“ …the Torah, held to be the most ancient of histories,
existeth today in three separate versions: the Hebrew, considered authentic by
the Jews and the Protestant clergy; the Greek Septuagint, which was used as
authoritative in the Greek and other eastern churches; and the Samaritan Torah,
the standard authority for that people. These three versions differ greatly,
one from another, even with regard to the lifetimes of the celebrated figures.
In the Hebrew Torah, it is recorded that from Noah's flood
until the birth of Abraham there was an interval of two hundred and ninety-two
years. In the Greek, that time span is given as one thousand and seventy-two
years, while the Samaritan, the recorded span is nine hundred and forty-two
years. Refer to the commentary by Henry Westcott [the transliteration of this
name is not certain] for tables are supplied therein which show the
discrepancies among the three Torahs as to the birth date of a number of the
descendants of Shem, and thou wilt see how greatly the versions differ from one
another.