James VanderKam, University of Notre Dame, USA
The essay summarizes and evaluates the manuscript and other evidence for the Book of Jubilees in the several ancient languages through which the text certainly or probably passed: Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, Latin, and Ethiopic. When all of the evidence is examined and its limits recognized, it is reasonable to conclude that the only fully extant version of Jubilees—the Ethiopic—is a reliable reflection of the original Hebrew version of the book.
Siam Bhayro, University of Cambridge, England
Compared to the other textual witnesses, the Greek chronicle source of Syncellus preserves several longer readings. Modern scholars are often willing to accept these additional elements as being genuine, but it is questionable whether this is justified. Beginning with the Syriac chronicle tradition, with specific attention given to recent work on Michael the Syrian, and continuing with the Greek Byzantine chronicle tradition, specifically Syncellus, the methodological uncertainty surrounding the chronicles is highlighted, in particular the often-covert use of Jubilees to supplement the source being excerpted. Attention is pain to one particular addition present in Syncellus, namely that the angels were seduced by human women, and how accepting this non-Enochic element dramatically changes how other verses are interpreted.
Michael Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Almost all scholars have viewed Jubilees as the work of a single author. The rewritten narratives, juxtaposed legal passages, chronological framework, and additional material, such as various testaments throughout the book, have been compared to Genesis and Exodus, with any differences attributed to one author. Attempts to describe the literary development of the book as a whole have been by and large unconvincing (cf. Wiesenberg and Davenport). Recently, some scholars have identified a few short passages in Jubilees that stand in tension with or even contradict other verses in Jubilees (Dimant, Kister, Ravid).
The present study adopts a new approach to the study of Jubilees, in light of numerous contradictions throughout the book, between the rewritten stories on the one hand, and the juxtaposed legal passages and chronological framework on the other. Ten instances of such contradictions are presented here. Based upon these discrepancies, and on the observation that they always present themselves between the rewritten texts and one of the other genres, it is suggested here that the rewritten narratives were not composed by the author of the legal and chronological passages. Rather, the editor of Jubilees adopted these texts after they had already been reworked, and used them in the composition of his work. The contradictions between the editorial sections, and the rewritten passages that were included, result from the different provenance of the various texts.
John Bergsma, Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA
This paper evaluates the relationship between Jubilees and the early Enochic works (Astronomical Book and Book of the Watchers). The criteria for dating the respective works is reviewed, confirming the soundness of the consensus that Jubilees postdates both the AB and BW. The parts of Jubilees influenced by each work are examined, demonstrating that the author of Jubilees uses both works with considerable freedom, adapting their content to fit his theological program.
Daniel Falk, University of Oregon
A shared tradition in the Book of Watchers, 1 Enoch 106–107, Jubilees and the Genesis Apocryphon dates the “sons of God” incident of Genesis 6:1-4 to the “days of Jared.” But there are also other traditions reflected in 1 Enoch relating the descent of the Watchers to Enoch’s life, to Lamech’s life before the birth of Noah, and to a time during Noah’s lifetime. Because of the overlap in the dates of these figures, these are not necessarily all incompatible, but they do reflect divergent traditions. This paper will explore the interpretative concerns behind the various traditions of dating the descent of the Watchers.
Matthias Henze, Rice University, USA
The purpose of this paper is to compare two Early Jewish writings, Daniel and Jubilees. The comparison revolves around three aspects shared by both books: the authors' apocalyptic expectations, their use of biblical exegesis, and the heptadic chronologies in both books. While all three of these aspects are central to both Daniel and Jubilees, they are developed to different ends entirely. As we gain a better understanding of the contours of the Jewish communities of the second century BCE, a comparative reading of the extant literature may help to cast into sharper relief the distinct strands of Early Jewish thought and their development over time, less than a century prior to the emergence of the Dead Sea sect.
Karoly Dobos, Budapest, Hungary
The scholarly world has been aware of the discrepancies between the chronological dates of the Bible and those of the Jubilees for a long time. The prevailing tendency among the scholars was to harmonize (in some way or the other) the two systems. In my opinion there is no need to this harmonization. Using the Abraham pericope of the book, I try to prove the totally independent character of the chronological system of the book. Besides being independent, this chronology has a strong internal logic. This logic – in my view – is based entirely on theological premises. It anticipates the logic of the later day category: midrash. Middle Judaism could be seen as a continuum, and not only synchronically but also diachronically.
James Scott, Trinity Western University, Canada
Despite the fact that the chronologies of the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Book of Jubilees are obviously different in many ways, I have attempted to argue in my book, On Earth As in Heaven: The Restoration of Sacred Time and Sacred Space in the Book of Jubilees (JSJSup 91; Leiden: Brill, 2005), that the chronological system of the Book of Jubilees is indeed influenced by the chronology of the Apocalypse of Weeks, and that therefore the Apocalypse of Weeks can be used cautiously to fill in some of the gaps of the post-Conquest era that Jubilees mentions but does not explicitly periodize.
To compare the chronologies of the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Book of Jubilees, an examination of their broader contexts is invaluable. In my previous study, I restricted the scope of comparison rather narrowly to a consideration of the OT and Jewish contexts of the respective chronological systems of our two texts, to the virtual exclusion of other relevant comparative materials. Yet, all Jewish writings of the Hellenistic period, even ones that originated in Palestine, such as the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Book of Jubilees, are Hellenized to one degree or another. This, of course, is the famous thesis of Martin Hengel, who presented the case for “Palestinian Judaism” in his seminal work, Judentum und Hellenismus, encompassing the span of time from the early Hellenistic period to the middle of the second century bce. On the basis of a thorough analysis of Jewish sources, Hengel provides some generalizations about the nature of the Jewish culture that resulted from the engagement of Judaism and Hellenism, including most notably for our study a fascination with universal history, an interest in patterns in history, and a general universalistic tendency.
