The Book of Jubilees
From "The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament"
R.H. Charles
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913
INTRODUCTION
1.
SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK.
The Book of Jubilees is in certain limited aspects the most
important book in this volume for the student of religion.
Without it we could of course have inferred from Ezra and
Nehemiah, the Priests' Code, and the later chapters of
Zechariah the supreme position that the law had achieved in
Judaism, but without Jubilees we could hardly have imagined
such an absolute supremacy as finds expression in this book.
This absolute supremacy of the law carried with it, as we
have seen in the General Introduction, the suppression of
prophecy -at all events of the open exercise of the
prophetic gifts. And yet these gifts persisted during all
the so-called centuries of silence-from Malachi down to N.T.
times, but owing to the fatal incubus of the law these gifts
could not find expression save in pseudepigraphic
literature. Thus Jubilees represents the triumph of the
movement, which had been at work for the past three
centuries or more.
And yet this most triumphant manifesto of legalism contained
within its pages the element that was destined to dispute
its supremacy and finally to reduce the law to the wholly
secondary position that alone it could rightly claim. This
element of course is apocalyptic, which was the source of
the higher theology in Judaism, and subsequently was the
parent of Christianity, wherein apocalyptic ceased to be
pseudonymous and became one with prophecy.
The Book of Jubilees was written in Hebrew by a Pharisee
between the year of the accession of Hyrcanus to the high
priesthood in 135 and his breach with the Pharisees some
years before his death in 105 B.C. It is the most advanced
pre-Christian representative of the midrashic tendency,
which has already been at work in the Old Testament
Chronicles. As the Chronicler had rewritten the history of
Israel and Judah from the basis of the Priests' Code, so our
author re-edited from the Pharisaic standpoint of his time
the history of events from the creation to the publication,
or, according to the author's view, the republication of the
law on Sinai. In the course of re-editing he incorporated a
large body of traditional lore, which the midrashic process
had put at his disposal, and also not a few fresh legal
enactments that the exigencies of the past had called forth.
His work constitutes an enlarged Targum on Genesis and
Exodus, in which difficulties in the biblical narrative are
solved, gaps supplied, dogmatically offensive elements
removed, and the genuine spirit of later Judaism infused
into the primitive history of the world. His object was to
defend Judaism against the attacks of the hellenistic spirit
that had been in the ascendant one generation earlier and
was still powerful, and to prove that the law was of
everlasting validity. From our author's contentions and his
embittered attacks on the paganisers and apostates, we may
infer that Hellenism had urged that the levitical ordinances
of the law were only of transitory significance, that they
had not been observed by the founders of the nation, and
that the time had now come for them to be swept away, and
for Israel to take its place in the brotherhood of the
nations. Our author regarded all such views as fatal to the
very existence of Jewish religion and nationality. But it is
not as such that he assailed them, but on the ground of
their falsehood. The law, he teaches, is of everlasting
validity. Though revealed in time it was superior to time.
Before it had been made known in gundry portions to the
fathers it had been kept in heaven by the angels, and to its
observance henceforward there was no limit in time or in
eternity.
Writing in the palmiest days of the Maccabean dominion,in
the high-priesthood of John Hyrcanus, looked for the
immediate advent of the Messianic kingdom. This kingdom was
to be ruled over by a Messiah sprung, not from Levi -that
is, from the Maccabean family, as some of his contemporaries
expected- but from Judah. This kingdom would be gradually
realized on earth, and the transformation of physical nature
would go hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man
till there was a new heaven and a new earth. Thus, finally,
all sin and pain would disappear and men would live to the
age of 1,000 years in happiness and peace, and after death
enjoy a blessed immortality in the spirit world.
2.
VARIOUS TITLES OF THE BOOK.
Our book was known by two distinct titles even in Hebrew.
(a) Jubilees
(b) The Little Genesis
(c) Apocalypse of Moses and other alleged names of the book.
(a) Jubilees. This appears from Epiphanius (Haer. xxxix. 6)
to have been its usual designation. It is found also in the
Syriac Fragment entitled 'Names of the Wives of the
Patriarchs according to the Hebrew Book of Jubilees,' first
published by Ceriani, Mon. sacra et profana, ii. 1.9-10, and
reprinted by the present writer in his edition of The
Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book of Jubilees. This name
admirably describes the book, as it divides into jubilee
periods of forty-nine years each the history of the world
from the creation to the legislation on Sinai. The writer
pursues a perfectly symmetrical development of the heptadic
system. Israel enters Canaan at the close of the fiftieth
jubilee, i.e. 2450.
(b) The Little Genesis. The epithet 'little' does not refer
to the extent of the book, for it is larger than the
canonical Genesis, but to its character. It deals more fully
with details than the biblical work. The Hebrew title was
variously rendered in Greek. 1 [(Gk.) he lepte Genesis (or
Lepte Genesis)] as in Epiphanius, Syncellus, Zonaras, Glycas.
2 [(Gk.) he Leptogenesis] in Didymus of Alexandria and in
Latin writers, as we may infer from the Decree of Gelasius.
3 [Gk.) ta lepta geneseos] in Syncellus. 4 [(Gk.)
Mikrogenesis] in Jerome, who was acquainted with the Hebrew
original.
(c) 1 The Apocalypse of Moses.
2
The Testament of Moses.
3
The Book of Adam's Daughters.
4
The Life of Adam.
1
The Apocalypse of Moses. This title had some currency in the
time of Synceflus (see i. 5, 49). It forms an appropriate
designation since it makes Moses the recipient of all the
disclosures in the book. 2 The Testament of Moses. This
title is found in the Catena of Nicephorus, i. 175, where it
precedes a quotation from x. 21 of our book. It has,
however, nothing to do with the Testament of Moses, which
has become universally known under the wrong title -the
Assumption of Moses. Ronsch and other scholars formerly
sought to identify Jubilees with this second Testament of
Moses, but this identification is shown to be impossible by
the fact that in the Stichometry of Nicephorus 4,300 stichoi
are assigned to Jubilees and only 1100 to this Testament of
Moses. On the probability of a Testament of Moses having
been in circulation -which was in reality an expansion of
Jubilees ii-iii see my edition of Jubilees, p. xviii. 3 The
Book of Adam's Daughters. This book is identified with
Jubilees in the Decree of Gelasius, but it probably
consisted merely of certain excerpts from Jubilees dealing
with the names and histories of the women mentioned in it.
Such a collection, as we have already seen, exists in Syriac,
and its Greek prototype was used by the scribe of the LXX
MS. no.135 in Holmes and Parsons' edition. 4 The Life of
Adam. This title is found in Syncellus i. 7-9. It seems to
have been an enlarged edition of the portion of Jubilees,
which dealt with the life of Adam.
3.
THE ETHIOPIC MSS.
There are four Ethiopic MSS., a b c d, the first and fourth
of which belong to the National Library in Paris, the second
to the British Museum, and the third to the University
Library at Tubingen. Of these a b (of the fifteenth and
sixteenth century respectively) are the most trustworthy,
though they cannot be followed exclusively. In a,
furthermore, the readings of the Ethiopic version of Genesis
have replaced the original against bed in iii. 4, 6, 7, 19,
29; iv. 4, 8, &c. For a full description of these MSS. the
reader can consult Charles's Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew
Book of Jubilees, pp. xii seqq.
4.
THE ANCIENT VERSIONS-GREEK, ETHIOPIC, LATIN, SYRIAC.
