4:20

this mountain: That is, Mount Gerizim. (See App. B10.) This mountain is mentioned four times in the Hebrew Scriptures. (De 11:29; 27:12; Jos 8:33; Jg 9:7) A Samaritan temple rivaling the one in Jerusalem was constructed on the mountain, perhaps in the fourth century B.C.E., and was destroyed by the Jews in 128 B.C.E. The Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Bible, and possibly the book of Joshua, but only their revised version, known as the Samaritan Pentateuch. It was written in their own characters, derived from ancient Hebrew. The text differs from the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible in some 6,000 instances. Most variances are minor details, but there are some major differences. For example, at De 27:4, “Mount Gerizim” is substituted for “Mount Ebal” as the place where the Law of Moses was to be written on plastered stones. (De 27:8) The obvious reason for this change was to give credence to the Samaritans’ belief that Gerizim was the holy mountain of God.