However, as we continue to build on Hengel’s foundation, our research must be conducted on a much broader basis, including in the analysis not only Jewish sources but non-Jewish ones as well. To this end, the purpose of the present paper is to offer some preliminary considerations on both of these essential points with respect to a comparison of the chronologies in the Apocalypse of Weeks and the Book of Jubilees. As we shall see, setting these two writings in the broader context of Hellenistic chronology tends to highlight their similarity to each other and hence to increase the probability of the influence of one on the other.
Christoph Berner, University of Göttingen, Germany
In my paper I try to show that reconstructions of a comprehensive chronology have little, if any support from the text of Jubilees. The tension between the announcement of a revelation on the entire course of history and the actual end of the historical review with the events on Mount Sinai is solved best by means of literary criticism. Only through the addition of Jub 1:5-28, 23:14-31 and 50:5, and through interpolations in Jub 1:4.29 and in the prologue, Jubilees became a revelation that encompasses history from the very beginning to the very end. It should, however, not be overlooked that these additions, which may well date from the early phase of the Qumranic movement, remain strikingly silent about the precise heptadic structure of history after the 50th jubilee. Instead of constructing – rather than reconstructing – a universal chronology, one should focus on the only explicit chronological information that allows for an eschatological interpretation: the 40 years predicted in Jub 50:4 could give the readers all information necessary to interpret their own situation as a second period in the wilderness, in which the chosen ones of Israel could fulfill the preconditions of eschatological salvation by strictly observing the law.
Esther Eshel, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
This paper traces some literary-conceptual parallels between three ancient Jewish compositions. Although these parallels do not provide conclusive evidence that both ALD and the Genesis Apocryphon are older than Jubilees, I argue that the weight of the evidence shows that Jubilees was at least familiar with the traditions in these works, and probably with these works themselves. I base this conclusion on various literary and topical parallels between these sources, both where I was able to show scribal mistakes whose original readings were found in either ALD or the Genesis Apocryphon, as well as ideological alterations made by Jubilees in line with its worldview. These ideological changes appear in the cultic instructions delivered to Levi by Isaac, which Jubilees shifts to Abraham delivering to Isaac, as well as in the story of Noah – in both the division of the world to his sons and in the mapa mundi. I also postulated that Jubilees’ reference to Noah’s righteousness may have been grounded in the two-ways imagery of other works, of the Genesis Apocryphon in particular.
In the discussion of the world map I argued that the Genesis Apocryphon preserves the oldest map, and that Jubilees documents its later usage. I reached the same conclusions regarding Jubilees’ use of the two-ways imagery. Integral to the Genesis Apocryphon’s depiction of Noah is his walking in the right way, and divine guidance keeping him away from the wrong path. Jubilees reflects a short reference, both linguistic and conceptual, to this portrayal. This reference to the two-ways imagery in connection with Noah suggests that the author of Jubilees was familiar with Noah’s biography as depicted by the Genesis Apocryphon.
Henryk Drawnel, Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
This short paper is divided into two parts. The first part discusses the concept of scribal craft as it appears in priestly didactic literature. The meaning of the term spr does not exclusively denote the knowledge of reading and writing, but also refers to much more complex set of priestly and scribal knowledge studied by priestly apprentices. Metrological learning of the Visions of Levi together with astronomical calculations of the Aramaic Astronomical Book make part of this scribal curriculum resumed by the term under discussion. Arithmetical learning of these documents was not invented by priestly scribes in Israel but borrowed from Babylonian scribal tradition. The second part of the paper succinctly explains the origins of the Enochic literature seen from the standpoint presented in the first part of the article. The origins of this literature are sought in Babylonian scribal craft and celestial divinatory practices in ancient Mesopotamia.
Yuri Stoyanov, The Kenyon Institute, Israel
Lawrence Schiffman, New York University, USA
The relationship of Jubilees and the Temple Scroll is complex. The two texts share a common calendar, but have different theologies, contents, in some cases sacrificial laws, and express differing ideas about eschatology. This does not, however, mean that the texts are unrelated. They both belong to the common culture and tradition of a group of sectarian groups to which our Qumran sectarians, the author of the sources of the Temple Scroll, and the author of Jubilees belonged. Common teachings and aspirations united these groups. Further, Jubilees and the Temple Scroll are both forms of rewritten Torah, one rewriting what we might call (borrowing rabbinic terminology) the “aggadic” parts of the Torah and the other rewriting the halakhic parts of the Torah. But the relationship between these documents is certainly not as close as, say, the relationship between the Temple Scroll and 4QMMT. In my view, the Temple Scroll was put together mostly from pre-Qumranian Sadducean type legal sources and the book of Jubilees emerged from similar circles. However, these are certainly not compositions of the same group, be it the Qumran sect or some predecessor.
Benjamin Wright, Lehigh University, USA
At an initial glance, Jubilees and Jewish wisdom literature would appear to have little in common. This situation contrasts with a work like 1 Enoch that has numerous similarities to Jewish wisdom. Yet, the formal differences are probably not as important as the ways that Jubilees and a wisdom text like Ben Sira resolve shared problems, such as authorizing their interpretations of Mosaic Torah. In this paper, I look at Jubilees and Ben Sira in order to examine these ways that they approach some common issues. (1) The construction of the reader as the child of the sage (in wisdom texts) or the narrative author (in narrative texts). By framing teaching as being passed from the father of the text to the reader as a child, an author creates an obligation on the reader’s part to adopt the values and ideology of the text. (2) As Jubilees authorizes its own halachic teaching by claiming that its contents were revealed to Moses from heavenly tablets that existed long before the Torah, so Ben Sira looks to Wisdom as that preexisting authorization for his teaching. (3) Both Jubilees and Ben Sira construct the scribe as the ideal guardian of an authorized tradition that the scribe then transmits in the present.
