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]
[Chapter 3]
[Chapter 4]
[Chapter 5]
[Chapter 6]
[Chapter 7]
make ye the release so that ye release it in righteousness and uprightness,
and ye shall bc righteous,
[Chapter 8]
7 thereof. And she bare him a son in the fifth year [1503 A.M.]
thereof, and he called his name Eber: and he took unto himself a wife,
and her name was 'Azurad, the daughter of Nebrod, in the thirty-second
[Chapter 9]
[Chapter 10]
For Thy grace has been great towards me,
Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons,
4 But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and Multiply
and replenish the earth.
[Chapter 11]
11 And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to devour the
seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob
the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough
[Chapter 12]
'What help and profit have we from those idols which thou dost worship,
3 For there is no spirit in them,
4 Worship the God of heaven,
And has created everything by His word,
5 Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in them?
And on your shoulders do ye bear them,
But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them,
6 And his father said unto him, I also know it, my son, but what shall
I do with a people who have
18 If He desires, He causes it to rain, morning and evening;
19 And he prayed that night and said,
20 Deliver me from the hands of evil spirits who have dominion over
the thoughts of men's hearts,
And stablish Thou me and my seed for ever
21 And he said, 'Shall I return unto Ur of the Chaldees who seek my
face that I may return to them, am I to remain here in this place? The
right path before Thee prosper it in the hands of Thy servant that he may
fulfil (it) and that I may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O
my God.'
23 And I will bless thee
24 And I will be a God to thee and thy son, and to thy son's son, and
to all thy se
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
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.
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.
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 (God) 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 the Lord
our God 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 all the land of Eden; for there he was set as a sign and that he should
testify against all the children of men, that he should recount all the
25 deeds of the generations until the day of condemnation. And he burnt
the incense of the sanctuary,
26 (even) sweet spices acceptable before the Lord on the Mount. For
the Lord has four places on the earth, the Garden of Eden, and the Mount
of the East, and this mountain on which thou art this day, Mount Sinai,
and Mount Zion (which) will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification
of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from all (its) guilt
and its uncleanness through-
27 out the generations of the world. And in the fourteenth jubilee
[652 A.M.] Methuselah took unto himself a wife, Edna the daughter of Azrial,
the daughter of his father's brother, in the third week, in the
28 first year of this week, [701-7 A.M.] and he begat a son and called
his name Lamech. And in the fifteenth jubilee in the third week Lamech
took to himself a wife, and her name was Betenos the daughter of Baraki'il,
the daughter of his father's brother, and in this week she bare him a son
and he called his name Noah, saying, 'This one will comfort me for my trouble
and all my work, and for the ground
29 which the Lord hath cursed.' And at the close of the nineteenth
jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year [930 A.M.] thereof, Adam
died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he
30 was the first to be buried in the earth. And he lacked seventy years
of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony
of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge:
'On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.' For this reason he
31 did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it. At
the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for
his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was
killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone
was he killed in
32 righteous judgment. For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly
tablets: With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour with
the same shall he be killed; after the manner that
33 he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him.' And in
the twenty-fifth [1205 A.M.] jubilee Noah took to himself a wife, and her
name was Emzara, the daughter of Rake'el, the daughter of his father's
brother, in the first year in the fifth week [1207 A.M.]: and in the third
year thereof she bare him Shem, in the fifth year thereof [1209 A.M.] she
bare him Ham, and in the first year in the sixth week [1212 A.M.] she bare
him Japheth.
1 And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on
the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels
of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful
to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they
2 chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants. And lawlessness
increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle
and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them
corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other,
and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts
of all men
3 (was) thus evil continually. And God looked upon the earth, and behold
it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were
upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil
4 before His eyes. And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh
upon the face of the earth
5,6 which He had created. But Noah found grace before the eyes of the
Lord. And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly
wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion,
and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and
7 behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate.
