Samaritan Torah

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I’m wondering if anyone knows where I can get a copy of this, either online or in book form, in English?

I’m mostly curious because I came across an interesting passage - Ex. 34:5-8 last night. I was reading from a translation of the LXX, and found the word usage intriguing - it strongly implies a non-unitarian view of God. I checked against the original Greek in the Lancelot version of the LXX, and then I checked a translation based on the MT (NAB), and noticed the verse was quite different, rather unitarian, although at the same time not making much sense.

The LXX is of course an older text (oldest manuscript dating to c. 400 A.D., with origins in c. 400 B.C., while oldest MT is c. 1200 A.D. with origins c. 100 A.D.), but is a translation, so I’m curious what the Samaritan text says on this.
 
Yes doesn’t seem anyone here knows much about it. I read something about an English translation…
 
That doesn’t appear to be English inside. But that’s something like what I’d like. 🙂
 
I’m mostly curious because I came across an interesting passage - Ex. 34:5-8 last night. I was reading from a translation of the LXX, and found the word usage intriguing - it strongly implies a non-unitarian view of God.
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In this passage, God is revealing His 13 Attributes of Mercy. It in no way implies a “non-unitarian” view of God.
 
The LXX is, as it speaks of him in two senses, the MT isn’t.
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If you could provide the actual quote from the LXX, it might prove helpful in clarifying your question. Also, please define and explain what you mean exactly by a “non-unitarian” view of God.

The Jews to this day, and as evidenced throughout the Torah, believe in one God, theologically speaking. They do not believe in the Trinity, or in other, lesser gods. Idolatry was forbidden, though we see that, in some cases, even the Jewish people had difficulty not falling into idolatrous practices.
 
GerardMajella said:
If you could provide the actual quote from the LXX, it might prove helpful in clarifying your question. Also, please define and explain what you mean exactly by a “non-unitarian” view of God.
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My question is simply where one can get an English translation of the Samaritan Torah, the rest is just stating why I want it.
The verse in the LXX speaks of God in two senses, standing beside Moses, calling upon the Lord (as distinct from calling upon himself) and then passing by Moses while still standing next to him.
The MT says God stood beside Moses, called himself, and then passed by Moses, which doesn’t make much sense.

But as you requested, the SAAS translation of the LXX says (starting at verse 5) “Now the Lord descended in the cloud; and he stood with him [Moses] there, and he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed before his face and proclaimed…So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the ground and worshiped”, the implications of the verse are that there are two entities here. As you know the MT says otherwise, what I want to know is if the redaction which caused this happened after the LXX, or if it was part of the split that created the two known textual traditions. What the Samaritan version of the Torah says would answer this, since they use a document that doesn’t belong to either textual tradition, which wasn’t modified in the 1st century (as the MT was), and which we know hasn’t been altered to be pro Christian (as could have happened in the missing few hundred years to the LXX).
The Jews to this day, and as evidenced throughout the Torah, believe in one God, theologically speaking. They do not believe in the Trinity, or in other, lesser gods. Idolatry was forbidden, though we see that, in some cases, even the Jewish people had difficulty not falling into idolatrous practices.
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I know what Jews believe on the unity of God, that’s not the question.
 
My question is simply where one can get an English translation of the Samaritan Torah, the rest is just stating why I want it.
The verse in the LXX speaks of God in two senses, standing beside Moses, calling upon the Lord (as distinct from calling upon himself) and then passing by Moses while still standing next to him.
The MT says God stood beside Moses, called himself, and then passed by Moses, which doesn’t make much sense.
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God is simply proclaiming His Name, calling out to Moses, and teaching Moses the manner of prayer as He had promised in Exodus 33:19:

“He said: I shall make all My goodness pass before you (Moses), and I shall call out with the Name Hashem before you (Moses); I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy.” (Art Scroll Chumash, p. 507)

The whole purpose of this passage in Exodus 34: 5-8 is for God to reveal to Moses His Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. He is showing Moses the method and the text of the prayer that would always invoke His Mercy:

*"Hashem descended in a cloud and stood with him (Moses) there, and He called out with the Name Hashem. Hashem passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed: Hashem, Hashem, God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth; Preserver of Kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of Iniquity, Willful Sin, and Error, and Who Cleanses ---- but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

Moses hastened to bow his head toward the ground and prostrate himself."* (Art Scroll Chumash, p. 510-511).