Andrei Orlov, Marquette University, USA
The paper provides conceptual background for the idea of the angel of the presence as the heavenly counterpart of Moses in the Book of Jubilees and the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian. The identity of the celestial scribe in the form of the angel of the presence found in the Book of Jubilees and some other Second Temple materials might further our understanding of the enigmatic process of mystical and literary emulation of the exemplary figure, the cryptic mechanics of which often remains beyond the grasp of our post/modern sensibilities. It is possible that in the traditions of heavenly counterparts where the two characters of the story, one of which is represented by a biblical exemplar, become eventually unified and acquire a single identity, we are able to draw nearer to the very heart of the pseudepigraphical enterprise. In this respect, it does not appear to be coincidental that these transformational accounts dealing with the heavenly doubles of their adepts are permeated with the aesthetics of penmanship and the imagery of the literary enterprise. In the course of these mystical and literary metamorphoses, the heavenly figure surrenders his scribal seat, the library of the celestial books and even personal writing tools to the other, earthly identity who now becomes the new guardian of the literary tradition.
Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, Crichton College, USA
Similar to many groups during the late Second Temple period, the movement related to the Dead Sea Scrolls (of which only a remnant group resided at Qumran) held some definitive views on a number of issues. Issues ranged from purity regulations to worship practices. Moreover, there was a lack of unity among the variant communities of this period regarding some common issues. With regard to the movement related to the scrolls, its views are reflected in a number of literary texts, as is highlighted throughout the corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among this corpus is found (1) Biblical material, (2) Pseudepigrapha material and (3) sectarian material. Particular works from the former two literary collections suggests possible authoritative material to the movement. Several scholars note one text in particular as having authoritative status, the book of Jubilees.
Although it is probable that Jubilees was composed as a pre-sectarian text, the number of manuscript copies found at Qumran, as well as the fact that its contents and title (book of the divisions) are referred to within sectarian writings, attest to the work’s authoritative influence among the movement related to the scrolls. This paper will further consider this idea (the authoritative status of Jubilees) through examining various cultic halakah in Jubilees that correlate with sacrificial halakah in the Dead Sea sectarian writings.
Lester Grabbe, University of Hull, UK
The aim of this paper is to find comparable aggadic and interpretative material in Jubilees and in the Samaritan tradition for purposes of comparison. Jubilees is unlikely to be a Samaritan work, but it could well have traditions in common with those preserved in Samaritan writings. Surprisingly, Jubilees often has nothing close enough to Samaritan tradition to make comparison possible. However, a number of different topics were found sufficiently parallel to make comparison possible. For the most part the detail was rather different in the two traditions. Nevertheless, several parallels were found. The question is how significant these are. Does this show common Jubilees/Samaritan traditions or modes of interpretation? An opinion is expressed (a detailed summary is found in the article itself), but more work remains to be done in this little-plowed field.
Luca Arcari, University of Naples, Italy
The paper analyzes the links between the Watchers myth and the problem of intermarriage in Jubilees. The author of Jubilees seems to connect the Watchers myth to the other episodes in which the author speaks about the problem of intermarriage. Intermarriage is the symbol of a mixtum compositum and this impurity is the mirror for all the mixtures between the “saints” and the “others”.
Helge Kvanvig, University of Oslo, Norway
The paper analyses the relationship between Neh 8-10, the Book of Watchers and the Apocalypse of Weeks with particular regard to the temple and the torah. In the analysis the categories master narrative, counter-story and alternative story are introduced to clarify what kind of intertextuality we are dealing with. Instead of reconstructing a Mosaic Judaism Neh 8-10 is chosen as an example of a master narrative within the Mosaic discourse. The Book of Watchers seems to relate to this Mosaic discourse in different ways concerning the temple and the torah. It contests the legitimacy of the Jerusalem priesthood, while it shows disregard or ignorance toward the Mosaic torah. The Apocalypse of Weeks displays all the traits of a counter-story to master narratives belonging to the Mosaic discourse. In comparison to Neh 8-10 it can be shown that the two narratives share many of the basic elements, but the plot is changed in the Apocalypse in the way that both the legitimacy of the second temple and the Mosaic torah discourse is contested.
Grant Macaskill, University of St Andrews, Scotland
The description of the sin of the angels in the Book of the Watchers 6-16 appears to contain a parallel or allusion to the closing chapters of Ezra and to mirror the latter’s concern with priestly marriage. Such a parallel is interesting, given that Boccaccini assigns these books to the opposing groups of Enochic and Zadokite Judaism. The point is all the more interesting when it is noted that the Ezran ban on intermarriage is based on a distinctive halakhic strategy rather than a unique textual tradition. This paper examines that strategy before proceeding to note the assumption of an ethical/purity standard in the Book of the Watchers that is nowhere specified. Given that the standard seems so similar to that of Ezra, it is suggested that there may have been much more common ground between Enochic and Zadokite Judaism than Boccaccini suggests and that the groups may have held in common a substantial portion of the traditions that would ultimately become part of the Mosaic Torah.
William Gilders, Emory University, USA
This paper builds on existing studies to explore the place and significance of covenant in the book of Jubilees. Covenant is a central concern of Jubilees, as is indicated by the covenant-emphasis in the work’s first chapter. At the same time, covenant is characterized by Jubilees as the enactment rather than the source or basis of God’s relationship with Israel and Israel’s elect predecessors. God’s relationship with Israel pre-existed the covenant. The relational character of covenant in Jubilees is reflected in the emphasis on sacrifice as that which establishes the context for covenant-making. The provisions of the covenant are given to allow Israel to realize its identity as a people chosen to have a unique relationship with God. They assimilate Israel to the heavenly realm.