And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they
should be smitten with the sword, and be removed
8 from under heaven. And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide
on man; for they also are flesh
9 and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'. And He sent
His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they
began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword
10 and were destroyed from the earth. And their fathers were witnesses
(of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of
the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment
is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works
before
11 the Lord. And He destroyed all from their places, and there was
not left one of them whom
12 He judged not according to all their wickedness. And he made for
all his works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in
their whole nature for ever, but should be all
13 righteous each in his kind alway. 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;
and if they walk not therein, judgment is written down for every creature
and
14 for every kind. And there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in
light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the depth, or in the place of darkness
(which is not judged); and all their judgments are
15 ordained and written and engraved. In regard to all He will judge,the
great according to his
16 greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according
to his way. And He is not one who will regard the person (of any), nor
is He one who will receive gifts, if He says that He will execute judgment
on each: if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard
the
17 gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands,
for He is a righteous judge. [And of the children of Israel it has been
written and ordained: If they turn to him in righteousness He will forgive
all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. It is written and ordained
that
19 He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each
year.] And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their thoughts
before the flood, no man's person was accepted save that of Noah alone;
for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom (God) saved from
the waters of the flood on his account; for his heart was righteous in
all his ways, according as it was com-
20 manded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was
ordained for him. And the Lord said that he would destroy everything which
was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and
21 beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth.
And He commanded Noah to
22 make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the
flood. And Noah made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the
twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week
23 in the fifth year (on the new moon of the first month). [1307 A.M.]
And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, [1308 A.M.] in the second month,
on the new moon of the second month, till the sixteenth; and he entered,
and all that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed it from
without on the seventeenth evening.
24 And the Lord opened seven flood-gates of heaven,
And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in
number.
25 And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven forty
days and forty nights,
And the fountains of the deep also sent up waters, until the whole
world was full of water.
26 And the waters increased upon the earth: Fifteen cubits did the
waters rise above all the high mountains, And the ark was lift up above
the earth,
And it moved upon the face of the waters.
27 And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months -one
hundred and fifty days.
28, 29 And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one of the
mountains of Ararat. And (on the new moon) in the fourth month the fountains
of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of heaven were restrained;
and on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses
30 of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the
deep below. And on the new moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains
were seen, and on the new moon of the first 31 month the earth became visible.
And the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the
seventh year [1309 A.M.] thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second
month the earth was dry.
32 And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened the ark, and sent forth
from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every moving thing.
1 And on the new moon of the third month he went forth from the ark,
and built an altar on
2 that mountain. And he made atonement for the earth, and took a kid
and made atonement by its blood for all the guilt of the earth; for everything
that had been on it had been destroyed, save
3 those that were in the ark with Noah. And he placed the fat thereof
on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and
salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice
on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled
wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour
to arise, acceptable before
4 the Lord. And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He made a covenant
with him that there should not be any more a flood to destroy the earth;
that all the days of the earth seed-time and harvest should never cease;
cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not
5 change their order, nor cease for ever. 'And you, increase ye and
multiply upon the earth, and become many upon it, and be a blessing upon
it. The fear of you and the dread of you I will
6 inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea. And behold
I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things, and everything
that moves on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and all
7 things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all things
to eat. But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye shall not
eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your
lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast)
will I require the
8 blood of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be
shed, for in the image of
9,10 God made He man. And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth.'
And Noah and his sons swore that they would not eat any blood that was
in any flesh, and he made a covenant before the
11 Lord God for ever throughout all the generations of the earth in
this month. On this account He spake to thee that thou shouldst make a
covenant with the children of Israel in this month upon the mountain with
an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all
the words
12 of the covenant, which the Lord made with them for ever. And this
testimony is written concerning you that you should observe it continually,
so that you should not eat on any day any blood of beasts or birds or cattle
during all the days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast
or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed
shall be rooted out of the land.
13 And do thou command the children of Israel to eat no blood, so that
their names and their seed
14 may be before the Lord our God continually. And for this law there
is no limit of days, for it is for ever. They shall observe it throughout
their generations, so that they may continue supplicating on your behalf
with blood before the altar; every day and at the time of morning and evening
they shall seek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually before the Lord
that they may keep
15 it and not be rooted out. And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign
that there should not again
16 be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign
of the eternal covenant that there
17 should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days
of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly
tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this
18 month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. And this whole
festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days
of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years [1309-1659 A.M.]:
and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years,
till the day of Noah's death, and from the day of Noah's death his sons
did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and
19 they eat blood. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and
his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of
Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain.