There are not two (2) entities of God here — The passage is simply a conversation between God and Moses, with God explaining to Moses how to recite a prayer called the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy which is to be recited in times of crisis and calamity.

Matthew Henry corroborates this view:

“I. How God proclaimed His Name: He did it in transitu – as He passed by him. Fixed views of God are reserved for the future state; the best we have in this world are transient. God now was performing what He had promised Moses, the day before, that His glory should pass by (Ch. 33). He proclaimed the Name of the Lord, by which He would make Himself known…”
 
GerardMajella said:
God is simply proclaiming His Name, calling out to Moses, and teaching Moses the manner of prayer as He had promised in Exodus 33:19:

“He said: I shall make all My goodness pass before you (Moses), and I shall call out with the Name Hashem before you (Moses); I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy.” (Art Scroll Chumash, p. 507)

The whole purpose of this passage in Exodus 34: 5-8 is for God to reveal to Moses His Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. He is showing Moses the method and the text of the prayer that would always invoke His Mercy:

*"Hashem descended in a cloud and stood with him (Moses) there, and He called out with the Name Hashem. Hashem passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed: Hashem, Hashem, God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth; Preserver of Kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of Iniquity, Willful Sin, and Error, and Who Cleanses ---- but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

Moses hastened to bow his head toward the ground and prostrate himself."* (Art Scroll Chumash, p. 510-511).

There are not two (2) entities of God here — The passage is simply a conversation between God and Moses, with God explaining to Moses how to recite a prayer called the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy which is to be recited in times of crisis and calamity.

Matthew Henry corroborates this view:

“I. How God proclaimed His Name: He did it in transitu – as He passed by him. Fixed views of God are reserved for the future state; the best we have in this world are transient. God now was performing what He had promised Moses, the day before, that His glory should pass by (Ch. 33). He proclaimed the Name of the Lord, by which He would make Himself known…”
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Once again, I’m not asking for the Jewish interpretation, nor for interpretations based on the MT. I’m asking what the Samaritan Torah says.
 
I fully understand. I was simply explaining your confusion here where you state this:
The MT says God stood beside Moses, called himself, and then passed by Moses, which doesn’t make much sense.
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The passage is quite easily explained and shouldn’t cause any confusion to readers of this thread.

When you make statements implying even the possibility that there are “dualities” of God (or multiple deities), then you are misinterpreting Scripture.

I am only concerned with the readers of this thread starting to think that there are “multiple” gods based on your misinterpretation of the Masoretic text.
 
GerardMajella said:
I fully understand. I was simply explaining your confusion here where you state this:

The passage is quite easily explained and shouldn’t cause any confusion to readers of this thread.

When you make statements implying even the possibility that there are “dualities” of God (or multiple deities), then you are misinterpreting Scripture.

I am only concerned with the readers of this thread starting to think that there are “multiple” gods based on your misinterpretation of the Masoretic text.
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I never said it indicated multiple Gods, I said the LXX implied a non-unitarian view.
As for the MT it doesn’t make much sense, God comes and stands beside Moses and then passes him by so Moses cannot see his face? Why didn’t he just look at the face of God as he stood next to him? The whole purpose of passing him was so he couldn’t.
 
I never said it indicated multiple Gods, I said the LXX implied a non-unitarian view.
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Define “non-unitarian”.
As for the MT it doesn’t make much sense, God comes and stands beside Moses and then passes him by so Moses cannot see his face? Why didn’t he just look at the face of God as he stood next to him?
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God’s holiness was too strong for Moses to look directly at God. His holiness was way too powerful for a man, even one as great as Moses, to look at Him directly.
 
GerardMajella said:
Define “non-unitarian”.
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Non-unitarian would mean something along the lines of the trinity, where there are multiple entities with a single essence.
God’s holiness was too strong for Moses to look directly at God. His holiness was way too powerful for a man, even one as great as Moses, to look at Him directly.
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Then why was it necessary for God to cover Moses’ face as he passed if he was just going to stand right next to him beforehand?
 