Gianantonio Borgonovo, Northern Italy Theological Seminary, Italy
The Book of Jubilees(= Jub) has a concordious perspective concerning the most troublesome problems of the Henochic tradition. Jub could be interpreted as an attempt to maintain present all the factors involved in these problems: the divine omnipotence and the influence of the Devil and his hosts (which must be independent of God, but at the same time subject to Him); the divine project ab aeterno with the theme of “celestial tablets” and the future of history; the freedom of man and his constraints; the condition of impurity and the possibility of salvation…
Regarding the problem of the origin of evil, the contribution of Jub would therefore be the attempt to reconcile the two opposite solutions already in existence: the narrative of the fallen angels (see the Henochic tradition) and the sin of the first human couple (see Genesis). In the end of the Middle Judaism period, the version of Genesis emerges victorious, even though the apocalyptic version maintains a certain vitality, subordinated however to the “canonic” version, as attested to in the Christian patristic works. The narrative of the fallen angels remained alive also because the mytheme could be retraced, with some historical role, also in other biblical pages (see Is 14 and Ez 28).
Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan, USA
Far from being a nostalgic Zadokite, the author of Jubilees voiced a group of priests who like the earlier Enochians had no appreciation whatsoever for the role of the House of Zadok in the early Second Temple Period and no regret for their demise, but faithful to the Torah did not want to give up the uniqueness and effectiveness of the Mosaic covenant with Israel and leave evil in full control of this world. At the center of their revolution was the concept of the Heavenly Tablets, as the common heavenly Urtext from which both Mosaic and Enochic traditions originated. The presence of this heavenly archetype allowed them to take what they deemed was the best of both Moses and Enoch. By making the covenant part of God’s eternal order, they gave Israel a sacred haven surrounded by strong protective walls, a niche of safety as long as they would keep themselves separated from the rest of the evil world. Unlike the Enochians they believed the Israelites were not defenseless but were given rules—a new halakha—to follow which could effectively protect them from impurity and evil, as long as they would keep them. Unlike the Zadokites they did not have to maintain against all evidence that this world was God’s perfect world.
In the aftermath of the Maccabean revolt they hoped to become the new leadership in the Temple and in the Judean society. They did not succeed, but did not give up either. As Essenes they would soon learn how to live separated from the rest of the people, as a minority, self-proclaimed party of “chosen among the chosen,” if not as the sect of the only “children of light.”
The book of Jubilees was their creed and public manifesto, their religious and political platform. The document is a synthesis of Mosaic and Enochic traditions, where both components were given equal dignity. In this sense Jubilees, being both Mosaic and Enochic, should not be labeled a work of either Zadokite or Enochic Judaism, but the beginning of a new, autonomous form of Judaism.
Dorothy Peters, Trinity Western University, Canada
This paper explores the literary re-contextualization of Noah traditions within the Book of Watchers and of Enoch and Noah stories within the Mosaic book-ends that form the beginning and ending of Jubilees. The scope and timing of revelation to Enoch, Noah and Moses in Jubilees is assessed and is suggestive of a brief window of revelation during the third month into “open heavens” within the context of sacrifice and covenant renewal. At this time, God paid particular attention to his peoples’ prayers, blessings and actions and could be expected to communicate at least a partial revelation. Rather than being melted and merged in Jubilees, revelatory divine speeches to Enoch, Noah and their descendents are distinct tesserae, carefully defined and bordered within Mosaic Torah. Fresh revelation might still come to post-Enochic figures but, apart from the revelation given to Moses, was time-limited, offered on a “need-to-know” basis and only when required for obedience in the immediate future. Enoch remained sequestered in Eden as a kind of honorary emeritus revealer but the active work of transmitting revelation for day to day living based on Torah was now fulfilled by Moses. In Jubilees, Noah becomes the first human test case, a “first priest” and exemplar for Torah-obedient Jews and Moses is elevated over Enoch as the properly credentialed and most authoritative revealer.
Jacques Van Ruiten, University of Groeningen, Netherlands
This paper concentrates on the early life of Abram, the passage from his birth until his departure from Haran (11:14-12:27) in view of the demonstrable use of sources and traditions. Because of the internal contradictions within 11:14-12:27, attention is paid to the question of coherence. The passage can be divided into twelve pericopes on the basis of structure and use of words (11:14-15; 11:16-18; 11:19-22; 11:23-24; 12:1-8; 12:9-11; 12:12-14; 12:15; 12:16-17; 12:18-22a; 12:22b-24; 12:25-27). These individual pericopes are bound together in four textual subunits (11:14-15; 11:16-12:8; 12:9-15; 12:16-27). The subunits are bound together on the basis of the theme that Abram at an early age renounces the services of the many gods and their idols, and he testifies of his belief in the one and true God. The fight against idolatry is related to the fight against the demons, and both are rooted in the broader context of Jubilees. In the last part of the paper, the question of the demonstrable use of sources and traditions is addressed. The analysis has shown that the text of Jub. 11:14-12:27 is guided to a large extent by Gen 11:26-12:3, as far as content and sequence are concerned, although only in a few pericopes can one actually show the biblical text that is rewritten (11:14-15; 12:9-11; 12:12-15; 12:22-24). The relationship of the other pericopes to the biblical text is not explicit, although some clues in the biblical text (gaps, etymologies) explain some portion of the additions. Adaptations of the biblical text can be seen as the activity of the author of Jubilees (see especially the changes in the genealogical entries and in the chronological structure). In a few cases, it was possible to show that the author was influenced by older traditions with regard to the text of Genesis, and with regard to the theme of idolatry and demons.
Hindy Najman, University of Toronto, Canada
Andreas Bedenbender, Germany
In order to push forward the analysis of texts produced in early Judaism, the category “rewritten Torah” should be restricted to literature written with the aim to oust or to replace the Torah as a whole, or at least certain parts of it. We know only very few cases of that kind – and the Book of Jubilees definitely doesn’t belong to them.
Ahron Shemesh, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
The title “Miscellaneous Rules,” given to 4Q265 by J. Baumgarten in his edition of the scroll published in DJD 35, reflects his reluctance to give a unifying interpretation to the scroll’s content and structure. This article concentrates on fragment 7 of the scroll that poses special difficulties. In contrast to the other fragments, which deal with one subject in a defined genre, fragment 7 includes references to a wide range of subjects using different genres, all in very close proximity. The author argues that this fragment (and probably the entire scroll) is a reworked version of Jubilees chapters 2-3, done in the same fashion as the scrolls known as “Reworked Pentateuch.” In its concluding section the article deals with the consequences of this finding on our understanding of the status of Jubilees in Qumran.