20 And do thou command the children of Israel to observe this festival
in all their generations for a
21 commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall
celebrate the festival. For it is the feast of weeks and the feast of first
fruits: this feast is twofold and of a double nature:
22 according to what is written and engraven concerning it, celebrate
it. For I have written in the book of the first law, in that which I have
written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day
in the year, and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of
Israel should remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations
in this month, one day in every year.
23 And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new moon of the
fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh month, and on the new
moon of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the
seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained
24 as a testimony for ever. And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts
for the generations for ever,
25 so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. And on the
new moon of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and
on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened
26 (the ark) and saw the earth. And on the new moon of the fourth month
the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new
moon of the seventh month all the mouths of
27 the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend
into them. And on the new
28 moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and
Noah was glad. And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts
for a memorial for ever, and thus are they ordained.
29 And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each had thirteen
weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial, from the first to the
second, and from the second to the third, and from the
30 third to the fourth. And all the days of the commandment will be
two and fifty weeks of days, and (these will make) the entire year complete.
Thus it is engraven and ordained on the heavenly
31 tablets. And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single
year or from year to year.
32 And command thou the children of Israel that they observe the years
according to this reckoning- three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these)
will constitute a complete year, and they will not disturb its time from
its days and from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them according
to
33 their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor disturb
any feasts. But if they do neglect and do not observe them according to
His commandment, then they will disturb all their seasons and the years
will be dislodged from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons
and the years
34 will be dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances. And all
the children of Israel will forget and will not find the path of the years,
and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and sabbaths
35 and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. For I know
and from henceforth will I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own
devising; for the book (lies) written before me, and on the heavenly tablets
the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant
36 and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error
and after their ignorance. For there will be those who will assuredly make
observations of the moon -how (it) disturbs the
37 seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. For this
reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order),
and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a
feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean,
and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months
and sabbaths and feasts and
38 jubilees. For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou
mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them),
so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only,
and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons
and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all
kinds of flesh.
1 And in the seventh week in the first year [1317 A.M.] thereof, in
this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested,
named Lubar, one of the Ararat Mountains, and they produced fruit in the
fourth year, [1320 A.M.] and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in
this year in the
2 seventh month. And he made wine therefrom and put it into a vessel,
and kept it until the fifth
3 year, [1321 A.M.] until the first day, on the new moon of the first
month. And he celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and he made a
burnt sacrifice unto the Lord, one young ox and one ram, and seven sheep,
each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby
for himself
4 and his sons. And he prepared the kid first, and placed some of its
blood on the flesh that was on the altar which he had made, and all the
fat he laid on the altar where he made the burnt sacrifice,
5 and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all their flesh
upon the altar. And he placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon
it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously
made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet
savour to
6 ascend acceptable before the Lord his God. And he rejoiced and drank
of this wine, he and his
7 children with joy. And it was evening, and he went into his tent,
and being drunken he lay down
8 and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept. And Ham saw
Noah his father naked, and
9 went forth and told his two brethren without. And Shem took his garment
and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed the garment on their shoulders
and went backward and covered the shame
10 of their father, and their faces were backward. And Noah awoke from
his sleep and knew all that his younger son had done unto him, and he cursed
his son and said: 'Cursed be Canaan; an
11 enslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.' And he blessed
Shem, and said: 'Blessed be the
12 Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge
Japheth, and God shall
13 dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.'
And Ham knew that his father had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased
that he had cursed his son. and he parted from
14 his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim and Put and
Canaan. And he built for
15 himself a city and called its name after the name of his wife Ne'elatama'uk.
And Japheth saw it, and became envious of his brother, and he too built
for himself a city, and he called its name after
16 the name of his wife 'Adataneses. And Shem dwelt with his father
Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too
called its name after the name of his wife Sedeqetelebab.
17 And behold these three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab
fronting the mountain on its
18 east; and Na'eltama'uk on the south; 'Adatan'eses towards the west.