(a) The Greek Version is lost save for some fragments which
survive in Epiphanius [(Gk.) peri Metron kai Stathmon] (ed.
Dindorf, vol. iv. 27-8). This fragment, which consists of
ii. 2-21, is published with critical notes in Charles's
edition of the Ethiopic text. Other fragments of this
version are preserved in Justin Martyr, Origen, Diodorus of
Antioch, Isidore of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville,
Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria, John of Malala,
Syncellus, Cedrenus. Syncellus attributes to the Canonical
Genesis statements derived from our text. This version is
the parent of the Ethiopic and Latin Versions.
(b) The Ethiopic Version. This version is most accurate and
trustworthy and indeed as a rule servilely literal. It has,
of course, suffered from the corruptions naturally incident
to transmission through MSS. Thus dittographies are frequent
and lacunae are of occasional occurrence, but the version is
singularly free from the glosses and corrections of
unscrupulous scribes, though the temptation must have been
great to bring it into accord with the Ethiopic version of
Genesis. To this source, indeed, we must trace a few
perversions of the text: 'my wife' in iii. 6 instead of
'wife'; xv 12; xvii. 12 ('her bottle' instead of 'the
bottle'); xxiv. 19 (where the words 'a well' are not found
in the Latin version of Jubilees, nor in the Mass., Sam.,
LXX, Syr., and Vulg. of Gen. xxvi. 19). In the above
passages the whole version is influenced, but in a much
greater degree has this influence operated on MS. a. Thus in
iii. 4, 6, 7, 19, 29, iv. 4, 8, v.3, vi. 9, &c., the
readings of the Ethiopic version of Genesis have replaced
the original text. In the case of b there appears to be only
one instance of this nature in xv. 15 (see Charles's Text,
pp. xii seqq.).
For instances of corruption native to this version, see
Charles on ii. 2, 7, 21, vi. 21, vii. 22, x. 6, 21, xvi. 18,
xxiv. 20, 29, xxxi. 2, xxxix. 4, xli. 15, xlv. 4, xlviii. 6.
(c) The Latin Version. This version, of which about
one-fourth has been preserved, was first published by
Ceriani in his Monnmenta sacra et profana, 1861, tom. i.
fase. i. 15-62. It contains the following sections: xiii.
10b-21; xv. 20b-31a; xvi. 5b-xvii. 6a; xviii. 10b-xix. 25;
xx. 5b-xxi. 10a; xxii. 2-19a; xxiii. 8b-23a; xxiv. 13-xxv.
1a; xxvi. 8b-23a; xxvii. 11b-24a; xxviii. 16b-27a; xxix.
8b-xxxi. 1a; xxxi. 9b-1 8, 29b-32; xxxii. 1-8a, 18b-xxxiii.
9a, 18b-xxxiv. 5a; xxxv. 3b-12a; xxxvi. 20b-xxxvii. 5a;
xxxviii. 1b-16a; xxxix. 9-xl. 8a; xli. 6b-18; xlii. 2b-14a;
xlv. 8-xlvi. 1, 12-xlviii. 5; xlix. 7b-22. This version was
next edited by Ronsch in 1874, Das Buch der Fubilaen . . .
unter Befugung des revidirten Textes der . . . lateinisehen
Fragmente. This work attests enormous industry and great
learning, but is deficient in judgement and critical acumen.
Ronsch was of opinion that this Latin version was made in
Egypt or its neighbourhood by a Palestinian Jew about the
middle of the fifth century (pp.459-60). In 1895 Charles
edited this text afresh in conjunction with the Ethiopic in
the Oxford Anecdota (The Ethiopic Version of the Hebrew Book
of Jubilees). To this work and that of Ronsch above the
reader must be referred for a fuller treatment of this
subject. Here we may draw attention to the following points.
This version, where it is preserved, is almost of equal
value with the Ethiopic. It has, however, suffered more at
the hands of correctors. Thus it has been corrected in
conformity with the LXX in xlvi. 14, where it adds 'et Oon'
against all other authorities. The Ethiopic version of Exod.
i. 11 might have been expected to bring about this addition
in our Ethiopic text, but it did not. Two similar instances
will be found in xvii. 5, xxiv. 20. Again the Latin version
seems to have been influenced by the Vulgate in xxix. 13.
xlii. II (canos meos where our Ethiopic text = [(Gk.) mou to
geras] as in LXX of Gen. xlii. 38); and probably also in
xlvii. 7, 8, and certainly in xlv. 12, where it reads 'in
tota terra' for 'in terra'. Of course there is the
possibility that the Latin has reproduced faithfully the
Greek and that the Greek was faulty; or in case it was
correct, that it was the Greek presupposed by our Ethiopic
version that was at fault.
Two other passages are deserving of attention, xix. 14 and
xxxix. 13. In the former the Latin version 'et creverunt et
iuvenes facti sunt' agrees with the Ethiopic version of Gen.
xxv. 27 against the Ethiopic version of Jubilees and all
other authorities on Gen. xxv. 27. Here the peculiar reading
can be best explained as having originated in the Greek. In
the second passage, the clause 'eorum quae fiebant in
carcere' agrees with the Ethiopic version of Gen. xxxix. 23
against the Ethiopic version of Jubilees and all other
authorities on Gen. xxxix. 23. On the other hand, there is a
large array of passages in which the Latin version preserves
the true text over against corruptions or omissions in the
Ethiopic version: cf. xvi. 16, xix. 5, 10, 11, xx. 6, 10,
xxi. 3, xxii. 3, &c. (see my Text, p. xvi).
(d) The Syriac Version. The evidence as to the existence of
a Syriac is not conclusive. It is based on the fact that a
British Museum MS. (Add. 12154, fol. 180) contains a Syriac
fragment entitled, Names of the Wives of the Patriarchs
according to the Hebrew Book called Jubilees.' It was first
published by Ceriani in his Monumeitta Sacra, 1861, torn.
ii. fasc. i. 9-10, and reprinted by Charles as Appendix III
to his Text of Jubilees (p. 183).
5.
THE ETHIOPIC AND LATIN VERSIONS-TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GREEK.
Like all the biblical literature in Ethiopic, Jubilees was
translated into Ethiopic from the Greek. Greek words such as
[drus, balanos, lips, schinos, pharaggs, &c., are
transliterated into Ethiopic. Secondly, many passages must
be retranslated into Greek before we can discover the source
of their corruptions. And finally, many names are
transliterated as they appear in Greek and not in Hebrew.
That the Latin is derived directly from the Greek is no less
obvious. Thus in xxxix. 12 [(Lt.) timoris = (Gk.) deilias],
a corruption of douleias; in xxxviii. 13 [(Lt.) honorem =
(Gk.) timen], which should have been rendered by (Lt.)
tributum. Another class of mistranslations may be seen in
passages where the Greek article is rendered by the Latin
demonstrative as in (Lt.) huius Abrahae xxix. i6, huic
Istrael xxxi. 15. Other evidence pointing in the same
direction is to be found in the Greek constructions which
have been reproduced in the Latin; such as xvii. 3 (Lt.) mem
or fuit sermones' = (Gk.) hemnesthe tous logous: in xv. 22
(Lt.) consummavit loquens = (Gk.) Sunetelese lalon: in xxii.
8 (Lt.) 'in omnibus quibus dedisti' = en pasin ois edokas.
6.
THE GREEK-A TRANSLATION FROM THE HEBREW.
