Is the Samaritan Pentateuch a Sectarian Text?

Full title
Is the Samaritan Pentateuch a Sectarian Text?
Research notes

MDE/reader Checked/29/11/2015

Reference type
Author(s)
Gallagher, Edmond L.
Year
2015
Journal / Book Title || Series Title
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Volume
127
Issue / Series Volume
1
Pages
96–107
Work type
Label
30/11/2015
Abstract

Scholars routinely describe the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) as a sectarian text, owing to the presence of a few variants in the SP in comparison with the Masoretic Text (MT). These particular readings are thought to highlight the Gerizim cult in a way peculiarly appropriate to Samaritanism and inappropriate for Jewish texts. But scholars now interpret some of the most prominent »sectarian « elements of the SP as not sectarian at all, even while continuing to label the SP tendentious and sectarian. This paper examines the reasons for applying these terms to the SP and queries the usefulness of describing it in this manner.