And these are the sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad -this
(son) was born two years after the flood- and
19 Lud, and Aram. The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and
Javan, Tubal and
20 Meshech and Tiras: these are the sons of Noah. And in the twenty-eighth
jubilee [1324-1372 A.M.] Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordinances
and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his
sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and
to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour,
and guard their souls
21 from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For owing to
these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the
fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went
a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all
which they
22 chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness. And they begat
sons the Naphidim, and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another:
and the Giants slew the Naphil, and the
23 Naphil slew the Eljo, and the Eljo mankind, and one man another.
And every one sold himself
24 to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled
with iniquity. And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds,
and all that moves and walks on the earth: and much blood was shed on the
earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil
25 continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face
of the earth; because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of
the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth
26 He destroyed everything. 'And we were left, I and you, my sons,
and everything that entered with us into the ark, and behold I see your
works before me that ye do not walk in righteousness: for in the path of
destruction ye have begun to walk, and ye are parting one from another,
and are envious one of another, and (so it comes) that ye are not in harmony,
my sons, each with his brother.
27 For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their) seductions against
you and against your children and now I fear on your behalf, that after
my death ye will shed the blood of men upon the earth,
28 and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the earth.
For whoso sheddeth man's blood, and whoso eateth the blood of any flesh,
shall all be destroyed from the earth.
29 And there shall not be left any man that eateth blood,
or that sheddeth the blood of man on the earth,
Nor shall there be left to him any seed or descendants living under
heaven;
For into Sheol shall they go, And into the place of condemnation shall
they descend,
And into the darkness of the deep shall they all be removed by a violent
death.
30 There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood there shall
be all the days in which ye have killed any beasts or cattle or whatever
flies upon the earth, and work ye a good work to your
31 souls by covering that which has been shed on the face of the earth.
And ye shall not be like him who eats with blood, but guard yourselves
that none may eat blood before you: cover the blood,
32 for thus have I been commanded to testify to you and your children,
together with all flesh. And suffer not the soul to be eaten with the flesh,
that your blood, which is your life, may not be required
33 at the hand of any flesh that sheds (it) on the earth. For the earth
will not be clean from the blood which has been shed upon it; for (only)
through the blood of him that shed it will the earth be
34 purified throughout all its generations. And now, my children, harken:
work judgment and righteousness that ye maybe planted in righteousness
over the face of the whole earth, and your
35 glory lifted up before my God, who saved me from the waters of the
flood. And behold, ye will go and build for yourselves cities, and plant
in them all the plants that are upon the earth, and moreover
36 all fruit-bearing trees. For three years the fruit of everything
that is eaten will not be gathered: and in the fourth year its fruit will
be accounted holy [and they will offer the first-fruits], acceptable before
the Most High God, who created heaven and earth and all things. Let them
offer in abundance the first of the wine and oil (as) first-fruits on the
altar of the Lord, who receives it, and
37 what is left let the servants of the house of the Lord eat before
the altar which receives (it). And in the fifth year
38 and all that you plant shall prosper. For thus did Enoch, the father
of your father command Methuselah, his son, and Methuselah his son Lamech,
and Lamech commanded me all the things
39 which his fathers commanded him. And I also will give you commandment,
my sons, as Enoch commanded his son in the first jubilees: whilst still
living, the seventh in his generation, he commanded and testified to his
son and to his son's sons until the day of his death.'
1 In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, [1373 A.M.] in the
beginning thereof Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu'eja,
the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she
2 bare him a son in the third year in this week, [1375 A.M.] and he
called his name Kainam. And the son grew, and his father taught him writing,
and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for
3 himself a city. And he found a writing which former (generations)
had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed
it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers
in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and
moon and
4 stars in all the signs of heaven. And he wrote it down and said nothing
regarding it; for he was
5 afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry with him
on account of it. And in the thirtieth jubilee, [1429 A.M.] in the second
week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name
was Melka, the daughter of Madai, the son of Japheth, and in the fourth
year [1432 A.M.] he begat a son, and
6 called his name Shelah; for he said: 'Truly I have been sent.' [And
in the fourth year he was born], and Shelah grew up and took to himself
a wife, and her name was Mu'ak, the daughter of Kesed, his father's brother,
in the one and thirtieth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year
[1499 A.M.]