Calum Carmichael, Cornell University, USA
Instead of viewing biblical rules in terms of a relationship between law and society, we should view them as responses to issues that arise in the literary sources incorporated into Genesis-2 Kings. Jubilees exemplifies this practice of relating rules to issues in the biblical narratives. The chronological scheme in Jubilees is probably inspired by a biblical precedent: the law of the sabbatical years and the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25) serves to recall a period in world history, namely, the seven years of famine in Egypt and the climactic loss to the Egyptians of their land and personal freedom. Issues in Genesis-2 Kings that arise before and after the time of Moses are taken up in a number of biblical rules and some of these rules prompt, in turn, the author of Jubilees to reshape an assortment of biblical narratives in Genesis. Those narratives involving the patriarchs he recasts so that they emerge in a better light than in the biblical Genesis. Because the biblical rules prompting the reshaping are critical of patriarchal conduct, he refrains from explicitly referring to them.
Lutz Doering, King's College London, UK
Jubilees acknowledges both “ritual” and “moral” purity and impurity. While issues of “moral” (im)purity, particularly sexual transgression and intermarriage, take literary and ideological precedence, the laws of the parturient (Jub. 3:8–14), the notion of sexual intercourse as ritually defiling (no sex in Eden, cf. 3:6, 34, and on the Sabbath, 50:8), purity as required for Passover (49:9), priestly ablutions (21:16), timely consumption of second tithe (32.10–14), and dietary laws (pure and impure animals, 32:8) should not be overlooked. Jubilees remains within the parameters of its setting (Mt. Sinai) and the narrative it reworks (Gen to mid-Exod). Thus, the Temple as the main referent of defilement is largely absent. When it comes into view, however, we find the references to “ritual” (im)purity mentioned. Traditio-historically, (im)purity in Jubilees is on a trajectory from H to Qumran, sharpened by the notions of “holy seed” and “priestly kingdom” (Ezra 9:2; Exod 19:6), which leads to application of H’s provisions for zenut to all Israel; in this, Jubilees is close to ALD, 4QMMT, and probably 4QTQahat, 4Q225 (=4QpsJuba) and 4Q513. There are material traditions on “ritual” impurity shared with 4Q265, 11QTa and ALD. The links with Enochic tradition are more limited in range: “moral” impurity caused by the Watchers; and similarities in the expectation of an earth cleansed of impurity. Like the Sabbath, purity is a powerful identity marker in Jubilees.
William Loader, Murdoch University, Western Australia, Australian Research Council
The author examines what light his research on attitudes towards sexuality might shed on Enochic and Mosaic tradition in Jubilees. After a brief summary of what Jubilees has to say about sexuality, the paper notes three different levels at which to ask the question. Within the world depicted by the angel’s narrative, teaching concerned with sexual wrongdoing has been passed on down from Enoch and some reaches to Adam. Within the narrative world created by the author, the angel derives authority for such instruction from the heavenly tablets. Within the world of historical reconstruction we recognise that the author’s account depends heavily both on the narratives of Genesis and early Exodus and their reworking, and on the instructions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, reflecting a particular emphasis on sexual wrongdoing. This includes exposure to it through intermarriage with Gentiles, and resultant defilement which is both moral and cultic in its effects (people and temple). Despite its use of the Enochic Watcher myth, Jubilees makes minimal use of it to address these concerns. Nor, however, did the writers of early Enoch literature. Despite its characters’ claims Jubilees’ concerns with sexuality do not appear to derive from Enochic tradition.
Jonathan Ben-Dov, University of Haifa, Israel
The calendar in the Book of Jubilees reflects both an acceptance of the Jewish 364-day calendar tradition and divergence from it. The divergences are dependent upon several unique principles of the author, which compelled him to produce an idiosyncratic calendrical construction. In order to reveal the author's unique ideology, Jubilees is compared with 1 Enoch, the Temple Scroll, 4Q252, Qumran Calendars and the chronography of Syncellus.
The author of Jubilees is, on the one hand, deeply committed to septenary models of time reckoning, even in matters where other authors normally avoid them, mainly in the 'weekly' definition of the year in 6:29-30. However, this author ignores the septenary principles when discounting the days of the week and the Sabbath in the narratives. Following Baumgarten, it seems that the author of Jubilees prefers placing the harvest festivals on the four cardinal days of the year, instead of basing them on a count of weeks, as in the Temple Scroll (Jub 7:1=2, 29:16, 32:12-13). Accordingly, Jubilees gives exceptional value to the four cardinal days of the year. This is seen when comparing the flood narrative in Jubilees to that of the Genesis Commentary 4Q252.
In contrast to the elegant division of the year in to weeks, it is not entirely clear how the 364-day year in divided into months. Following Liora Ravid it is suggested that the four cardinal days in Jubilees were not counted as days no. 31 in months III, VI, IX, XII, as in the Qumran calendar, but were rather left standing between the seasons (cf. 29:16) and outside the reckoning of months.
Another unique trait of Jubilees is the outright declaration in favor of a solar calendar and against the lunar factor in time reckoning (2:9, 6:36). This idea is by no means necessary in the Jewish 364-day calendar tradition; instead it reflects a unique ideology of the author. The background for this ideology is preliminarily traced. Finally, the idiosyncrasies of Jubilees' calendar are not to be accounted for by assuming foreign influence on the author, specifically not Egyptian influence, since the Egyptian year is conceptually different from the 364-day year. Rather, the unique traits recorded above are all a result of the author's non-conformist nature and special ideology.
