu.edu   Dept of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053