8 jubilee, in the seventh week, in the third year thereof. [1564 A.M.]
And in the sixth year [1567 A.M.] thereof, she bare him son, and he called
his name Peleg; for in the days when he was born the children of Noah began
9 to divide the earth amongst themselves: for this reason he called
his name Peleg. And they
10 divided (it) secretly amongst themselves, and told it to Noah. And
it came to pass in the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee [1569 A.M.]
that they divided the earth into three parts, for Shem and Ham and Japheth,
according to the inheritance of each, in the first year in the first week,
when one of us
11 who had been sent, was with them. And he called his sons, and they
drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the earth into
the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached
forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noah, their
father.
12 And there came forth on the writing as Shem's lot the middle of
the earth which he should take as an inheritance for himself and for his
sons for the generations of eternity, from the middle of the mountain range
of Rafa, from the mouth of the water from the river Tina, and his portion
goes towards the west through the midst of this river, and it extends till
it reaches the water of the abysses, out of which this river goes forth
and pours its waters into the sea Me'at, and this river flows into the
great sea. And all that is towards the north is Japheth's, and all that
is towards the
13 south belongs to Shem. And it extends till it reaches Karaso: this
is in the bosom of the tongue
14 which looks towards the south. And his portion extends along the
great sea, and it extends in a straight line till it reaches the west of
the tongue which looks towards the south: for this sea is
15 named the tongue of the Egyptian Sea. And it turns from here towards
the south towards the mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters,
and it extends to the west to 'Afra, and it extends till it reaches the
waters of the river Gihon, and to the south of the waters of Gihon, to
the
16 banks of this river. And it extends towards the east, till it reaches
the Garden of Eden, to the south thereof, [to the south] and from the east
of the whole land of Eden and of the whole east, it turns to the east and
proceeds till it reaches the east of the mountain named Rafa, and it descends
17 to the bank of the mouth of the river Tina. This portion came forth
by lot for Shem and his sons,
18 that they should possess it for ever unto his generations for evermore.
And Noah rejoiced that this portion came forth for Shem and for his sons,
and he remembered all that he had spoken with his mouth in prophecy; for
he had said:
'Blessed be the Lord God of Shem
And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem.'
19 And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the
dwelling of the Lord, and Mount Sinai the centre of the desert, and Mount
Zion -the centre of the navel of the earth: these three
20 were created as holy places facing each other. And he blessed the
God of gods, who had put the
21 word of the Lord into his mouth, and the Lord for evermore. And
he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing had come to Shem and his
sons unto the generations for ever -the whole land of Eden and the whole
land of the Red Sea, and the whole land of the east and India, and on the
Red Sea and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan, and all
the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kaftur, and all the mountains of
Sanir and 'Amana, and the mountains of Asshur in the north, and all the
land of Elam, Asshur, and Babel, and Susan and Ma'edai, and all the mountains
of Ararat, and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains
of Asshur towards the
22 north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very
good. And for Ham came forth the second portion, beyond the Gihon towards
the south to the right of the Garden, and it extends towards the south
and it extends to all the mountains of fire, and it extends towards the
west to the sea of 'Atel and it extends towards the west till it reaches
the sea of Ma'uk -that (sea) into which
23 everything which is not destroyed descends. And it goes forth towards
the north to the limits of Gadir, and it goes forth to the coast of the
waters of the sea to the waters of the great sea till it draws near to
the river Gihon, and goes along the river Gihon till it reaches the right
of the Garden
24 of Eden. And this is the land which came forth for Ham as the portion
which he was to occupy
25 for ever for himself and his sons unto their generations for ever.
