Andrei A. Orlov
thus representing the important locus of mystical and literary emulation? Is
it possible that in Jubilees, as in other pseudepigraphical accounts, the figure
of the angel of the presence serves as a transformative and literary device
that allows an adept to enter the assembly of immortal beings consisting of
the heroes of both the celestial and the literary world?
Is it possible that in the traditions of heavenly counterparts where the
two characters of the story, one of whom is represented by a biblical exem
plar, become eventually unified and acquire a single identity, we are able to
draw nearer to the very heart of the pseudepigraphical enterprise? In this re
spect it does not appear to be coincidental that these transformational ac
counts dealing with the heavenly doubles of their adepts are permeated with
the aesthetics of penmanship and the imagery of the literary enterprise. In
the course of these mystical and literary metamorphoses, the heavenly figure
surrenders his scribal seat, the library of the celestial books, and even per
sonal writing tools to the other, earthly identity who now becomes the new
guardian of the literary tradition.