Holly'sWorld2.0

May 3, 2026 (Gregorian calendar/Day 122)
Sunday, 25 Meyazya 2018 (Ethiopian calendar/8th month)
Ziw (Zif) זו 10 (Enochian calendar/2nd month/Bright flowers)
~ Omer 15
11 May, 2026 (International Fixed calendar)
Spectral Moon 11, Seli 2 (13 Moon calendar/Waning Gibbous moon)
~ Spectral Serpent Moon of Liberation, May 2nd – May 29th
Willow Moon: April 15 – May 12 (Celtic 13 Month calendar)
Month of the Planting Moon…A na a gv ti (Cherokee Moon)
13.0.13.10.1 10 Imix 14 Wo’ (Mayan Long Count calendar)
Wordsmith Day, Naked Gardening Day

…an 8 minute read

Preamble:
“Its time to thank the Samaritans for their respect for scripture! The Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) is the oldest Paleo-Hebrew Bible manuscript in the world. Although the extant copy is 1065 AD the Samaritans acquired it from Josiah around 610 BC. Samaritan theology venerates Joshua’s altar on Mt. Gerizim at Shechem and rejects all scripture except for the first five books of Moses. (Torah). Although there are up to 6000 variants in the Samaritan Pentateuch when compared to the Masoretic, most of these are minor and orthographic which do not change the meaning like spelling, word forms and emphasis. Below, we have documented 665 of the most significant variants between the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) and Masoretic Text (MT) where entire words or sentences are either changed, added or absent. Yet the Samaritan Pentateuch agrees in these 665 places with the Septuagint (LXX) and/or the Dead Sea scrolls (DSS) but disagrees against the Masoretic Text 100% of the time! Specifically, there are 471 verses where the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) and Septuagint (LXX) are identical but different from Masoretic Text (MT). There are 154 Dead Sea Scroll verses that are identical with the Samaritan Pentateuch against the Masoretic Text, 89 of the 154 are identical to both the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) and the Septuagint (LXX) against the Masoretic Text (MT). There are 40 Samaritan Pentateuch Harmonizations (text from one location in the Torah replicated into a new second location) also witnessed in Dead Sea Scrolls against both the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic Text (MT).

““Raphael Weiss, the brilliant scholar of the relation between the LXX Greek translation of the Pentateuch and the SP, discovered, after relentless counting, that in 1,900 differences of the LXX from the MT the text of the LXX is identical with the SP. There are some 6,000 differences between the SP and MT, approximately 50 percent of them orthographic, so it remains that the 1,900 differences between LXX and MT are in the actual text and style of the writing. This means that the LXX is much closer to the SP than to the MT. This leads to the conclusion that the translators of the LXX had before them, among many of the most ancient manuscripts of the Pentateuch up until their time (the third century B.C.E.), texts that were closer in content to the SP and were likely similar to those found in Qumran Cave 4, written in the same script that Jewish writers called “Samaritan Hebrew.”

“We know the Samaritans at the time of Christ accepted the widely believed eschatological view that there was 6000 year limit for the age of the earth followed by the coming of the “prophet” who executes judgement, defeat of enemies and eternal blessing. Using only the Torah, there are only three Messianic passages to instruct the Samaritans about the coming messiah: Genesis 3:15; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 18:18–19. While there were differences in details with the Jews of how the Samaritans viewed the coming Messiah, the Samaritans shared a common expectation which Jesus of Nazareth fit perfectly. The inspired record in John 4 of the messianic expectation of the woman at the well in John 4 demonstrated four key points of Samaritan belief:

~ The most famous “variant” in the Samaritan Pentateuch is Deut 27:4 which reads that Joshua’s altar was to be built on Mt. Gerizim against both the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masoretic Text (MT). (See: Deut 27:4: Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Gerizim.)
~ It was inevitable that the hated “pagan half-Jews” who rejected David, Jerusalem and the prophets would be universally accused of changing the text. But that all changed with the newly discovered Dead Sea Scroll fragment of Deuteronomy [27:4B-6] that reads that Joshua’s altar was on “Mt. Gerizim” not Mt Ebal.
~ So the Samaritans have been wrongly accused of changing the text of their Bible to support their anti-Jerusalem ideology until the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
~ So we need to thank the ancient Samaritans for their high respect for scripture and perhaps forgive them of their historic trespasses. Without them, we would not be in possession of the oldest paleo-Hebrew Torah on earth.

1.       An anointed one (Messiah) Jn 4:29 + Numbers 24:17
2.       A prophet Jn 4:19 + Deut 18:18
3.       A proclaimer of truth: John 4:25-26 + Deut 18:18
4.       A savior of the world to crush enemies: John 4:42 + Numbers 24:17

This messianic expectation among the Samaritans is further proven by the rise of three exclusively SAMARITAN false messiahs:

1.       30 AD: Dositheus the Samaritan, (Tertullian, Adv. omn. haer. 1, 200 AD)
2.       36 AD: “Simon Magus” the sorcerer of Acts 8 36 AD: Acts 8:5–11
3.       36 AD: Unnamed False Messiah (Josephus, Antiquities 18.84-89, 36 AD)

~ The New testament records large numbers of Samaritans converting to Jesus in John 4 and Acts 8.

