Bible Dictionary
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH
The Samaritans possessed the Hebrew Pentateuch mentioned by Jerome, Eusebius and other so-called Church Fathers. In 1616 Pietro della Valle managed to buy a copy from the Samaritans of Damascus, which passed in 1623 to the Oratory Library in Paris.
By the end of the 18th century, another fifteen more or less complete copies had arrived in Europe, to which others would later be added. Morin (Morinus), who published the Samaritan Pentateuch in 1632, considered that the Samaritan text was far superior to that of the Masoretes (See MASORETES).
For almost two centuries there were controversies about this issue. In 1815, Gessenius, a famous Hebraist, having thoroughly examined the Samaritan text, declared that it was in fact much inferior to the Masoretic text, and of mediocre critical value.
The majority of the Samaritan scrolls, containing the complete Pentateuch or certain parts of it, are not considered earlier than the 10th century CE; one or two of them, preserved in Nablus (ancient Shechem) are considered older. The various Samaritan scrolls are written in characters analogous to those on the coins of the time of the Maccabees, which the Jews used before the introduction of square Hebrew, although there are differences.
The Samaritan text frequently differs from the Hebrew text of the Masoretes. In Deut. 27:4, Moses orders the people to set up, when they have crossed the Jordan, large stones on Mount Ebal, and whitewash them, to write the Law on them.
In order to increase veneration for their sacred mountain, the Samaritans replaced the term Ebal with Gerizim in their text; There are other minor variants. Most of them come from accidental scribal errors, although there are some that have to be attributed to deliberate alterations.
There are about 2,000 passages in which the Samaritan text agrees with the LXX and not with the Hebrew readings, indicating that the LXX translators worked with a Hebrew text closely analogous to that of the Samaritans.
The date on which the Samaritans came into possession, and the circumstances in which they did so, become a very interesting and weighty issue in the question of the antiquity of the Pentateuch.
According to an ancient tradition that is still very accredited, they copied it from a sacred writing that existed before the schism of 931 BC. (under Rehoboam). According to another tradition, the Pentateuch would have come to them with the priest in charge of instructing the settlers brought from Assyria to repopulate Samaria after the deportation of the Israelites, around the year 722 BC. (2 Kings 17:28).
It is also thought that the Samaritan Pentateuch may have been brought there by a renegade priest at the time of the construction of the temple of Gerizim (Ant. 11:7-8). But even accepting a date as late as that of Senballat and Manasseh, that is, the time of Nehemiah (cf. Neh. 13:28), there are important consequences regarding the antiquity of the Pentateuch:
This fact would not only certify that the Pentateuch already existed in its entirety then, but also that it was not and could not be a compilation of those times. Manasseh, who was of the line of the high priest, was excluded from this role because he refused to separate from his pagan wife as the Law demanded.
Instead of protesting against the Law as not genuine, he went on to maintain his yoke over his Samaritan supporters. This behavior can only be explained by Manasseh’s firm conviction of the genuineness of the Pentateuch. Be that as it may, the Pentateuch existed then, and was preserved in an independent copy line by the Samaritans.
The Samaritan Pentateuch should not be confused with a version of the Pentateuch in the Samaritan dialect of the early Christian era. The Samaritans also possess an Arabic version of the Pentateuch dated to the 11th or 12th centuries AD, and other biblical writings.
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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