Additional information
by Marco Enrico de Graya (Author)
This text compares the Samaritan Torah with the Hebrew Masoretic Torah in the original language. The Samaritan Torah is reported with Hebrew characters. Both texts are written in the ancient version, without the vocalization. It is believed that the Samaritan Torah is the closest to the original Bible, written in the 6th century BC, that is, on the return from the 'Babylonian captivity'. Until that time there were only rolls (books) not organized in a prearranged canon. In the formation of the text, the rabbinate of Jerusalem excluded several books: Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch (the Torah, i.e. the first five books) attributable to Moses, plus the book of Joshua. The remaining books, accepted by the Jews, were not considered as inspired by God, in the opinion of the Samaritans, and therefore not deserving of becoming part of the Bible. The text includes Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar and Devarim. In this edition the content is printed according to Jewish usage.
