NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Scanned at sacred-texts.com, July 2004. John Bruno Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain in the USA. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact. p. v EDITORS' PREFACE THE object of this series of translations is primarily to furnish students with short, cheap, and handy text-books, which, it is hoped, will facilitate the study of the particular texts in class under competent teachers. But it is also hoped that the volumes will be acceptable to the general reader who may be interested in the subjects with which they deal. It has been thought advisable, as a general rule, to restrict the notes and comments to a small compass; more especially as, in most cases, excellent works of a more elaborate character are available. Indeed, it is much to be desired that these translations may have the effect of inducing readers to study the larger works. Our principal aim, in a word, is to make some difficult texts, important for the study of Christian origins, more generally accessible in faithful and scholarly translations. In most cases these texts are not available in a cheap and handy form. In one or two cases texts have been included of books which are available in the official Apocrypha; but in every such case reasons exist for putting forth these texts in a new translation, with an Introduction, in this series. We desire to express our thanks to Canon Charles and Messrs. A. and C. Black, for their permission to reprint here the translation of The Book of Jubilees, published in 1902. W. O. E. OESTERLEY. G. H. Box. p. vii INTRODUCTION SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK THE Book of Jubilees, or, as it is sometimes called, "the little Genesis, " purports to be a revelation given by God to Moses through the medium of an angel ( " the Angel of the Presence, " i. 27), and containing a history, divided up into jubilee-periods of fortynine years, from the creation to the coming of Moses. Though the actual narrative of events is only carried down to the birth and early career of Moses, its author envisages the events of a later time, and in particular certain events of special interest at the time when he wrote, which was probably in the latter years of the second century B.C., perhaps in the reign of the Maccabean prince John Hyrcanus. Though distinguished from the Pentateuch proper ( "the first Law, " vi. 22), it presupposes and supplements the latter. The actual narrative embraces material contained in the whole of Genesis and part of Exodus. But the legal regulations given presuppose other parts of the Pentateuch, especially the so-called "Priest's Code " (P), and certain details in the narrative are probably intended to apply to events that occurred in the author's own time (the latter years of the second century B.C.). The author himself seems to have contemplated the speedy inauguration of the Messianic Age, and in this respect his point of view is similar to that of the Apocalyptic writers. But his work, though it contains one or two passages of an apocalyptic character, is quite unlike the typical apocalypses. It is largely narrative based upon the historical narratives in Genesis and p. viii [paragraph continues ] Exodus, interspersed with legends, and emphasizing certain legal practices (such as the strict observance of the Sabbath, circumcision, etc.), and laying much stress upon their eternal obligation. But his main object was to inculcate a reform in the regulation of the calendar and festivals, in place of the intercalated lunar calendar, which he condemns in the strongest language. He proposes to substitute for this a solar calendar consisting of 12 months and containing 364 days. The result of such a system is to make all festivals, except the Day of Atonement, fall on a Sunday; the author also fixes the date of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) on Sivan 15th (in place of the traditional Sivan 6th). He obviously believes that the prevailing system has produced grave consequences in religious practice. The proper observance of the feasts, which had been prescribed by divine authority, is, according to his view, rendered impossible so long as the right principles for regulating the calendar are ignored. These principles are justified from the written Law, and are represented as having been ordained in heaven. To what party or tendency in Judaism did the author belong? Various answers have been given to this question, which will be fully discussed below. It is very difficult to believe, as Dr. Charles contends, that the author was a Pharisee, for the positions he advocates are in many respects fundamentally opposed to later Pharisaic practice. In particular, how can any member of the Pharisaic party, which from its beginning championed popular religious custom, have advocated a solar calendar? More can be said for the view that the author was a member of the Hasidim or "pious " (who must not be confounded with the Pharisees), while in a recent important discussion Leszynsky has made out a strong, if not quite convincing, case for Sadducean authorship. The Book has sometimes been styled a Midrash, but such a descriptive term needs some qualification. It claims to be a revelation, and not a mere exposition of Genesis and p. ix [paragraph continues ] Exodus. At the same time, there is a certain Midrashic tendency observable in the way the author rewrites the older narratives, which reminds one of the work of the Chronicler as compared with the earlier canonical books which he remodelled. But Jubilees is not at all like the typical Midrash of the later Rabbinical period; it is more independent, and resembles rather such works as the "Chronicles of Jerahmeel, " or the earlier (narrative) part of the "Apocalypse of Abraham. " The Book, which was probably composed in Hebrew, is divided into fifty chapters, and appears to be complete. TITLES The Book was known under various titles, most of them in Greek as referred to in later Greek writers. The most important are "Jubilees " (= τ ωβηλα α or ) and "the little Genesis " (= λεπτ; and variants). Both of these seem to go back to Hebrew originals, and there would thus appear to have been two authoritative Hebrew titles of the original Hebrew work, viz. ha-yôbĕlîm (or sēfer hâ-yôbĕlôth), and Berēshîth zûtā. In the latter the epithet "little " 1 refers not to the extent of the work, but to its relatively inferior position as compared with the canonical Genesis. It is also noteworthy that a clear reference to our Book is made in the recently recovered fragments of a "Zadokite Work. " 2 The passage runs as follows
And I told thee of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told thee of the jubilee years 6 in the sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I not told thee till ye enter the land which ye are to possess.
