The Samaritan Pentateuch, sometimes called Samaritan Torah,
(Hebrew: תורה שומרונית torah shomroniyt), is a version of the
Hebrew language Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible,
traditionally written in the Samaritan alphabet and used by the
Samaritans. It constitutes their entire biblical canon.
Samaritan practices are based on their version of the Five Books
of Moses, which is slightly different from the Masoretic text or
the Greek Septuagint texts. Some six thousand differences exist
between the Samaritan and the Masoretic text. 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. Nearly two thousand textual variations from
the Masoretic text agree with the Septuagint and some are shared
with the Latin Vulgate. Throughout their history, Samaritans
have made use of translations of the Samaritan Pentateuch into
Aramaic, Greek and Arabic as well