And for Japheth came forth the third portion beyond the river Tina to the
north of the outflow of its waters, and it extends north-
26 easterly to the whole region of Gog, and to all the country east
thereof. And it extends northerly to the north, and it extends to the mountains
of Qelt towards the north, and towards the sea of
27 Ma'uk, and it goes forth to the east of Gadir as far as the region
of the waters of the sea. And it extends until it approaches the west of
Fara and it returns towards 'Aferag, and it extends easterly
28 to the waters of the sea of Me'at. And it extends to the region
of the river Tina in a north-easterly direction until it approaches the
boundary of its waters towards the mountain Rafa, and it turns
29 round towards the north. This is the land which came forth for Japheth
and his sons as the portion of his inheritance which he should possess
for himself and his sons, for their generations for ever;
30 five great islands, and a great land in the north. But it is cold,
and the land of Ham is hot, and the land of Shem is neither hot nor cold,
but it is of blended cold and heat.
1 And Ham divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth
for Cush towards the east, and to the west of him for Mizraim, and to the
west of him for Put, and to the west of him
2 [and to the west thereof] on the sea for Canaan. And Shem also divided
amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth for Ham and his sons,
to the east of the river Tigris till it approachcs the east, the whole
land of India, and on the Red Sea on its coast, and the waters of Dedan,
and all the mountains of Mebri and Ela, and all the land of Susan and all
that is on the side of Pharnak
3 to the Red Sea and the river Tina. And for Asshur came forth the
second Portion, all the land of
4 Asshur and Nineveh and Shinar and to the border of India, and it
ascends and skirts the river. And for Arpachshad came forth the third portion,
all the land of the region of the Chaldees to the east of the Euphrates,
bordering on the Red Sea, and all the waters of the desert close to the
tongue of the sea which looks towards Egypt, all the land of Lebanon and
Sanir and 'Amana to the border of the
5 Euphrates. And for Aram there came forth the fourth portion, all
the land of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates to the north
of the Chaldees to the border of the mountains
6 of Asshur and the land of 'Arara. And there came forth for Lud the
fifth portion, the mountains of Asshur and all appertaining to them till
it reaches the Great Sea, and till it reaches the east of
7, 8 Asshur his brother. And Japheth also divided the land of his inheritance
amongst his sons. And the first portion came forth for Gomer to the east
from the north side to the river Tina; and in the north there came forth
for Magog all the inner portions of the north until it reaches to the sea
of
9 Me'at. And for Madai came forth as his portion that he should posses
from the west of his two
10 brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the islands. And for
Javan came forth the fourth
11 portion every island and the islands which are towards the border
of Lud. And for Tubal there came forth the fifth portion in the midst of
the tongue which approaches towards the border of the portion of Lud to
the second tongue, to the region beyond the second tongue unto the third
tongue.
12 And for Meshech came forth the sixth portion, all the region beyond
the third tongue till it
13 approaches the east of Gadir. And for Tiras there came forth the
seventh portion, four great islands in the midst of the sea, which reach
to the portion of Ham [and the islands of Kamaturi
14 came out by lot for the sons of Arpachshad as his inheritance].
And thus the sons of Noah divided unto their sons in the presence of Noah
their father, and he bound them all by an oath, imprecating
15 a curse on every one that sought to seize the portion which had
not fallen (to him) by his lot. And they all said, 'So be it; so be it
' for themselves and their sons for ever throughout their generations till
the day of judgment, on which the Lord God shall judge them with a sword
and with fire for all the unclean wickedness of their errors, wherewith
they have filled the earth with transgression and uncleanness and fornication
and sin.
1 And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to
lead astray the children of
2 the sons of Noah, and to make to err and destroy them. And the sons
of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told him concerning the demons
which were leading astray and blinding and
3 slaying his sons' sons. And he prayed before the Lord his God, and
said:
'God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me
And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood,
And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition;
And great has been Thy mercy to my soul;
And let not wicked spirits rule over them
Lest they should destroy them from the earth.
5 And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits,
acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them
and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring
destruction on the sons of thy servant, my God; for these are malignant,
and
6 created in order to destroy. And let them not rule over the spirits
of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let
them not have power over the sons of the righteous
7,8 from henceforth and for evermore.' And the Lord our God bade us
to bind all. And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: 'Lord,
Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them harken to my voice,
and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left
to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons
of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment,
for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.'