Stephen Pfann, University of the Holy Land, Israel
Loren Stuckenbruck, University of Durham, England
Bilhah Nitzan, emeritus, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
This paper deals with the implication of Moses’ prayer in Jubilees 1 in terms of the aim of the entire book, particularly in light of the apocalyptic revelation he received regarding the punishment of Israel for their anticipated violation of the Sinaitic covenant during the period of the First and Second Temples, and the possibility of their repentance. The hiding of God's face from Israel beyond the seventy years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah troubled Second Temple Jewry, as expressed in late biblical and apocryphal compositions. These texts mention that the repentance of certain circles of pious Jews during the Second Temple period could not be effective for Israel's salvation, because the predetermined term of God's anger at Israel had not been completed. Moses' prayer expresses his concern for his people in this situation, in which God’s continued anger facilitates their temptation by Belial, the evil spirit, to continue sinning. God's response to Moses' prayer includes sending the Angel of Presence to dictate the proper laws of the Torah that the people of Israel are to observe, as these were observed by their forefathers. These are the halakhic regulations contained in the Book of Jubilees, which are intended to correct the iniquities of Second Temple Jewry. Thus, the halakhic contents of Jubilees as dictated to Moses reflects the effective way in which Israel must repent in order to be entitled to salvation.
Betsy Halpern-Amaru, Vassar College, USA
The Book of Jubilees offers two treatments of Pesah and Massot. One, notably lacking detail, presents them fused within a single proto-festival, cryptically embedded in the Aqedah narrative (Jubilees 18). The other, highly detailed, develops them as independent, but consecutive, festivals that become manifest in the context of Israelite celebration of the proto-festival on the eve of the exodus from Egypt (Jubilees 49). Close examination demonstrates that the two presentations are closely integrated within a structural reworking of Exodus 12-13. The reworking eliminates repetition, harmonizes contradictions, fills narrative lacunae, and, through a system of allusions develops a Pesah statute (חקת פסח) that accesses the body of Torah Pesah legislation.
Crispin Fletcher-Louis, St. Mary’s London, England
The Book of Watchers is a typically pro-Jerusalem temple and Mosaic Torah apocalyptic text. Indeed, a careful consideration of all its key parts suggests that its content and order takes the reader through the sequence of festivals Torah prescribes for the New Year. Chapters 2-5 evoke the 1st of Tishri’s Day of Remembrance, chapters 10-15 evoke Yom Kippur and chapters 17-36 evoke the seven days of Sukkoth. Chapters 3-5 express an interest in matters pertaining to the Festival for the Offering of Wood known from the Qumran texts. Parallels between the content of the BW and material in Jubilees, and the cumulative effect of the New Year festival pattern in the BW, suggest that the two works share a similar Torah hermeneutic: both think that some festival laws revealed through Moses were known long before Sinai.
Stephane Saulnier, University of Notre Dame, USA
This short paper considers a particular aspect of the cultic cycle as it is expounded in the book of Jubilees. More specifically, the paper engages with the issue of the missing second Passover, and argues that the omission of the festival was by no means accidental on the part of the author of Jubilees. The first part of the paper highlights the ‘re-writing’ of Num 9:1-14, the only Pentateuchal passage to mention the mosaic legislation concerning the second Passover, by the author in Jub 49:1-14. The second part considers some possible explanations for the phenomenon. It is argued that the particular effort to evacuate this troublesome festival is best interpreted from the perspective of calendrical polemics of the period.
John Endres, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, USA
Eschatology is not a category frequently studied by students of the Book of Jubilees, with the notable exception of Gene Davenport’s monograph, The Eschatology of the Book of Jubilees. His work seems to emphasize the redactional character and composition history of the book more than the eschatological implications, which have since been neglected by the majority of scholars, who have rejected D’s view of the book’s composition.
This essay reviews some history of the development of the notion, eschatology, and draws together a composite list of features considered part of an eschatological work and then applies them to the two clearest examples of eschatology in the book: the divine message to Moses at Sinai (1:4b-29) and the Apocalypse (23:14-21). Each of these texts exhibits the four elements of the covenant-renewal pattern known from the Deuteronomistic writings (sin, punishment/ suffering, repentance, God’s saving acts) and the final aspect is expressed in terms common to eschatological thought. The article describes the eschatological tone of these elements and then concludes with a reflection, that this horizon (eschatological, and promising the final in breaking of God’s merciful saving acts) can offer a new lens for viewing all the narratives and regulations in this book, contained in the rewriting of biblical tradition, by the author of Jubilees.
Sam Thomas, California Lutheran University, USA
This paper seeks to consider the figure of Elijah as part of the discussion of the relationships among Mosaic torah, the Enochic literature (esp. the book of Jubilees), and some Qumran texts. I argue that the figure of Elijah is integrated (however silently) into the scheme by way of the Levitical covenant, the notion of an eschatological torah that is the deposit of specially-revealed esoteric knowledge, and by the expectation of a priestly reconciler among the community related to Jubilees and several of the Qumran Scrolls. Enoch and Elijah—who are the only two characters in biblical texts not to experience physical death—form the beginning and end of special revelation to the elect according to Jubilees and related works.
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward's University, USA
This paper explores the depiction of women in the Book of Jubilees and how these representations relate to those of women in the Enochic corpus. There is good reason to compare Jubilees with these texts associated with Enoch as Jubilees draws upon Enochic traditions in its rewriting of Genesis and Exodus. Women appear more prominently in the Book of Jubilees than they do in the biblical narratives. Roles of women familiar from the biblical texts are developed further or nuanced, or new female characters are introduced altogether. Moreover, female characters are significant for the Book of Jubilees because of the work’s concern with endogamy and the proper lineage. In contrast, women do not appear as prominently in Enochic literature. Given the complex nature of Enochic works which emerge from different contexts and indicate development in perspective and theology, it is challenging to speak of a single “Enochic view on women.”