The early date of our book -the second century B.C.- and the
fact that it was written in Palestine speak for a Semitic
original, and the evidence for such an original is
conclusive. But the question at once arises, was the
original written in Hebrew or Aramaic? Certain proper names
in the Latin version ending in -in seem to bespeak an
Aramaic original, as Cettin xxiv. 28; Adurin xxxviii. 8,9;
Filistin xxiv. 14-16. But since in all these cases the
Ethiopic transliterations end in -n and not in -nit is not
improbable that this Aramaising in the Latin version is due
to the translator, who, as Ronsch has concluded on other
grounds, was a Palestinian Jew. Again, in the list of the
twelve trees suitable for burning on the altar some are
transliterations of Aramaic names. But in a late Hebrew work
-written at the close of the second century B.C.- the
popular names of such objects would naturally be used.
Moreover, in certain cases the Hebrew may have already been
forgotten, or, when the tree had been lately introduced,
been non-existent.
But the arguments for a Hebrew original are many and
weighty. (1) A work which claims to be from the hand of
Moses would naturally be written in Hebrew; for Hebrew,
according to our author, was the sacred and national
language, xii. 25-6; xliii. 15. (2) The revival of the
national spirit is, so far as we know, accompanied by a
revival of the national language. (3) The existing text must
be retranslated into Hebrew in order to explain
unintelligible expressions and restore the true text. Thus (Ar.)
la 'eleja in xliii. 11 = (Gk.) en emoi; which is a
mistranslation in this context of (Hb.); for (Hb.) here =
(Gk.) deomai, 'pray,' as in Gen. xliv. 18. In xlvii. 9 the
text = (Lt.) 'domum (= Hb. ) Faraonis', but the context
demands (Lt.) 'filiam (= Hb.) Faraonis',though here the
argument is not conclusive, since (Hb.) might have been
corruptly written for (Hb.) which in Aramaic = 'daughter'.
Again in xxxvi. 10 (cp. also xxxix. 6) the text = (Gk.) ouk
anabesetai (= ja'arg) (Gk.) eis to biblion tes zoes. But
ja'arg must = 'will be recorded'. Now this meaning is
unattested elsewhere in Ethiopic, but the difficulty is
solved when we find that it is a Hebrew idiom: see I Chron.
xxvii. 24, 2 Chron. xx. 34. (4) Many paronomasiae discover
themselves on retranslation into Hebrew, as in iv. 9 there
is a play on the name Enoch, in iv. 15 on Jared, in viii. 8
on Peleg, &c. (5) Many passages are preserved in Rabbinic
writings, and the book has much matter in common with the
Testaments xii Patriarchs, 'which was written about the same
date in Hebrew. Both books, in fact, use a chronology
peculiar to themselves. (6) Fragments of the original Hebrew
text or of the sources used by its author are to be found in
the Book of Noah and the Midrasch Wajjisau in Jellinek's
Beth-ha-Midrasch, iii. 155-6, 3-5, reprinted in Charles's
edition of the Ethiopic text on pp. 179-81.
7.
TEXTUAL AFFINITIES.
A
minute study of the text shows that it attests an
independent form of the Hebrew text of Genesis and the early
chapters of Exodus. Thus it agrees with individual
authorities such as the Samaritan or the LXX, or the Syriac,
or the Vulgate, or the Targum of Onkelos against all the
rest. Or again it agrees with two or more of these
authorities in opposition to the rest, as for instance with
the Massoretic and Samaritan against the LXX, Syriac and
Vulgate, or with the Massoretic and Onkelos against the
Samaritan, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate, or with the Massoretic,
Samaritan and Syriac against the LXX or Vulgate. But the
reader must here be referred to Charles's Book of Jubilees
(pp. xxxiii--xxxix) for a full classification of these
instances. A study of these phenomena proves that our book
represents some form of the Hebrew text midway between the
forms presupposed by the LXX and the Syriac; for it agrees
more frequently with the LXX, or with combinations into
which the LXX enters, than with any other single authority.
Next to the LXX it agrees most often with the Syriac or with
combinations into which the Syriac enters. On the other
hand, its independence of the LXX is shown by a large array
of readings, where it has the support of the Samaritan and
Massoretic, or of these with various combinations of the
Syriac, Vulgate and Onkelos. From these and like
considerations we may conclude that the textual evidence
points to the composition of our book at some period between
250 B.C. and 100 A.D. and at a time nearer the earlier date
than the latter. 4
8.
THE VALUE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES IN THE CRITICISM OF THE
MASSORETIC TEXT OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
From a study of the facts which are referred to in the
preceding Section it will be clear that before and after the
Christian era the Hebrew text did not possess any hard and
fast tradition. It will further be obvious that the
Massoretic form of this text, which has so long been
generally as conservative of the most ancient tradition and
as therefore final, is after all only one of many phases
through which the text passed in the process of over 1,000
years, ie. 400 B.C. till A.D. 600, or thereabouts.
As
we pursue the examination of the materials just mentioned we
shall see grounds for regarding the Massoretic text as the
result partly of conscious recension and partly of
unconscious change extending over many centuries. How this
process affected the text in the centuries immediately
preceding and subsequent to the Christian era, we have some
means of determining in the Hebrew-Samaritan text which,
however much it may have been tampered with on religious or
polemical grounds, still preserves in many cases the older
reading, even as it preserves the older of the alphabet.
Next we have the LXX of the Pentateuch, to which we may
assign the date 200 B.C.; next the Book of Jubilees just
before the Christian era; the Syriac Pentateuch before A.D.
100; the Vulgate of the fourth century; the Targums of
Onkelos and Ps.-Jon. in their present form A.D. 300-600.
We
have above remarked that the evidence of 6 shows that the
Massoretic text is only one of the phases through which the
Hebrew text has passed; and if we consider afresh the
materials of evidence suggested in that Section in connexion
with their dates, and given in some fullness in the
Introductions to Charles's Text and Commentary, we shall
discover that in some respects it is one of the latest
phases of the Hebrew Pentateuch that has been stereotyped by
Jewish scholars in the Massoretic text.
This conclusion will tally perfectly with the tradition that
all existing Massoretic MSS. are derived in the main from
one archetype, i.e. the Hebrew Codex left behind him by Ben
Asher, who lived in the tenth century, and whose family had
lived at Tiberias in the eighth.
We
shall now proceed to give a list of readings in the
Massoretic text which should be corrected into accord with
the readings attested by such great authorities as the Sam.,
LXX, Jub., Syr., VuIg.
The following list was published in Charles's Ethiopic
Version of the Hebrew Book of Jubilees in 1895. More than
two-thirds of the emendations of the Book of Genesis here
suggested were subsequently accepted independently, on the
evidence of the Sam., LXX, Syr., Vulg., without a knowledge
of Jubilees, by C.J. Ball in his edition of the Hebrew Text
of Genesis, 1896, by Kittel in his edition of the Hebrew
Text of Genesis, 1905, and more than half in the recent
Commentary of Gunkel.
[What follows contains many phrases written in Hebrew. At
the time of scanning there was not an accessible means to
accurately reproduce the Hebrew script. If this information
is desired please see Mr. Charles book.]
9.
DATE OF (a) THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND (b) OF THE VERSIONS.
(a) Jubilees was written between 153 B.C. and the year of
Hyrcanus' breach with the Pharisees. (1) It was written
during the pontificate of the Maccabean family, and not
earlier than 155 B.C., when this office was assumed by
Jonathan the Maccabee. For in xxxii. 1, Levi is called a
'priest of the Most High God.' Now the only Jewish
high-priests who bore this title were the Maccabean, who
appear to have assumed it as reviving the order of
Melchizedek when they displaced the Zadokite order of Aaron.