9 And He said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let
nine parts descend into the
10 place of condemnation.' And one of us He commanded that we should
teach Noah all their
11 medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness,
nor strive in righteousness. And we did according to all His words: all
the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemna-
12 tion and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject
before Satan on the earth. And we explained to Noah all the medicines of
their diseases, together with their seductions, how he
13 might heal them with herbs of the earth. And Noah wrote down all
things in a book as we instructed him concerning every kind of medicine.
Thus the evil spirits were precluded from
14 (hurting) the sons of Noah. And he gave all that he had written
to Shem, his eldest son; for he
15 loved him exceedingly above all his sons. And Noah slept with his
fathers, and was buried on
16 Mount Lubar in the land of Ararat. Nine hundred and fifty years
he completed in his life, nineteen
17 jubilees and two weeks and five years. [1659 A.M.] And in his life
on earth he excelled the children of men save Enoch because of the righteousness,
wherein he was perfect. For Enoch's office was ordained for a testimony
to the generations of the world, so that he should recount all the deeds
of generation
18 unto generation, till the day of judgment. And in the three and
thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to
himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the daughter of Sina'ar, and she bare
him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu;
for he said: 'Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked
purpose of building for themselves
19 a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.' For they departed from
the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city
and the tower, saying, 'Go to, let us ascend thereby into
20 heaven.' And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made
brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with
which they cemented them together was asphalt which
21 comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land
of Shinar. And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.] were
they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick)
was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and
(the extent of one wall
22 was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades). And the Lord
our God said unto us: Behold, they are one people, and (this) they begin
to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them. Go to, let us go down
and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech, and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose
will no longer abide with
23 them till the day of judgment.' And the Lord descended, and we descended
with him to see the
24 city and the tower which the children of men had built. And he confounded
their language, and they no longer understood one another's speech, and
they ceased then to build the city and the
25 tower. For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel,
because the Lord did there confound all the language of the children of
men, and from thence they were dispersed into their
26 cities, each according to his language and his nation. And the Lord
sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and
behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the
27 land of Shinar, and they called its name 'Overthrow'. In the fourth
week in the first year [1688 A.M.] in the beginning thereof in the four
and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar.
28 And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy,
which he acquired as his portion
29 in the land of the south. And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon to
the river of Egypt, that it was very good, and he went not into the land
of his inheritance to the west (that is to) the sea, and he dwelt in the
land of Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from
the border
30 of the sea. And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim his brothers
said unto him: 'Thou hast settled in a land which is not thine, and which
did not fall to us by lot: do not do so; for if thou dost do so, thou and
thy sons will fall in the land and (be) accursed through sedition; for
by sedition
31 ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall, and thou
shalt be rooted out for ever. Dwell
32 not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons did it
come by their lot. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all
the sons of Noah, by the curse by which we bound our-
33 selves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and in the
presence of Noah our father.' But he did not harken unto them, and dwelt
in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of
34,35 Egypt, he and his sons until this day. And for this reason that
land is named Canaan. And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and
dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw the land of the sea and
it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Ham and Asshur and
Arpachshad, his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near
to his wife's brother until
36 this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place
of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai.
1 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first
year [1681 A.M.] thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was
'Ora, the daughter of 'Ur, the son of Kesed, and she bare him a son, and
2 he called his name Seroh, in the seventh year of this week in this
jubilee. [1687 A.M.] And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to
take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the
earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers,
and individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found
the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go to war people against people, and
nation against nation, and city against city, and all (began) to do evil,
and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture
cities, and to sell
3 male and female slaves. And 'Ur, the son of Kesed, built the city
of 'Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the
name of his father. And they made for themselves molten images, and they
worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves,
and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant
spirits
5 assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness.
And the prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth
other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of
wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy,
6 and to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he called the name
of Seroh, Serug, for every one
7 turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. And he grew up,
and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife's mother,
and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth
jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof, [1744 A.M.] and
her name was Melka, the daughter
8 of Kaber, the daughter of his father's brother. And she bare him
Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the
Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the
9 Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven. And
in the thirty-seventh jubilee in the sixth week, in the first year thereof,
[1800 A.M.] he took to himself a wife, and her name was 'Ijaska, the
10 daughter of Nestag of the Chaldees. And she bare him Terah in the
seventh year of this week. [1806 A.M.]
12 in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground.