Maxine Grossman, University of Maryland, USA
Recent work on constructions of gender in Jubilees has addressed the text’s attitudes toward sexual behavior, intermarriage, and ritual purity, as well as the treatment of female characters. Less attention has been paid, however, to the related construction of masculinity in the text, and to its framing of ideal manhood and what it means to be a man. Masculinity in texts from the ancient Mediterranean (including ancient Jewish sources) appears to be grounded in notions of control—a man’s control over his own body and desires, as well as social control over others. Jubilees assumes this premise of social control but incorporates an affective component into its understanding of ideal masculinity. A “true man,” like Jacob, is one who expresses his emotions, has close ties with his family and remains geographically close to them whenever possible, and embraces the values of justice and love. This construction of masculinity is visible in Jacob’s relationships with his grandfather, parents, and children. The account of Jacob’s flight to Haran and especially the account of his war with Esau serve as further exemplars of male behavior whose combination of emotional expression and personal control comprise a gender construction that might be understood as affective masculinity.
Annette Reed, McMaster University, Canada
This paper uses the angelology and demonology in Jubilees as a focus for exploring its relationship to Enochic and Mosaic traditions. Whereas Jubilees’ angelology is deeply indebted to Enochic traditions, I suggest that its demonology may be best understood as a development of biblical views of the satan and Deuteronomistic views of “the nations.” Where, then, do the fallen angels fit? In light of Jubilees’ identification of angels with Israel and demons with Gentiles, I propose that its depiction of fallen angels may be meant to speak, not to broader questions about the origins of evil, but rather to the specific case of Jews who adopt Gentile practices. Lastly, I explore the epistemological significance of its traditions about angelic teachings, proposing that the association of angels and revelation functions to present knowledge and chosenness as coterminous categories; accordingly, for the author of Jubilees, the question of the relative value of Enochic and Mosaic writings may be less pressing than the defense of the antiquity of the literary heritage of the Jews and the disenfranchisement of all non-Jewish writings from any possible connection to truth.
Ida Fröhlich, Catholic University Budapest, Hungary
Demons in Jubilees represent both natural and ethical evil. The idea of demons as agents of natural evil originates from the Enochic tradition of the Watchers, and from popular beliefs. Mastema as agent of ethical evil is a theological construction. Mastema is not a consistent character in Jubilees. In some passages he represents natural evil, while in others he stands for the instigator. Besides Mastema, other agents of ethical evil (Satan, Beliar) appear in the work. The eschatology of Jubilees is connected with the tradition of the Watchers. Enochic tradition, folk belief, scholarly explications, and traditions about Satan and Beliar—traditions of various origin—are merged and presented in the figures of the demons in the book of Jubilees, in a hierarchy and in a historical perspective.
Giovanni Ibba, University of Siena, Italy
This contribution raises the ‘impure demons’ of the Book of Jubilees as a link between the ‘evil spirit’ of Book of Watchers and the ‘spirits of the bastards’ of the Songs of the Sage. Also, it looks at other links with some parts of the War Scroll and the Wicked Woman.
Erik Larson, Florida International University, USA
The most common form of worship in the book of Genesis is sacrifice which is mentioned 12 times. In Jubilees sacrifice is even more prominent and is referred to 23 times. Close behind, though, is the blessing of God which appears 18 times. This number is quite striking since the same action occurs only twice in Genesis.
Study of the sacrificial passages in Genesis reveals a great deal of freedom in the who, how, and where of their offering. Jubilees, on the contrary, is much less free in its attitude towards these matters in line with its overall objective of establishing the norms of the Mosaic system as early in human history as possible. But beginning with the establishing of the covenant with Abraham, the author of Jubilees makes a real attempt to limit sacrifice to the chosen people and deny that gentiles have any right to participate.
If this is the situation with cultic worship, what about the appropriateness of gentiles worshipping God through blessing and praise? Two statements attributed to Noah and Abraham, Jub. 7:20 and 22:6, might seem to indicate that there is a universal right and obligation for all people to honor God in this way. However, these statements are counterbalanced by the omission of passages in Genesis where gentiles either worship God, or participate in worship offered by the patriarchs, and by negative assessments of the gentiles indicating their total inability either to apprehend or approach God.
Turning to the works that make up 1 Enoch, one is stunned to find that while blessing God is the activity most mentioned, occurring at least once in BW, BP, AB, BD and EE, and 26 times all totaled, sacrifice offered to God is never mentioned at all. This is quite in line with the general lack of concern towards the Mosaic Torah throughout the Enochic corpus. The difference between Enoch and Jubilees regarding sacrifice is quite noticeable.
A second point of disagreement is over the question of the gentiles offering praise and blessing. While certainly containing a great many passages condemning the nations of the world and foretelling their ultimate doom and destruction, a string of passages throughout the works making up 1 Enoch tell of a time when the gentiles will turn to God and bless him. This universalist viewpoint is unusual, perhaps being closest to statements found in Ps. 67:3-5 and 145:5. In any case, it offers a further point of contrast to the ideology of Jubilees.
Michael Daise, College of William & Mary, USA
Ritual in Jubilees has already begun to be broached, by James R. Davila. Davila is tracing the depiction and implications of ritual in Jewish literature that was preserved by Christians but let go by Jews; and, taking a cue from the work of Rob Kugler on ritual at Qumran, he is making a start by classifying rites attested in the OTP, OTA, Philo and Josephus under the six ritual genres outlined by Catharine Bell in her 1997 Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. My paper benefits from Davila’s work but treats of ritual in Jubilees from a different vantage point, also articulated by Bell elsewhere in her discussion—the organization of rites under ‘ritual systems.’ Bell defines ‘ritual systems’ as ‘how rites relate to each other’ within the array of rituals practiced by a group. Though this dynamic can and has been traced in several specialized ways, Bell notes that, at base, it can be done simply by ‘the identification of replicated symbols and gestures that create homologies among different ritual situations’; and it is from this starting point that I revisit the ritual attested in Jubilees. In this paper I sketch how the ostensibly disparate rites of berakah, Sabbath observance, Pesaḥ celebration and offering/sacrifice intersected in the mind of the Jubilees community through a common motif of ‘sensory gratification.’
