02-26-2004, 04:15 PM
Greetings all,
I am new here. My name is Shimson bar-Tzadoq. I actually am friends with a few of the Samaritnas living in Hholon Israel. The Samaritans actually speak modern Hebrew, and some Arabic in normal conversations. Half of the community lives in Hholon and the other half on Mount Gerizim in Nablus (Palestian region). They still read the Torah in an ancient Hebrew text and their pronunciation of Hebrew is different than even Yemenite Jewish pronounciation. For example most Jewish Hebrew words that have a Hireq (ee) kind of sound in Samaritan Hebrew would have a Seghol (eh) kind of sound, and vice versa. There are other grammer differences like they have three pronounciations of Waw (Waw, Baa, and Va). They also have two pronunciations of Ayin, one silent and the other vocal. As an example the word Elohim in Samaritan Hebrew is pronounced Eluwwim (even though both are spelled Aleph-Lamed-Hey-Yod-Mem).
The Samaritans have a different history when it comes to the time of Joshua son of Nun up until the time of the 2nd Temple period. In terms of their acceptance of Torah only. This is kind of a misunderstanding that some times comes up. True they do only accept the Torah as a "Miqra" they do have books that are discussions and explanations of Torah and others that could be considered almost like mystic texts. Yet, for them these texts don't equal to Torah.
In terms of the differences between the Samaritan and Jewish Torah text there are 6,000 differences. The most glaring are concerning the chosen place. Their Torah states that "bahhar" (He chose) as compared to the Jewish text "yivhhor" (He will choose). The Samaritans say that Elohim, blessed He, had already chosen the Holy place (Mount Gerizim in Shehhem) and that Dawith was not supposed to make Tziyon the place.
I have two copies of their Torah and it does provide for some interesting reading. I actually have some connections with their community which sells copies of their Torah so if anyone wants a copy let me know.
Naim meod,
Shimson bar-Tzadoq
I am new here. My name is Shimson bar-Tzadoq. I actually am friends with a few of the Samaritnas living in Hholon Israel. The Samaritans actually speak modern Hebrew, and some Arabic in normal conversations. Half of the community lives in Hholon and the other half on Mount Gerizim in Nablus (Palestian region). They still read the Torah in an ancient Hebrew text and their pronunciation of Hebrew is different than even Yemenite Jewish pronounciation. For example most Jewish Hebrew words that have a Hireq (ee) kind of sound in Samaritan Hebrew would have a Seghol (eh) kind of sound, and vice versa. There are other grammer differences like they have three pronounciations of Waw (Waw, Baa, and Va). They also have two pronunciations of Ayin, one silent and the other vocal. As an example the word Elohim in Samaritan Hebrew is pronounced Eluwwim (even though both are spelled Aleph-Lamed-Hey-Yod-Mem).
The Samaritans have a different history when it comes to the time of Joshua son of Nun up until the time of the 2nd Temple period. In terms of their acceptance of Torah only. This is kind of a misunderstanding that some times comes up. True they do only accept the Torah as a "Miqra" they do have books that are discussions and explanations of Torah and others that could be considered almost like mystic texts. Yet, for them these texts don't equal to Torah.
In terms of the differences between the Samaritan and Jewish Torah text there are 6,000 differences. The most glaring are concerning the chosen place. Their Torah states that "bahhar" (He chose) as compared to the Jewish text "yivhhor" (He will choose). The Samaritans say that Elohim, blessed He, had already chosen the Holy place (Mount Gerizim in Shehhem) and that Dawith was not supposed to make Tziyon the place.
I have two copies of their Torah and it does provide for some interesting reading. I actually have some connections with their community which sells copies of their Torah so if anyone wants a copy let me know.
Naim meod,
Shimson bar-Tzadoq