Wherefore I have ordained for thee the yearweeks 8 and the years and the jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of Adam until this day, and one week 2410 and two years and there are yet forty years to come (lit. "distant for learning the A.M. commandments of 2450 A.M. the Lord, until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the west.
And the jubilees will pass by, until Israel is cleansed from all guilt of fornication, and uncleanness, and pollution, and sin, and error, and dwelleth with confidence in all the land, and there will be no more a Satan or any evil one, and the land will be clean from that time for evermore. 1 honour which the Lord hath given to Israel that they should eat and drink and be satisfied on this festival day, and rest thereon from all labour 1 which belongeth to the labour of the children of men, save burning frankincense and bringing oblations and sacrifices before the Lord for days and for Sabbaths.
Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it, you nor your sons nor your menservants nor your maidservants nor any of your cattle, nor the stranger who is with you.
And the man who does any work on it shall die; everyone who profanes this day, who lies with a woman, or who speaks any word about doing work on it, so as to set out on a journey on it, or about any buying or selling, or who draws water on it which he has not prepared for himself on the sixth day, or who lifts up any load to carry out of his tent or out of his house, shall die.
Do not do on the Sabbath any work which you have not prepared for yourselves on the sixth day, so as to eat and drink and rest and keep Sabbath from all work on this day, and to bless the Lord your God.
For great is the honour which the Lord has given to Israel, to eat and drink and be satisfied on this feast day, and to rest on it from all work that is of the work of the children of men, except to burn incense and to bring offerings and sacrifices before the Lord for the days and for the Sabbaths.
This work alone shall be done on the Sabbath-days 2 in the sanctuary of the Lord your God; that they may atone for Israel with sacrifice continually from day to day for a memorial wellpleasing before the Lord, and that He may receive them always from day to day according as thou hast been commanded.
And every man who doeth any work thereon, or goeth a journey, or tilleth (his) farm, 3 whether in his house or any other place, 4 and whoever lighteth a fire, 5 or rideth on any beast, 6 or travelleth by ship on the sea, and whoever striketh or killeth anything, or slaughtereth 7 a beast or a bird, or whoever catcheth an animal or a bird or a fish, or whoever fasteth or maketh war on the Sabbaths:
The man who doeth any of these things on the Sabbath shall die, so that the children of Israel shall observe the Sabbaths according to the commandments regarding the Sabbaths of the land, as it is written in the tables, which He gave into my hands that I should write out for thee the laws of the seasons, and the seasons according to the division of their days. Herewith is completed the account of the division of the days.", "metadata": { "scrapeId": "019ed07c-61aa-75bd-969f-a512b95dcc3c", "sourceURL": "https://www.betemunah.org/The%20Book%20of%20Jubilees.pdf", "url": "https://www.betemunah.org/The%20Book%20of%20Jubilees.pdf", "statusCode": 200, "numPages": 208, "title": " ", "contentType": "application/pdf", "proxyUsed": "basic", "cacheState": "miss", "indexId": "6dac302f-f271-4c10-9781-967076f1950b", "creditsUsed": 208, "concurrencyLimited": false }, "warning": "The engine used does not support the following features: skipTlsVerification -- your scrape may be partial." }