Despite the objections of the Pharisees, it was used by the
Maccabean princes down to Hyrcanus II (Jos. Ant. xvi. 6.2).
(2) It was written before 96 B.C.; for since our author was
of the strictest sect a Pharisee and at the same time an
upholder of the Maccabean pontificate, Jubilees cannot have
been written later than 96, when the Pharisees and Alexander
Jannaeus were openly engaged in mortal strife. (3) It was
written before the public breach between Hyrcanus and the
Pharisees when Hyrcanus joined the Sadducean party. As
Hyrcanus died in 105, our book was written between 153 and
105.
But it is possible to define these limits more closely. The
book presupposes as its historical background the most
flourishing period of the Maccabean hegemony -such as that
under Simon and Hyrcanus. The conquest of Edom, which was
achieved by the latter, is referred to in xxxviii. 14. Again
our text reflects accurately the intense hatred of Judah
towards the Philistines in the second century B.C. It
declares that they will fall into the hands of the righteous
nation, and we learn from I Macc. and Josephus that Ashdod
and Gaza were destroyed by Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus
respectively. But it is in the destruction of Samaria, which
is adumbrated in the destruction of Shechem, xxx. 4-6, that
we are to look for the true terminus a quo. Now all accounts
agree in representing the destruction of Samaria as effected
by Hyrcanus about four years before his death. Hence we
conclude that Jubilees was written between 109 and 105 B.C.
Many other phenomena point to the second-century origin of
our book, which are given in Charles's edition, pp.
lviii-lxvi. Amongst these we might mention the currency of
older and severer forms of the halacha than prevailed in the
rabbinical schools, or were registered in the Mishnah. The
severe halacha regarding the sabbath in 1.8, 12, were
indubitably in force in the second century B.C., if not
earlier, but were afterwards mitigated by the Mishnah and
later Judaism. Again the strict halacha in xv. 14 regarding
circumcision on the eighth day was a current, probably the
current, view in the second century B.C. and earlier, since
it has the support of the Samaritan text and the LXX. This
strict law was subsequently relaxed in the Mishnah. In
xxxii. 15 the severe law of tithing found in Lev. xxvii. 15
is enforced, but rabbinic tradition sought to weaken the
statement. As regards the halacha laid down in iii. 31
regarding the duty of covering one's shame, it is highly
probable that such a halacha did exist in the second century
B.C., when Judaism was protesting against the exposure of
the person in the Greek games. See also iii. 8-14 notes and
xx. 4 note.
Other cases of strict rules afterwards relaxed are the
limitation of trees for use with burnt offerings (see xxi.
12-15 notes), the restriction of the eating of the passover
to the court of the Lords house (see xlix. 20 note), the
close adherence to the exacting demand of Lev. xix. 24 that
the fourth year's fruit should be holy (see vii. 36 notes),
though here we have a variant reading. Note that the rest of
the firstfruits belong to the priests, who are to eat them
'before the altar.' On the other hand, the thank-offerings
in xxi. 8-10 do not belong to the priest. The computation of
the Feast of Weeks is different from the later prevalent
Pharisaic reckoning (see xv. 1 note; xvi. 13, xliv. 4-5),
while the account of the Feast of Tabernacles in xvi. 21-31
is peculiar to Jubilees.
Finally, we might draw attention to the fact that the
Pharisaic regulation about pouring water on the altar (Jer.
Sukk. iv. 6; Sukk. 44a) at the feast of tabernacles appears
to have been unknown to him. We know that the attempt of the
Pharisees to enforce its adoption on Alexander Jannaeus
resulted in a massacre of the former. Attention might also
be drawn to the fact that the Priests and Levites still
numbered in their ranks, as in the days of the author of
Chronicles, the masters of the schools and the men of
learning, and that these positions were not filled as in the
days of Shammai and Hillel by men drawn from the laity. This
inference is to be deduced from the fact that the Levites
are represented as the guardians of the sacred books and of
the secret lore transmitted from the worthies of old time
(x. 4, xlv. 16).
(b) Date of the Ethiopic and Latin Versions. There is no
evidence for determining the exact date of the Ethiopic
version, but since it was practically regarded as a
canonical book it was probably made in the sixth century.
Ronsch, as we have already pointed out in 4, gives some
evidence for regarding the Latin version as made in the
fifth century.
10
JUBILEES FROM ONE AUTHOR BUT BASED ON EASTERN BOOKS AND
TRADITIONS.
Our book is the work of one author, but is largely based on
earlier books and traditions. The narrative of Genesis forms
of course the bulk of the book, but much that is
characteristic in it is due to his use of many
pseudepigraphic and ancient traditions. Amongst the former
might be mentioned the Book of Noah, from which in a
modified form he borrows vii. 20-39, x. 1-15. In vii. 26-39
he reproduces his source so faithfully that he leaves the
persons unchanged, and forgets to adapt this fragment to its
new context. Similarly our author lays the Book of Enoch
under contribution, and is of great value in this respect in
determining the dates of the various sections of this book.
See Introd. to I Book of Enoch, in loc. For other
authorities and traditions used by our author see Charles's
edition, 13.
11. JUBILEES IS A PRODUCT OF THE MIDRASHIC TENDENCY WHICH
HAD BEEN ALREADY AT WORK IN THE O.T. BOOKS OF CHRONICLES.
The Chronicler rewrote with an object the earlier history of
Israel and Judah already recounted in Samuel and Kings. His
object was to represent David and his pious successors as
observing all the prescripts of the law according to the
Priests' Code. In the course of this process all facts that
did not square with the Chronicler's presuppositions were
either omitted or transformed. Now the author of Jubilees
sought to do for Genesis what the Chronicler had done for
Samuel and Kings, and so he rewrote it in such a way as to
show that the law was rigorously observed even by the
Patriarchs. The author represents his book to be as a whole
a revelation of God to Moses, forming a supplement to and an
interpretation of the Pentateuch, which he designates 'the
first law' (vi. 22). This revelation was in part a secret
republication of the traditions handed down from father to
son in antediluvian and subsequent times. From the time of
Moses onwards it was preserved in the hands of the
priesthood, till the time came for its being made known.
Our author's procedure is of course in direct antagonism
with the presuppositions of the Priests' Code in Genesis,
for according to this code 'Noah may build no altar, Abraham
offer no sacrifice, Jacob erect no sacred pillar. No
offering is recorded till Aaron and his sons are ready'
(Carpenter, The Hexateuch, i. 124). This fact seems to
emphasize in the strongest manner how freely our author
reinterpreted his authorities for the past. But he was only
using to the full a right that had been exercised for nearly
four centuries already in regard to Prophecy and for four or
thereabouts in regard to the law.
12. OBJECT OF JUBILEES -THE DEFENCE AND EXPOSITION OF
JUDAISM FROM THE PHARISAIC STANDPOINT OF THE SECOND CENTURY
B.C.
The object of our author was to defend Judaism against the
disintegrating effects of Hellenism, and this he did (a) by
glorifying the law as an eternal ordinance and representing
the patriarchs as models of piety; (b) by glorifying Israel
and insisting on its separation from the Gentiles; and (e)
by denouncing the Gentiles and particularly Israel's
national enemies. In this last respect Judaism regarded its
own attitude to the Gentiles as not only justifiable but
also just, because it was a reflection of the divine.