Martha Himmelfarb, Princeton University, USA
Jubilees shares with the Book of the Watchers and other works of the Second Temple period two important and interrelated features that appear elsewhere in the tradition of merkavah mysticism: an understanding of heaven as temple and of a group of human beings as the earthly counterpart of the angels. Yet Jubilees uses the idea of the correspondence between heaven and earth, heavenly temple and earthly temple, angelic service and human service, to very different ends from other works in which these correspondences play a role. Jubilees understands not only priests but the entire people of Israel to be the earthly counterpart of the angels, an understanding opposed to the sectarian view in which only the pious constitute the true Israel.
Daphna Arbel, University of British Columbia, Canada
This paper addresses Enochic and Mosaic different models of revelations present in Jubilees and in 3 Enoch of late rabbinic/early medieval Judaism. In its first part, the paper proposes that Mesopotamian “scribal” divinatory concepts resonate in Jubilees and, in turn, contribute to its presentation of Enoch and his revelation as a parallel alternative to Moses and his Sinaitic revelation. Thus, reminiscent of divinatory models of revelation, Enoch’s revelation provides humankind with keys to continuing and direct access to God’s wisdom and cosmic wills. Moses’ revelation, on the other hand, provides the Jewish people with a demarcated normative and authoritative path of virtue. This presentation, the paper suggests, validates both the authority of Moses’ Sinaitic revelation as well as the authority of Enoch’s earliest universal revelation. In its second part, the paper proposes that a related tendency emerges in 3 Enoch in a later time. Without assuming linear dependency between the two sources, the paper suggests the continued development of several Early Enochic concepts. In particular, manner in which allusions to “scribal” divinatory stances accentuate the portrayal of Enoch and his revelation as a parallel alternative to Moses and his Sinaitic revelation.
Torleif Elgvin, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Norway
The paper interacts with the recent monographs by Elior and Alexander on the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and other mystical texts in the Qumran corpus. Pace Elior, a reflected concept of union between the earthly community and the heavenly temple was not a Qumran invention, it belonged to priestly temple circles in the pre-Maccabean period. Texts such as Words of the Luminaries, 11QPsaCreat, 4QapocrLevibar and 4Q301 (4QMystc?) testify to this mystical tradition, which would pave the way for further elaboration in the Yahad.
While Elior with other scholars see Ezekiel’s merkavah vision as the starting point of priestly mysticism and occupation with the heavenly realms, a number of biblical texts from the 1st temple period were formative both for Ezekiel and later mysticism:
Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Canada
Gerbern Oegema, McGill University, Canada
Although Jubilees focuses on God’s plan of creation from the beginning to the latter-day, neither eschatology nor apocalypticism (in the more technical sense of both terms) seems to play an important role in it. Its focus is what Israel can and should do in this world in order to become and remain a righteous people and a light for the nations. The book thus reveals a quite positive outlook on the possibility of achieving righteousness in this world, albeit a view possibly tempered by the concept of predestination. Its this-worldly approach is underlined even more by the total lack of any eschatological savior figure, let alone a messiah, due to a lack of a developed eschatology and messianology. In this light, the addressees of the book are clearly those in Israel, who consider themselves to be representatives of a true Israel, who can only remain truly Israel and cannot fall back to the Nations if they keep the Law of Moses and especially the Sabbath, no matter how hard the Seleucids may try to abolish and forbid this.
David Suter, St. Martin's University, USA
Jubilees 4:25-26 presents an image of Enoch as a priest offering the evening incense in a sanctuary. Noting the tendency of Jubilees to read the sacrificial practice of the temple back into the lives of the patriarchs in its rewriting of Genesis, I have previously argued that this image of Enoch as a priest offering incense in a sanctuary reflects the redactional interests of the author of Jubilees and should therefore be kept separate from the material in 1 Enoch in examining the role of temple, priesthood, and cult in the early Enoch tradition. This paper explores that conclusion in greater depth by examining the selective anachronism with which Jubilees presents Temple service, the idea of a sanctuary, and priesthood as a part of the world of the patriarchs. It concludes that the image of Enoch as priest is part of a systematic effort in Jubilees, beginning with creation and Adam, to portray Temple service and the idea of a sanctuary as a part of a cosmic harmony established in the beginning and to be restored at the end of days. This interest in sanctuary and sacrificial cultus stands in contrast to the early Enoch tradition, although Jubilees and the Enoch tradition share an interest in the issue of intermarriage and its effect upon the purity of the priesthood and the sanctuary.
David R Jackson, University of Sydney, Australia
The Book of Jubilees marks a watershed in the development of Enochic Judaism. Taking the Enochic literature that was then to hand, the author integrated the paradigm and exemplars of those works with the Torah narrative. In doing so he demonstrated a methodology inherent in them by which those exemplars could be seen to be replicated throughout the later experience of Israel. This methodology offered insight to the Torah, produced an internally consistent system, enabling those who would then heed this parenesis to repent and return to that order and purity of God’s design and so be restored to the elect righteous of the last days who alone would survive the coming Day of Tribulation. In so doing he set an exponential agenda for further research and parenesis that is reflected in many of the texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This methodology, while making absolute and exclusive claims, produced a self-correcting and resilient system focused not so much on the origins of evil, but on solutions to the apparent contradictions of the Jewish experience during the Second Temple Period.
Eyal Regev, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Jubilees and the Qumran sects share ideas of angelology, dualism, predestination, moral impurity, atonement, and strict cultic halakha. However, Jubilees does not represent a sect, but rather a reform movement. The Essenes and the yahad share several practices, the Essenes and the Damascus Covenant share some other practices. Nonetheless, they differ from the Qumran sects in posing further taboos on marriage, taking oaths and possessing slaves, and also tend to foresee the future in public in order to gain political power. The Essenes are not identical with the yahad and the Damascus Covenant and may have developed from both the yahad and the Damascus Covenant at a later period, when they regulated the practice of celibacy.
© 2007 Enoch Seminar