Most are minor variations in the spelling of words or grammatical constructions, but others involve significant semantic changes, such as the uniquely Samaritan commandment to construct an altar on Mount Gerizim. Some six thousand differences exist between the Samaritan and the Jewish Masoretic Text. It dates back to one of the ancient versions of the Hebrew Bible that existed during the Second Temple period, and constitutes the entire biblical canon in Samaritanism.
The Samaritan Torah ( Samaritan Hebrew: ࠕࠦࠅࠓࠡࠄ, Tūrāʾ), commonly called the Samaritan Pentateuch, is a text of the Torah written in the Samaritan script and used as sacred scripture by the Samaritans.