Quick facts about Samaritan Pentateuch (SP):
~ The Samaritan Pentateuch is found in four ancient manuscripts
– 1065 AD: Abisha Scroll is the most prized Torah scroll of the Samaritans housed in the synagogue at Nablus
~ The Samaritan Pentateuch or Samaritan Torah (Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut) is the only books in the Bible that the Samaritans consider inspired. The Samaritans reject Joshua to Malachi as scripture but us the first five books of Moses exclusively
~ It is both the ONLY and the OLDEST Paleo-Hebrew bible manuscript of the Torah known to exist on earth apart from a few Dead Sea scroll fragments
~ The Samaritans acquired their copy from Josiah after he found the book of the law (Torah) in 623 AD.
~ The Samaritan Pentateuch is closer in text to the Septuagint (LXX) than the Masoretic text. (MT)
~ Unique readings and organization of the Samaritan Pentateuch have been validated by Hebrew Dead Sea Scrolls
~ The Samaritan made fewer changes in their Bible over time than the Jews did like Ezra in 458 BC at Jerusalem and Rabbi Yose ben Halafta in 160 AD at Zippori

Brief chronological summary of Samaritan History:
1. 723 BC: Assyrian captivity of 723 BC
2. 670 BC: ORIGIN OF THE SAMARITAN PEOPLE: Mix of YHWH and Idolatry worship
3. 623 BC: Abisha Torah Scroll: 1065 AD: The Samaritan priest at Bethel acquires a Paleo-Hebrew copy of the Torah from Jerusalem.
4. 561-533 BC: The Great Samaritan conversion to Monotheism.
5. 536 BC: Decree of Cyrus to end captivity and allow Jews to return to Judea
6. 533 BC: Jews arrive in Jerusalem, rebuild the alter of burnt offerings on its old foundation and lay the foundation of the Temple in a smaller footprint size: Ezra 3:3-10
7. 533 BC: EZRA CREATES HIS OWN ENEMY: SAMARITAN VS. JEW WAR IS STARTED: Sincere Samaritans made a genuine offer to rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple but are rejected
8. 533 BC: SAMARITAN TEMPLE ON MT. GERIZIM BUILD:
9. 531-520 BC: Enemies, including the Samaritans, stop work on temple from time of Cyrus to 2^nd year of Darius I: Ezra 4:4-7,24
10. 520 BC: The prophets Haggai and Zechariah order the Jews to resume building the temple: Ezra 5:1
11. 516 BC: Ezra 6:13-18: Jerusalem temple is completed
12. 486-465 BC: Ezra 4:6: Enemies hinder Jews rebuilding city of Jerusalem during the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus): 486-465 BC
13. 465 BC: Ezra 4:7-16: The Samaritans (in part, see Ezra 4:10) hinder Jews rebuilding city of Jerusalem during the reign of Artaxerxes I: 465-423 BC.
13. 465 BC: The Samaritan Jewish Torah wars become intense:
15. 458-445 BC: EZRA TRANSLATES PALEO-HEBREW BIBLE INTO “ARAMAIC HEBREW” MANUSCRIPTS AMONG THE JEWS:
16. 458-445 BC: EZRA creates minor variant changes in the text of the Torah to counter Samaritan arguments favoring Mt. Gerizim
17. 458 BC: Ezra was the resident expert on the Law of Moses with his brand new “Aramaic Hebrew” bible manuscripts
18. 445 BC: Neh 6:5: Jerusalem City walls rebuilt
19. 333 BC: Large number of Samaritans deported to Alexandria Egypt:
20. 333-323 BC: Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim rebuilt and enlarged:
21. 282 BC: The Septuagint Torah is translated from the Aramaic (square) Hebrew manuscript:
22. 250 BC: Samaritan Synagogue: Synagogue on Delos Island in Greece In 250 BC, the Samaritans built one of the earliest synagogues known to exist.
23. 150 BC: Samaritans begin to make three kinds of changes in the Samaritan Pentateuch:
24. 111 BC: Destruction of the Samaritan temple in 111 BC by John Hycranus: Josephus Antiquities 13.254–256
25. 30 AD: The Samaritans in the New Testament: Jn 4; Acts 8
26. 67 AD: 11,600 Samaritans at Mt. Gerizim are killed by the Romans: (Josephus Wars 3.307–315)
~ See also: Detailed outline on Samaritan history

here’s an exerpt:

GENESIS 1: 1-4

	1 בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ 2 והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים 3 ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי אור 4 וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב ויבדל אלהים בין האור ובין החשך 5 ויקרא אלהים לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד: :<— —
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was waste and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. 3 And God said: “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

I don’t know why it won’t let me put them side by side, it is what it is…

part 2 coming soon

hope you have a great day!
thanks for stopping by!!