Non-unitarian would mean something along the lines of the trinity, where there are multiple entities with a single essence.
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I just don’t see where there are multiple entities in the Masoretic text for this passage. It’s only God and Moses, and no one else. Unless you are looking at the text in some unusual, metaphorical sense. God calls out his own Name, “Hashem, Hashem”, as an introduction to a description of his Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. The first “Hashem” denotes God’s attribute of Mercy before a person sins, and the second “Hashem” denote God’s mercy after someone has sinned. There is not a third entity involved in the conversation between God and Moses in this passage.
Then why was it necessary for God to cover Moses’ face as he passed if he was just going to stand right next to him beforehand?
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We see in Exodus 33:20-23 that if Moses saw God face-to-face, Moses would die. God was too holy for anyone to see Him face-to-face:

"He said, “You will not be able to see My face, for no human can see Me and live.” Hashem said, “Behold! There is a place near Me; you may stand on the rock. When My glory passes by, I shall place you in a cleft of the rock; I shall shield you with My hand until I have passed. Then I shall remove My hand and you will see My back, but My face may not be seen.”

So, Moses could very well have stood next to God, but Moses could not look at God in the face, lest Moses should die.

God was wrapped in a tallis (prayer shawl) when He was teaching Moses the prayer in Exodus 34:5-8:

“This verse teaches that God wrapped Himself in a tallis (prayer shawl), and showed Moses the order of prayer. He said to him, “Whenever Israel sins, let them perform before Me this order of prayer, and I shall forgive them” (Rosh Hashanah, 17b). Maharel explains the significance of being wrapped in a tallis. A tallis around the head blocks out distractions and helps one concentrate on prayers. By appearing to Moses that way, God was teaching that when Jews concentrate on their prayers, God will reciprocate by concentrating on fulfilling their prayer requests. Thus, God showed Moses not only the text of the prayers, but the manner in which they should be recited…” (Art Scroll Chumash, p. 508)
 
GerardMajella said:
I just don’t see where there are multiple entities in the Masoretic text for this passage. It’s only God and Moses, and no one else. Unless you are looking at the text in some unusual, metaphorical sense. God calls out his own Name, “Hashem, Hashem”, as an introduction to a description of his Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. The first “Hashem” denotes God’s attribute of Mercy before a person sins, and the second “Hashem” denote God’s mercy after someone has sinned. There is not a third entity involved in the conversation between God and Moses in this passage.
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And I’ve repeated over and over, it is the LXX, which implies multiple entities. The MT is clear there is only one, although the actions of that one are confused.
So, Moses could very well have stood next to God, but Moses could not look at God in the face, lest Moses should die.
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God was wrapped in a tallis (prayer shawl) when He was teaching Moses the prayer in Exodus 34:5-8:
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Yes, that is quite clear. However God said he would cover his face as he passed by Moses, yet then he went and stood beside him, not covering his face at this point.
 
And I’ve repeated over and over, it is the LXX, which implies multiple entities. The MT is clear there is only one, although the actions of that one are confused.
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Let me read back to you what you stated earlier. You stated that this is what the LXX says:
But as you requested, the SAAS translation of the LXX says (starting at verse 5) “Now the Lord descended in the cloud; and he stood with him [Moses] there, and he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed before his face and proclaimed…So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the ground and worshiped”, the implications of the verse are that there are two entities here.
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Where do you see multiple entities?

Are you referring to the phrase, “and He called upon the Name of the Lord”? Again, this is simply the Lord calling out His own Name, as I noted and explained before in great detail. It’s only God and Moses, even in the LXX text.

I guess you are perfectly entitled to interpret the LXX text in any manner or way that you like, but I think you might be reading more into the text than what is really there. It’s a simple conversation between God and Moses, and nothing more.
Yes, that is quite clear. However God said he would cover his face as he passed by Moses, yet then he went and stood beside him, not covering his face at this point.
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God does not say in Exodus 33:20-23 anything about covering His face, nor covering Moses’ face. God says that he will shield Moses with His Hand until He has passed by.

Later, in Exodus 34:5-8, there is no mention of Moses looking in God’s face, even though God stands by Moses.

Also, remember, God was wearing a prayer shawl that would have covered His face when He was instructing Moses on the prayer of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. God could have been standing side-by-side next to Moses, showing Moses how to pray this particular prayer. Covered in a prayer shawl, Moses would not have been able to see God’s face.

We don’t see anywhere in this passage that Moses is looking into the face of God. Regardless of where God was standing in this passage, Moses could not have looked into God’s face or Moses would have died instantly. God gives clear instruction that no man can look at His face and live.
 
You interprete it in line with your tradition if you wish, I’m not going to debate it. My original question, however, remains unanswered.
 
I thought God did not have a physical body. Without a physical body how does this shawl thing make sense?
 
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