But on (a) it is to be observed further that to our author
the law, as a whole, was the realization in time of what was
in a sense timeless and eternal. It was observed not only on
earth by Israel but in heaven. Parts of the law might have
only a time reference, to Israel on earth, but in the
privileges of circumcision and the Sabbath, as its highest
and everlasting expression, the highest orders of archangels
in heaven shared with Israel (ii. i8, 19, 21; xv. 26-28).
The law, therefore, was supreme, and could admit of no
assessor in the form of Prophecy. There was no longer any
prophet because the law had made the free exercise of his
gift an offence against itself and God. So far, therefore,
as Prophecy existed, it could exist only under the guise of
pseudonymity. The seer, who had like Daniel and others a
message for his time, could only gain a hearing by issuing
it under the name of some ancient worthy.
13. THE AUTHOR -A PHARISEE WHO RECOGNIZED THE MACCABEAN
PONTIFICATE AND WAS PROBABLY A PRIEST.
Since our author was an upholder of the everlasting validity
of the law, and held the strictest views on circumcision,
the Sabbath, and the duty of complete separation from the
Gentiles, since he believed in angels and demons and a
blessed immortality, he was unquestionably a Pharisee of the
strictest sect. In the next place, he was a supporter of the
Maccabean pontificate. He glorifies Levi's successors as
high-priests and civil rulers, and applies to them the title
priests of the Most High God '-the title assumed by the
Maccabean princes (xxxii. 1). He was not, however, so
thoroughgoing an admirer of this dynasty as the authors of
Test. Lev. xviii. or Ps. cx, who expected the Messiah to
come forth from the Maccabean family. Finally, that our
author was a priest might reasonably be inferred from the
exaltation of Levi over Judah (xxxi-xxxii), and from the
statement in xlv. i6 that the secret traditions, which our
author claims to publish, were kept in the hands of Levi's
descendants.
14. INFLUENCE ON LATER LITERATURE.
On
the influence of Jubilees on I Enoch i-v, xci-civ, Wisdom
(?), 4 Ezra, Chronicles of Jerachmeel, Midrash Tadshe, Book
of Jasher, the Samaritan Chronicle, on Patristic and other
writings, and on the New Testament writers, see Charles's
edition, pp. lxxiii-lxxxvi.
15. THEOLOGY. SOME OF OUR AUTHOR'S VIEWS.
Freedom and determinism. The author of Jubilees is a true
Pharisee in that he combines belief in Divine omnipotence
and providence with the belief in human freedom and
responsibility. He would have adopted heartily the statement
of the Pss. Sol. ix. 7 (written some sixty years or more
later) (Gk.) ta erga emon en ekloge kai exousia tes psuches
emon, tou poiesai dikaiosunen kai adikian en ergois cheiron
emon: v. 6 anthropos kai e meris autou para soi en stathmo
ou prosthesei tou pleonasai para to krima sou, o theos. Thus
the path in which a man should walk is ordained for him and
the judgement of all men predetermined on the heavenly
tablets: 'And the judgment of all is ordained and written on
the heavenly tablets in righteousness -even the judgment of
all who depart from the path which is ordained for them to
walk in' (v.13). This idea of an absolute determinism
underlies many conceptions of the heavenly tablets (see
Charles's edition, iii. 10 note). On the other hand, man's
freedom and responsibility are fully recognized: 'If they
walk not therein, judgment is written down for every
creature' (v. 13): 'Beware lest thou walk in their ways, And
tread in their paths, And sin a sin unto death before the
Most High God. Else He will give thee back into the hand of
thy transgression.' Even when a man has sinned deeply he can
repent and be forgiven (xli. 24 seq.), but the human will
needs the strengthening of a moral dynamic: 'May the Most
High God . . . strengthen thee to do His will' (xxi. 25,
xxii. 10).
The Fall. The effects of the Fall were limited to Adam and
the animal creation. Adam was driven from the garden (iii.
17 seqq.) and the animal creation was robbed of the power of
speech (iii. 28). But the subsequent depravity of the human
race is not traced to the Fall but to the seduction of the
daughters of men by the angels, who had been sent down to
instruct men (v.1-4), and to the solicitations of demonic
spirits (vii. 27). The evil engendered by the former was
brought to an end by the destruction of all the descendants
of the angels and of their victims by the Deluge, but the
incitement to sin on the part of the demons was to last to
the final judgement (vii. 27, x. 1-15, xi. 4 seq., xii. 20).
This last view appears in I Enoch and the N.T.
The Law. The law was of eternal validity. It was not the
expression of the religious consciousness of one or of
several ages, but the revelation in time of what was valid
from the beginning and unto all eternity. The various
enactments of the law moral and ritual, were written on the
heavenly tablets (iii. 31, vi. 17, &c.) and revealed to man
through the mediation of angels (i. 27). This conception of
the law, as I have already pointed out, made prophecy
impossible unless under the guise of pseudonymity. Since the
law was the ultimate and complete expression of absolute
truth, there was no room for any further revelation: much
less could any such revelation, were it conceivable,
supersede a single jot or tittle of the law as already
revealed. The ideal of the faithful Jew was to be realized
in the fulfilment of the moral and ritual precepts of this
law: the latter were of no less importance than the former.
Though this view of morality tends to be mainly external,
our author strikes a deeper note when he declares that, when
Israel turned to God with their whole heart, He would
circumcise the foreskin of their heart and create a right
spirit within them and cleanse them, so that they would not
turn away from Him for ever (i. 23). Our author specially
emphasizes certain elements of the law such as circumcision
(xvi. 14, xv. 26, 29), the Sabbath (ii. 18 seq., 31 seq.),
eating of blood (vi. 14), tithing of the tithe (xxxii. 10),
Feast of Tabernacles (xvi. 29), Feast of Weeks (vi. 17), the
absolute prohibition of mixed marriages (xx. 4, xxii. 20,
xxv. 1-10). In connexion with many of these he enunciates
halacha which belong to an earlier date than those in the
Mishnah, but which were either modified or abrogated by
later authorities.
The Messiah. Although our author is an upholder of the
Maccabean dynasty he still clings like the writer of I Enoch
lxxxiii-xc to the hope of a Messiah sprung from Judah. He
makes, however, only one reference to this Messiah, and no
role of any importance is assigned to him (see Charles's
edition, xxxi. 18 n.). The Messianic expectation showed no
vigorous life throughout this century till it was identified
with the Maccabean family. If we are right in regarding the
Messianic kingdom as of temporary duration, this is the
first instance in which the Messiah is associated with a
temporary Messianic kingdom.
The Messianic kingdom. According to our author (i. 29,
xxiii. 30) this kingdom was to be brought about gradually by
the progressive spiritual development of man and a
corresponding transformation of nature. Its members were to
attain to the full limit of 1,000 years in happiness and
peace. During its continuance the powers of evil were to be
restrained (xxiii. 29). The last judgement was apparently to
take place at its close (xxiii. 30). This view was possibly
derived from Mazdeism.
The writer of Jubilees, we can hardly doubt, thought that
the era of the Messianic kingdom had already set in. Such an
expectation was often cherished in the prosperous days of
the Maccabees. Thus it was entertained by the writer of I
Enoch lxxxiii-xc in the days of Judas before 161 B.C.
Whether Jonathan was looked upon as the divine agent for
introducing the kingdom we cannot say, but as to Simon being
regarded in this light there is no doubt. Indeed, his
contemporaries came to regard him as the Messiah himself, as
we see from Psalm cx, or Hyrcanus in the noble Messianic
hymn in Test. Levi 18. The tame effus1on in 1 Macc. xiv.