And for this reason he called his name Terah because the ravens and the
birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their
13 seed. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and
they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with
great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the
14 earth in their days. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second
week in the first year, [1870 A.M.] Terah took to himself a wife, and her
name was 'Edna, the daughter of 'Abram, the daughter of his father's sister.
And in the seventh year of this week [1876 A.M.] she bare him a son, and
he called his name Abram,
15 by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before
his daughter had conceived a son.
16 And the child began to understand the errors of the earth that all
went astray after graven images and after uncleanness, and his father taught
him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, [1890 A.M.] and he
17 separated himself from his father, that he might not worship idols
with him. And he began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might
save him from the errors of the children of men, and that
18 his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness.
And the seed time came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all
went forth together to protect their seed against the
19 ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and the child
was a lad of fourteen years. And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed,
and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the ground, and cried
to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said,
' Descend
20 not: return to the place whence ye came,' and they proceeded to
turn back. And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy
times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land
21 where Abram was there settled there not so much as one. And all
who were with him throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the
ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the
22 land of the Chaldees. And there came to him this year all those
that wished to sow, and he went with them until the time of sowing ceased:
and they sowed their land, and that year they brought
23 enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. And in the first year
of the fifth week [1891 A.M.] Abram taught those who made implements for
oxen, the artificers in wood, and they made a vessel above the ground,
facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the
seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in
the earth, and they no longer feared the
24 ravens. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground
on all the frames of the ploughs, and they sowed and tilled all the land,
according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year thereof,
[1904 A.M.] that Abram said to Terah his
2 father, saying, 'Father!' And he said, 'Behold, here am I, my son.'
And he said,
And before which thou dost bow thyself?
For they are dumb forms, and a misleading of the heart.
Worship them not:
Who causes the rain and the dew to descend on the earth
And does everything upon the earth,
And all life is from before His face.
For they are the work of (men's) hands,
And ye have no help from them,
And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them:
Worship them not.'
7 made me to serve before them? And if I tell them the truth, they
will slay me; for their soul cleaves to them to worship them and honour
them. Keep silent, my son, lest they slay thee.' And
9 these words he spake to his two brothers, and they were angry with
him and he kept silent. And in the fortieth jubilee, in the second week,
in the seventh year thereof, [1925 A.M.] Abram took to himself a wife,
10 and her name was Sarai, the daughter of his father, and she became
his wife. And Haran, his brother, took to himself a wife in the third year
of the third week, [1928 A.M.] and she bare him a son in the
11 seventh year of this week, [1932 A.M.] and he called his name Lot.
And Nahor, his brother, took to himself
12 a wife. And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is,
in the fourth week, in the fourth year thereof, [1936 A.M.] Abram arose
by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was
in the
13 house and no man knew it. And they arose in the night and sought
to save their gods from the
14 midst of the fire. And Haran hasted to save them, but the fire flamed
over him, and he was burnt in the fire, and he died in Ur of the Chaldees
before Terah his father, and they buried him in Ur of
15 the Chaldees. And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and
his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and
he dwelt in the land of Haran, and Abram dwelt with
16 Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years. And in the sixth week,
in the fifth year thereof, [1951 A.M.] Abram sat up throughout the night
on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the stars from the evening
to the morning, in order to see what would be the character of the year
with regard
17 to the rains, and he was alone as he sat and observed. And a word
came into his heart and he said: All the signs of the stars, and the signs
of the moon and of the sun are all in the hand of the Lord. Why do I search
(them) out?
And if He desires, He withholds it,
And all things are in his hand.'
'My God, God Most High, Thou alone art my God,
And Thee and Thy dominion have I chosen.
And Thou hast created all things,
And all things that are the work of thy hands.
And let them not lead me astray from Thee, my God.
That we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore.'
22 And he made an end of speaking and praying, and behold the word
of the Lord was sent to him through me, saying: 'Get thee up from thy country,
and from thy kindred and from the house of thy father unto a land which
I will show thee, and I shall make thee a great and numerous nation.
And I will make thy name great,
And thou shalt be blessed in the earth,
And in Thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,
And I will bless them that bless thee,
And curse them that curse thee.