A Walk Through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation

449 Pages·2012·4.354 MB·English

by  James L. Kugel

Jubilees
A Walk through
Supplements
to the
Journal for the Study
of Judaism
Editor
Hindy Najman
DepartmentandCentrefortheStudyofReligionattheUniversityofToronto
AssociateEditors
Florentino García Martínez
QumranInstitute,UniversityofGroningen
Benjamin G. Wright, III
DepartmentofReligionStudies,LehighUniversity
AdvisoryBoard
j.j.collins–j.duhaime–p.w.vanderhorst
a.klostergaardpetersen–j.t.a.g.m.vanruiten–j.sievers
g.stemberger–e.j.c.tigchelaar–j.tromp
VOLUME156
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.nl/jsjs
Jubilees
A Walk through
Book of Jubilees
Studies in the and
the World of its Creation
By
James L. Kugel
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2012
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Kugel,JamesL.
AwalkthroughJubilees:studiesintheBookofJubileesandtheworldofitscreation/by
JamesL.Kugel.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-21768-3(hardback:alk.paper)1.BookofJubilees–Criticism,
interpretation,etc.I.Title.
BS1830.J8K842012
229'.911–dc23
2011042601
ISSN1384-2161
ISBN9789004217683(hardback)
ISBN9789004221109(e-book)
Copyright2012byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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CONTENTS
Preface ................................................................. ix
Abbreviations .......................................................... xi
 AWalkThroughJubilees:AnExegeticalCommentary .......... 1
 TheSourcesofTorahintheBookofJubilees...................... 207
 TheContradictionsintheBookofJubilees........................ 227
 DivineNamesandEpithetsintheBookofJubilees............... 297
 WhichIsOlder,JubileesortheGenesisApocryphon? ............ 305
 HowOldIstheAramaicLeviDocument.......................... 343
 ExegeticalNotesonQ“Pseudo-Jubilees”.................... 365
 Jubilees,Philo,andtheProblemofGenesis....................... 391
ScripturalIndex........................................................ 407
SubjectIndex........................................................... 418

PREFACE
This volume explores different aspects of the book of Jubilees—in my
opinionthemostinterestingandimportantcompositionoflateSecond
Temple Judaism. It begins with a commentary on the book itself, the
product of some years of study (Chapter ). This is followed by three
individualstudiesaimedatexploringthematterofmultipleauthorship
in Jubilees. Chapter  thus highlights two sharply conflicting views of
the origin of the Torah’s laws that exist side-by-side in Jubilees. Chap-
terexaminesaseriesofinternalcontradictionsinthebook;thischapter
sharessomeofthecontentofanarticlepublishednotlongago,1butcon-
tainsagoodamountofnewmaterialaswell.Chapterisabriefsurvey
of divine epithets used in the book and what they can tell us. The next
four chapters all seek to explore the relationship of Jubilees as a whole
to other works of the Second Temple period: the Genesis Apocryphon,
the Aramaic Levi Document (ALD), the Dead Sea Scrolls text Q
“Pseudo-Jubilees,”andthewritingsofPhiloofAlexandria.2
It is my hope that the volume as a whole will be of interest to both
scholarsandstudents.IwishtotakethisopportunitytothankProfessor
Hindy Najman, who first suggested that I undertake the present study
andwithoutwhosehelpitwouldneverhavebeencompleted.Mythanks
as well to Eva Mraczek, Nathalie LaCoste and Ryan Stoner for help in
editingthevolume.Inaddition,Iwishtoexpressmyappreciationtothe
staff at Brill, and in particular to Mirjam Elbers, Tessel Jonquière, and
DebbiedeWit.
1 “TheInterpolationsintheBookofJubilees,”RevQ():–.
2 Thesefourchaptersarebasedonarticlesalreadypublishedorcurrentlyinpress:
“WhichIsOlder,theBookofJubileesortheGenesisApocryphon?”ProceedingsoftheIsrael
Museum/OrionCenterConferenceontheDeadSeaScrolls,(tobepublished);
“HowOldistheAramaicLeviDocument?”DSD()–;“ExegeticalNotes
onQ,”DSD():–;and“Jubilees,Philo,andtheProblemofGenesis,”tobe
publishedwithotherpaperspresentedattheInternationalSocietyofBiblicalLiterature
conference,Rome,.