8-15 is a relic of such literature, which was emasculated by
its Sadducean editor. Simon was succeeded by John Hyrcanus
in 135 B.C. and this great prince seemed to his countrymen
to realize the expectations of the past; for according to a
contemporary writer (Test. Levi 8) he embraced in his own
person the triple office of prophet, priest, and civil ruler
(xxxi. i5), while according to the Test. Reuben 6 he was to
'die on behalf of Israel in wars seen and unseen'. In both
these passages he seems to be accorded the Messianic office,
but not so in our author, as we have seen above. Hyrcanus is
only to introduce the Messianic kingdom, over which the
Messiah sprung from Judah is to rule.
Priesthood of Melchizedek. That there was originally an
account of Melchizedek in our text we have shown in the note
on xiii. 2,5, and, that the Maccabean high-priests
deliberately adopted the title applied to him in Gen. xiv,
we have pointed out in the note on xxxii. I. It would be
interesting to inquire how far the writer of Hebrews was
indebted to the history of the great Maccabean king-priests
for the idea of the Melchizedekian priesthood of which he
has made so fruitful a use in chap. vii as applied to our
Lord.
The Future Life. In our text all hope of a resurrection of
the body is abandoned. The souls of the righteous will enjoy
a blessed immortality after death (xxiii. 31). This is the
earliest attested instance of this expectation in the last
two centuries B.C. It is next found in Enoch xci-civ.
The Jewish Calendar. For our author's peculiar views see
Charles's edition 18 and the notes on vi. 29-30, 32, xv. I.
Angelology. We shall confine our attention here to notable
parallels between our author and the New Testament. Besides
the angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification
there are the angels who are set over natural phenomena (ii.
2). These angels are inferior to the former. They do not
observe the Sabbath as the higher orders; for they are
necessarily always engaged in their duties (ii. 18). It is
the higher orders that are generally referred to in the New
Testament but the angels over natural phenomena are referred
to in Revelation: angels of the winds in vii. 1, 2, the
angel of fire in xiv. 18, the angel of the waters in xvi. 5
(cf. Jub. ii. 2). Again, the guardian angels of individuals,
which the New Testament refers to in Matt. xviii. 10 (Acts
xii. 15), are mentioned, for the first time in Jubilees
xxxv. 17. On the angelology of our author see Charles's
edition.
Demonology. The demonology of our author reappears for the
most part in the New Testament:
(a) The angels which kept not their first estate, Jude 6 ; 2
Peter ii. 4, are the angelic watchers who, though sent down
to instruct mankind (Jub. iv. 15), fell from lusting after
the daughters of men. Their fall and punishment are recorded
in Jub. iv. 22, v.1-9.
(b) The demons are the spirits which went forth from the
souls of the giants who were the children of the fallen
angels, Jub. v. 7, 9. These demons attacked men and ruled
over them (x. 3, 6). Their purpose is to corrupt and lead
astray and destroy the wicked (x. 8). They are subject to
the prince Mastema (x. 9), or Satan. Men sacrifice to them
as gods (xxii. 17). They are to pursue their work of moral
ruin till the judgement of Mastema (x. 8) or the setting up
of the Messianic kingdom, when Satan will be no longer able
to injure mankind (xxiii. 29).
So
in the New Testament, the demons are disembodied spirits
(Matt. xii. 43-5; Luke xi. 24-6). Their chief is Satan (Mark
iii. 22). They are treated as divinities of the heathen (I
Cor. x. 20). They are not to be punished till the final
judgement (Matt. viii. 29). On the advent of the Millennium
Satan will be bound (Rev. xx. 2-3).
Judgement. The doctrine of retribution is strongly enforced
by our author. It is to be individual and national in this
world and in the next. As regards the individual the law of
exact retribution is according to our author not merely an
enactment of human justice -the ancient lex talionis, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth; it is observed by God in His
government of the world. The penalty follows in the line of
the sin. This view is enforced in 2 Macc. v. 10, where it is
said of Jason, that, as he robbed multitudes of the rites of
sepulture, so he himself was deprived of them in turn, and
in xv. 32 seq. it is recounted of Nicanor that he was
punished in those members with which he had sinned. So also
in our text in reference to Cain iv. 31 seq. and the
Egyptians xlviii. 14. Taken crassly and mechanically the
above law is without foundation, but spiritually conceived
it represented the profound truth of the kinship of the
penalty to the sin enunciated repeatedly in the New
Testament: 'Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap'
(Gal. vi.;); 'he that doeth wrong shall receive again the
wrong that he hath done' (Col. iii. 25, &c.). Again in
certain cases the punishment was to follow instantaneously
on the transgression (xxxvii. 17).
The final judgement was to take place at the close of the
Messianic kingdom (xxiii. 30). This judgement embraces the
human and superhuman worlds (v. 10 seq., 14). At this
judgement there will be no respect of persons, but all will
be judged according to their opportunities and abilities (v.
15 seq.). From the standpoint of our author there could be
no hope for the Gentiles.
16. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(a) Greek Version: see above, 4 (a). Ethiopic Version: this
text was first edited by Dillmann from two MSS. cd in 1859,
and by R. H. Charles from four MSS. abcd. The Ethiopic
Version of the Hebrew Book of Jubilees with the Hebrew,
Syriac, Greek, and Latin Fragments, Oxford, 1895. Latin
Version: see above, 4 (a).
(b) Translations. Dillrnann, Das Buch der Jubilaen . . . aus
dem Aethiopischen ubersetzt (Ewald's Jahrbucher d. bibl.
Wissensch., 1850-1, ii. 230-56; iii. 1-96). This translation
is based on only one MS. Schodde, The Book of Jubilees,
translated from the Ethiopic ('Bibliotheca Sacra,' 1885-7):
Charles, The Book of Jubilees, translated from a text based
on two hitherto uncollated Ethiopic MSS. (Jewish Quarterly
Review, 1893, v. 703-8; 1894, vi. 184-217, 710-45; 1895,
vii. 297-328): Littmann, Das Buch der Jubilaen (Kantzsch's
Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des A. T., 1900, ii. 31-119).
This translation is based on Charles's text.
(c) Commentaries. Charles, The Book ofjubilees, 1902. Ronsch
published a Commentary on the Latin Version. See above, 4.
(d) Critical Inquiries. Dillmann, 'Pseudepigraphen des A.
T.,' Herzog's R. E.2, xii. 364-5; 'Beitrage aus dem Buche
der Jubilaen zur Kritik des Pentateuch-Textes' (Sitzungsberichte
der kgl. preussischen Akad., 1883); Beer, Das Buch der
Jubilaen, 1856; Singer, Das Buck der Jubilaen, 1898; Bohn,
'Die Pedeutung des Buches der Jubilaen' (Theol. Stud. u.
Kritiken, 1900, 167-84). For a full bibliography see
Charles's Commentary or Schurer.
THE BOOK OF JUBILEES
[Notes and dates added by Mr. Charles will not be given due
to length and difficulty in scanning and editing. If this
information is desired, please see his book.]
THIS is the history of the division of the days of the law
and of the testimony, of the events of the years, of their
(year) weeks, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of
the world, as the Lord spake to Moses on Mount Sinai when he
went up to receive the tables of the law and of the
commandment, according to the voice of God as he said unto
him, 'Go up to the top of the Mount.'
