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JUBILEES, BOOK OF

An important postbiblical Jewish writing telling the story of Israel’s origins and paralleling the narrative flow in Genesis and Exodus. Having been given a revelation at Sinai, Moses is instructed to “write it in a book,” the same task assigned later to the angel of presence; in each case its revelatory value is assured. Jubilees’ relation to the first two books of the Torah is so close that it has been designated as a text of “rewritten Bible,” a literary work which presents and adapts a biblical narrative tradition to address issues and problems important to the writer’s community. Generally, the author offers a new rendition, adding to the text, omitting aspects, or transforming its meaning by reordering the events of the tradition or refashioning the story. The author writes an adapted version of the stories of creation, the patriarchs (and matriarchs, especially Rebekah, who are more prominent here than in Genesis), and Moses’ activity in Egypt, including his leadership in a covenant with God and revelation of the Torah. Jubilees expands the biblical narrative in several ways, often including rationales for Israel’s festivals and laws in the early days prior to their official origin or the revelation at Sinai. This tends to collapse Israel’s religious history into a single and synchronic picture, thus avoiding a notion of gradual development of religion among Judaism’s forerunners. The rhetorical impact of this revelatory text strongly urges Jewish listeners to attend carefully to the living examples of their ancestors (noting how their actions led either to blessing or disaster). It also places the laws of Judaism into a more revered position because they are so ancient, even pre-Mosaic; and it presents a challenging position, since careful adherence to the laws is absolutely crucial to life together as a community. This work offers excellent witness to one method of early biblical interpretation, especially through its “contemporizing” exegesis, similar to a preacher exhorting a congregation.

Apart from citations in a Greek translation, Jubilees first became widely known in 1861 through an incomplete Latin translation of the Greek. Later an Ethiopic translation was discovered. Many scholars had hypothesized a Hebrew original, a position strongly bolstered by the discovery of 14 or 15 Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran, representing several texts of Jubilees.

Dates from the 3rd to mid-1st centuries b.c.e. have been argued, but most likely the book was written between 170 and 140 in Palestine. This dating invites a search for evidence of a Maccabean or a Hasmonean provenance, and the results are impressive, clearly suggesting an author and community which rejected assimilation to Hellenistic cultural mores and values (particularly regarding intermarriage with Gentiles among priestly groups, which the book strongly condemns). The author’s exegesis of the rape of Dinah (Gen. 34; ; Jub. 30) implies that the massacre of the Shechemite men was justified because of the rape of a young Jewish woman. This work offers hope for the vigilant, since it is a periodized history (jubilees of seven weeks of years [= 49 years]) which moves inexorably toward a revealed endpoint. The years are calculated according to a 364-day solar calendar, a favorite of certain priestly groups and also strongly evident in several Qumran documents. Thus we may consider Jubilees as part of the immediate literary prehistory of the Qumran group

The author apparently attempted to readjust the Enoch tradition’s view of evil among humans — due to the evil actions of the disobedient divine beings who descended from the heavens for sexual relations with earthly women (Gen. 6; ; Jub. 5) — by including also the story of Adam and Eve, their shame in the garden, and expulsion from Eden. Human obedience to God’s law is also a part of the system of covenants in Jubilees, all of which are basically the same and set out prescriptions for Jewish life from the earliest human periods. This book focuses attention on Abraham, less on Isaac, but especially on Rebekah and her central role in the era of Jacob and his family. She not only schemes for Jacob’s trickery, but she also gives him a formal blessing as he prepares for action (ch. 25). Later as her death approaches she strongly urges her sons toward fraternal love in a speech resembling a testament. Levi receives high praise; for his zeal at Shechem he receives appointment as priest (ch. 30), and when Jacob takes him to visit Isaac and Rebekah he receives an important blessing from his grandfather (ch. 31). When Jacob dies he hands on all his written documents so Levi might preserve and renew them for all his descendants (45:15).

Bibliography. J. C. Endres, Biblical Interpretation in the Book of Jubilees. CBQMS 18 (Washington, 1987); J. C. Vanderkam, Textual and Historical Studies in the Book of Jubilees. HSM 14 (Missoula, 1977); O. S. Wintermute, “Jubilees,” OTP 2 (Garden City, 1985): 35-142.

John C. Endres, S.J.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JUBILEES, BOOK OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)