The Asatir

The Asatir (Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses), was translated by Dr. Gaster and published in 1927. He claims it was compiled around the middle or end of the third century B.C., and is the "oldest book in existence of this kind of literature." This edition also contains The Pitron (Samaritan Commentary) and the Samaritan Story of the Death of Moses. "The best way to describe the Asatir is to call it a Midrash, Aggadah, or legendary supplement to the Pentateuch. Unlike other Apocrypha with which it has much in common, the author does not attempt to retail anew the sacred history and to present it in a specific form, and with a deliberate tendency. He is content to leave the sacred scripture as it stands, without meddling with its narrative and without trying to readjust the events recounted therein, according to a certain preconceived system either legal or astronomical."