[Chapter 1]
1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the
children of Israel out of Egypt, in the third month, on the
sixteenth day of the month, [2450 Anno Mundi] that God spake
to Moses, saying: 'Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will
give thee two tables of stone of the law and of the
commandment, which
2 I have written, that thou mayst teach them.' And Moses
went up into the mount of God, and the
3 glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud
overshadowed it six days. And He called to Moses on the
seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the
appearance of the glory of the
4 Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount. And
Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and God
taught him the earlier and the later history of the division
of all the days
5 of the law and of the testimony. And He said: 'Incline
thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on
this mount, and write them in a book in order that their
generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the
evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant
6 which I establish between Me and thee for their
generations this day on Mount Sinai. And thus it will come
to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will
recognise that I am more righteous than they in all their
judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise
that
7 I have been truly with them. And do thou write for thyself
all these words which I declare unto, thee this day, for I
know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring
them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to
Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: ' Unto your seed
8 will I give a land flowing with milk and honey. And they
will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange
gods, to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of
their tribulation: and this witness shall be heard for a
witness against them. For they will forget all My
commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will
walk after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and
after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will
10 prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an
affliction and a snare. And many will perish and they will
be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy,
because they have forsaken My ordinances and My
commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My
sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself
in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I
have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I
should set my name
11 upon it, and that it should dwell (there). And they will
make to themselves high places and groves and graven images,
and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to
go astray, and they
12 will sacrifice their children to demons, and to all the
works of the error of their hearts. And I will send
witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but
they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and
they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will
abrogate and change
13 everything so as to work evil before My eyes. And I will
hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the
hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for
devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the
land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles.
14 And they will forget all My law and all My commandments
and all My judgments, and will go
15 astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and
jubilees, and ordinances. And after this they will turn to
Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with
all their soul and with all their strength, and I will
gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will
seek me, so
16 that I shall be found of them, when they seek me with all
their heart and with all their soul. And I will disclose to
them abounding peace with righteousness, and I will remove
them the plant of uprightness, with all My heart and with
all My soul, and they shall be for a blessing and not for
17 a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail. And
I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell
with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people in truth and
18, 19 righteousness. And I will not forsake them nor fail
them; for I am the Lord their God.' And Moses fell on his
face and prayed and said, 'O Lord my God, do not forsake Thy
people and Thy inheritance, so that they should wander in
the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the
hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, lest they should rule
over them and cause them to sin against
20 Thee. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon Thy
people, and create in them an upright spirit, and let not
the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before
Thee, and to ensnare them
21 from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may
perish from before Thy face. But they are Thy people and Thy
inheritance, which thou hast delivered with thy great power
from the hands of the Egyptians: create in them a clean
heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be ensnared in
22 their sins from henceforth until eternity.' And the Lord
said unto Moses: 'I know their contrariness and their
thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be
obedient till they confess
23 their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after
this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all
(their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will
circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of
the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy
spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn
away from Me from that day unto eternity.
24 And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My
commandments, and they will fulfil My
25 commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall
be My children. And they all shall be called children of the
living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know,
yea, they shall know that these are My children, and that I
am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that
26 I love them. And do thou write down for thyself all these
words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first
and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions
of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks
and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell
27 with them throughout eternity.' And He said to the angel
of the presence: Write for Moses from
28 the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been
built among them for all eternity. And the Lord will appear
to the eyes of all, and all shall know that I am the God of
Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King
on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem shall
29 be holy.' And the angel of the presence who went before
the camp of Israel took the tables of the divisions of the
years -from the time of the creation- of the law and of the
testimony of the weeks of the jubilees, according to the
individual years, according to all the number of the
jubilees [according, to the individual years], from the day
of the [new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall
be renewed and all their creation according to the powers of
the heaven, and according to all the creation of the earth,
until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem
on Mount Zion, and all the luminaries be renewed for healing
and for peace and for blessing for all the elect of Israel,
and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days
of the earth.
[Chapter 2]
1 And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to
the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of
the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His
works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the
seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and
2 appointed it as a sign for all His works. For on the first
day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and
the waters and all the spirits which serve before him -the
angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification,
and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the
spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the
clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar
frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and
of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and
of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of
summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in
the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the abysses and
the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and
day, which He hath
3 prepared in the knowledge of his heart. And thereupon we
saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on
account of all His works; for seven great works did He
create on the first day.
4 And on the second day He created the firmament in the
midst of the waters, and the waters were divided on that day
-half of them went up above and half of them went down below
the firmament (that was) in the midst over the face of the
whole earth. And this was the only work (God) created
5 on the second day. And on the third day He commanded the
waters to pass from off the face of
6 the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to
appear. And the waters did so as He commanded them, and they
retired from off the face of the earth into one place
outside of this firmament,
7 and the dry land appeared. And on that day He created for
them all the seas according to their separate
gathering-places, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of
the waters in the mountains and on all the earth, and all
the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which
is sown, and all sprouting things, and fruit-bearing trees,
and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden, in Eden
8 and all .
These four great works God created on the third day. And on
the fourth day He created the sun and the moon and the
stars, and set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give
light upon all the earth, and to rule over the day and the
night, and divide the
9 light from the darkness. And God appointed the sun to be a
great sign on the earth for days and
10 for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years
and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all
seasons of the years. And it divideth the light from the
darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may prosper
which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds He made
on the fourth day. And on the fifth day He created great sea
monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were the
first things of flesh that were created by his hands, the
fish and everything that moves in the
12 waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all
their kind. And the sun rose above them to prosper (them),
and above everything that was on the earth, everything that
shoots out of the earth, and all
13 fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh. These three kinds He
created on the fifth day. And on the sixth day
14 He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle,
and everything that moves on the earth. And after all this
He created man, a man and a woman created He them, and gave
him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the
seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and
over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth,
and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave
15 him dominion. And these four kinds He created on the
sixth day. And there were altogether
16 two and twenty kinds. And He finished all his work on the
sixth day -all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and
in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the
darkness, and in
17 everything. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day,
that we should work six days, but
18 keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. And all
the angels of the presence, and all the angels of
sanctification, these two great classes -He hath bidden us
to keep the Sabbath with Him
19 in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: 'Behold, I
will separate unto Myself a people from among all the
peoples, and these shall keep the Sabbath day, and I will
sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them;
as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it)
unto
20 Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My
people and I will be their God. And I have chosen the seed
of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written
him down as My first-born son,and have sanctified him unto
Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the
21 Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all
work.' And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with
which they should keep Sabbath with us on the seventh day,
to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who has created all
things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself
22 a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should
keep Sabbath together with us. And He caused His commands to
ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days
. . .
23 There (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to
Jacob, and two and twenty kinds of work were made until the
seventh day; this is blessed and holy; and the former also
is blessed and
24 holy; and this one serves with that one for
sanctification and blessing. And to this (Jacob and his
seed) it was granted that they should always be the blessed
and holy ones of the first testimony
25 and law, even as He had sanctified and blessed the
Sabbath day on the seventh day. He created heaven and earth
and everything that He created in six days, and God made the
seventh day holy, for all His works; therefore He commanded
on its behalf that, whoever does any work thereon
26 shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die.
