Bible - Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha - Jubilee book
THE BOOK OF JUBILEE, a pseudepigraphic work (see Apocrypha and pseudoepigrapha), setting forth the revelation of the "angel of the Divine presence" to Moses during his second ascent of Mount Sinai.
Apparently, the full title of the work is: "The Book of the Divisions of the Seasons in Correspondence with Their Jubilees and Weeks"; This title was later shortened to the Book of Jubilees. The work is also known as The Minor Exodus, The Testament of Moses, and The Revelation of Moses. Although the book was written in Hebrew, both the extant versions—the Latin and the Ethiopic (see also The Ethiopian Jews)—are translations from the Greek Septuagint (see Bible. Editions and Translations). Several fragments of the Book of Jubilees in Hebrew were found in the caves of Qumran (see also Dead Sea Scrolls; The Qumran Community).
The book is written in the form of a monologue on behalf of the angel of the Divine presence, who recounts the contents of the Bible, giving the exact dating of the events described. This dating is based on the calculation of Sabbaths and Jubilee years; sometimes the compiler also gives the month and day. In a number of places the author strictly follows the Bible, but more often he introduces changes into the biblical narrative, adding or excluding material, indicating reasons for events that differ from the biblical ones, naming the wives of biblical characters, etc. In addition to the midrashic material (see Midrash), which finds only partial parallels in the Talmudic (see Talmud) and traditional midrashic sources, the Book of Jubilees also contains halakhic (see Halakha) innovations. The book says that before the Ten Commandments were given to people, they were written on the "tablets of heaven"; Some of these commandments were already observed by the patriarchs, and some of them (such as the observance of Saturday, the celebration of Shavu‘ot and the performance of circumcision) are also obligatory for angels. The reasons given for the commandments in the Book of Jubilees often differ from the biblical ones. In contrast to the traditional view, the author claims that Shavu‘ot was instituted to commemorate the renewal of the covenant between God and man after the flood and Noah, as well as Abraham and Jacob had already celebrated Shavu'ot. Likewise, Sukkot had already been celebrated by Abraham. Yom Kippur receives a kind of historical etiology in the Book of Jubilees as the day on which Joseph was sold by his brothers. The special status of the tribe Levi (see also Tribe of Israel) is explained as retribution not for their religious zeal during the sinful behavior of the Israelites who worshiped the golden calf, but for Levi's actions in Shechem, where he killed those guilty of raping his sister Dinah.
The author of the Book of Jubilees speaks out against contacts with non-Jews and interprets the laws of the Sabbath with particular severity. Like the halakhic scribes, the author of the book of Jubilees recognizes the existence of four New Years (see Calendar), however, the dates of the New Years indicated in the book (the first day of the first, fourthThe book's explanation of the New Year's dates (the seventh, seventh, and tenth months) and the explanation of their meaning differ from the halakhic ones. These New Years are connected in the book not with the annual seasonal cycle, but with the cosmic events of the time of the flood - the day the construction of the ark began, the day when the earth dried up after the flood, the day when the womb of the earth opened up and the water began to descend into it, and the day when the mountain peaks emerged from the water. The book insists on following the solar calendar (like the Book of Enoch and the Dead Sea Scrolls), which contains 52 weeks. In contrast to the Pharisees, the author of the book insists on a literal interpretation of the phrase "an eye for an eye", does not accept the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, believing only in the immortality of the soul, and interprets human behavior in the spirit of determinism. The Book of Jubilees claims that the world is ruled by both good and evil angels, and the war between the forces of good and evil will continue until the "day of judgment". At the end of days there will appear Messiah from the tribe of Jehuda and the other from the tribe of Levi.
The biblical text reflected in the Book of Jubilees does not always coincide with the Masoretic (see Masora) - sometimes it finds parallels in the Septuagint or in the Samaritan Bible (see Samaritans). This fact proves that the author of the Book of Jubilees was not a Pharisee. The author's views are close to the views of the compiler of the apocryphal Book of Enoch and, to a lesser extent, the "Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs".
The Book of Jubilees is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls (see above) and fragments of it were discovered in the caves of Qumran. The ideology of the Book of Jubilees suited the Qumran community (immortality of the soul, the calendar, and the hegemony of Bliya'al /Satan/ in the secular sphere). Some researchers even believe that the Book of Jubilees was written by a representative of the Qumran sect. The historical events mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (for example, the author of the book “knows” that the Israelites will establish their dominion over the Philistine cities /see Philistines/ and over Edom) suggest that its author lived at the end of the reign of John Hyrcanus (135–104 BCE).
The Book of Jubilees had a significant influence on later midrashic literature. The book had a particular influence on the Ethiopian Jews, whose rituals and calendar (in particular, the dating of the holiday of Shavu‘ot) are based on the Book of Jubilees.