Wherefore do thou command the children of Israel to observe
this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any
work, and not to
27 defile it, as it is holier than all other days. And
whoever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever does
thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the
children of Israel may observe this day throughout their
generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a
holy day and a blessed
28 day. And every one who observes it and keeps Sabbath
thereon from all his work, will be holy and
29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say
to the children of Israel the law of this day both that they
should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not
forsake it in the error of their hearts; (and) that it is
not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do
thereon their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare
thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, and (that it is not
lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon
through their gates any burden,
30 which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth
day in their dwellings. And they shall not bring in nor take
out from house to house on that day; for that day is more
holy and blessed than any jubilee day of the jubilees; on
this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made
31 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth.
And the Creator of all things blessed it, but he did not
sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon,
but Israel alone: them
32 alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath
thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed
this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and
glory above all
33 days. This law and testimony was given to the children of
Israel as a law for ever unto their generations.
[Chapter 3]
1 And on the six days of the second week we brought,
according to the word of God, unto Adam all the beasts, and
all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves
on the earth, and everything that moves in the water,
according to their kinds, and according to their types: the
beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the
birds on the third day; and all that which moves on the
earth on the fourth day; and that which moves in the water
on the fifth day.
2 And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as
he called them, so was their name.
3 And on these five days Adam saw all these, male and
female, according to every kind that was on
4 the earth, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him.
And the Lord said unto us: 'It is not
5 good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet
for him.' And the Lord our God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib
from amongst
6 his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from
amongst his ribs, and He built up the flesh in its stead,
and built the woman. And He awaked Adam out of his sleep and
on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to
him, and he knew her, and said unto her: 'This is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
7 [my] wife; because she was taken from her husband.'
Therefore shall man and wife be one and therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his
wife, and they shall be
8 one flesh. In the first week was Adam created, and the rib
-his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and
for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their
defilement,
9 for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days.
And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he
had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to
till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the
eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden
10 of Eden. And for this reason the commandment is written
on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth:
'if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness
seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty
and three days shall she remain in the blood of her
purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor
enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these
11 days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child.
But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her
uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two
weeks, and sixty-six days
12 in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all
eighty days.' And when she had completed these eighty days
we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier
than all the earth besides and
13 every tree that is planted in it is holy. Therefore,
there was ordained regarding her who bears a male or a
female child the statute of those days that she should touch
no hallowed thing, nor
14 enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or
female child are accomplished. This is the law and testimony
which was written down for Israel, in order that they should
observe (it) all the
15 days. And in the first week of the first jubilee, [1-7
A.M.] Adam and his wife were in the garden of Eden for seven
years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we
instructed him to do everything
16 that is suitable for tillage. And he tilled (the garden),
and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he
protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle,
and gathered its fruit, and eat, and put aside the residue
for himself and for his wife [and put aside that which was
17 being kept]. And after the completion of the seven years,
which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.]
and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the
month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the
serpent said to the woman, 'Hath God commanded you,
18 saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'
And she said to it, 'Of all the fruit of the trees of the
garden God hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said unto
us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall
not surely die: for God doth know that on the day ye shall
eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as
gods, and ye will know good and
20 evil. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable
and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit
21 was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when
she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave
thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he
saw that he was
22 naked. And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together,
and made an apron for himself, and
23, 24 covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and
was wroth with it for ever . . . And He was wroth with the
woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and
did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy
sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
25 children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and
he will rule over thee.' And to Adam also he said, ' Because
thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou
shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake:
thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou
shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou
returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for
earth thou art, and unto earth shalt
26 thou return.' And He made for them coats of skin, and
clothed them, and sent them forth from
27 the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went
forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an
offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in
the morning with the
28 rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.
And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of
cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever
moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all
spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.
29 And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was
in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according
to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places
which had been created
30 for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal)
to cover his shame, of all the beasts and
31 cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly
tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the
law, that they should cover their shame, and should not
uncover themselves as the
32 Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the
fourth month, Adam and his wife went
33 forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land
of Elda in the land of their creation. And
34 Adam called the name of his wife Eve. And they had no son
till the first jubilee, [8 A.M.] and after this he
35 knew her. Now he tilled the land as he had been
instructed in the Garden of Eden.
[Chapter 4]
1 And in the third week in the second jubilee she gave birth
to Cain, and in the fourth she gave birth to Abel, and in
the fifth she gave birth to her daughter Awan. And in the
first (year) of the third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because
HWHY
accepted the sacrifice of Abel, and did not accept
3 the offering of Cain. And he slew him in the field: and
his blood cried from the ground to heaven,
4 complaining because he had slain him. And the Lord
reproved Cain because of Abel, because he had slain him, and
he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of
his brother, and he
5 cursed him upon the earth. And on this account it is
written on the heavenly tables, 'Cursed is ,he who smites
his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and
heard say, So be it; and
6 the man who has seen and not declared (it), let him be
accursed as the other.' And for this reason we announce when
we come before
HWHY
our Father all the sin which is
committed in heaven and
7 on earth, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere.
And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years,
[99-127 A.M] and in the fourth year of the fifth week [130
A.M.] they became joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and
she bare him a son, and he called his name Seth; for he said
'GOD has
8 raised up a second seed unto us on the earth instead of
Abel; for Cain slew him.' And in the sixth
9 week [134-40 A.M.] he begat his daughter Azura. And Cain
took Awan his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch
at the close of the fourth jubilee. [190-196 A.M.] And in
the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, [197
A.M.] houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city,
and called its name after the name of
10, 11 his son Enoch. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she
bare yet nine sons. And in the fifth week of the fifth
jubilee [225-31 A.M.] Seth took Azura his sister to be his
wife, and in the fourth (year of the sixth
12,13 week) [235 A.M.] she bare him Enos. He began to call
on the name of the Lord on the earth. And in the seventh
jubilee in the third week [309-15 A.M.] Enos took Noam his
sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son
14 in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his
name Kenan. And at the close of the eighth jubilee [325,
386-3992 A.M.] Kenan took Mualeleth his sister to be his
wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth jubilee,
15 in the first week in the third year of this week, [395
A.M] and he called his name Mahalalel. And in the second
week of the tenth jubilee [449-55 A.M.] Mahalalel took unto
him to wife Dinah, the daughter of Barakiel the daughter of
his father's brother, and she bare him a son in the third
week in the sixth year, [461 A.M.] and he called his name
Jared, for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on
the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they
should instruct the children of men, and that they should do
16 judgment and uprightness on the earth. And in the
eleventh jubilee [512-18 A.M.] Jared took to himself a wife,
and her name was Baraka, the daughter of Rasujal, a daughter
of his father's brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee,
[522 A.M.] and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the
fourth year of the jubilee, and
17 he called his name Enoch. And he was the first among men
that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and
wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to
the order of their months in a book, that men might know the
seasons of the years according to the order of
18 their separate months. And he was the first to write a
testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the
generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the
jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and
set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the
years
19 as we made (them), known to him. And what was and what
will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen
to the children of men throughout their generations until
the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and
wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for
all
20 the children of men and for their generations. And in the
twelfth jubilee, [582-88] in the seventh week thereof, he
took to himself a wife, and her name was Edna, the daughter
of Danel, the daughter of his father's brother, and in the
sixth year in this week [587 A.M.] she bare him a son and he
called his name
21 Methuselah. And he was moreover with the angels of God
these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything
which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun,
and he wrote down
22 everything. And he testified to the Watchers, who had
sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to
unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of
men, and Enoch
23 testified against (them) all. And he was taken from
amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the
Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he
writes down the con-
24 demnation and judgment of the world, and all the
wickedness of the children of men. And on account of it
(God) brought the waters of the flood upon |
