Lester L. Grabbetend to emend the text to a lesser or greater extent. Even though the emenda
tions differ from editor to editor, the general understanding appears to be
reasonably consistent. This is because it quickly becomes apparent that
Demetrius is assuming ten months between births even though several of
the children were born at the same time. When the two texts are carefully
compared, though, there is no correspondence between Demetrius and Jubi
lees and no evidence of a connection. The two calculations seem indepen
dent of one another.
An area where both Jubilees and Samaritan sources seem to have
something in common is the jubilee year. The Samaritan Tulidah gives the
jubilee a pivotal role in its chronological scheme. The Samaritans, however,
seem not to have counted the jubilee in the same way that the book of Jubi
lees does. According to Tulidah 5-6, five jubilees make 246 years. This is be
cause the first jubilee is counted as 50 years but subsequent ones are counted
as 49 years. The reason for this is not explained, but apparently the same cal
culation is used for every five jubilees. Thus ten jubilees are 492 years and
twenty are 984 years; however, the sixtieth jubilee is inconsistently counted
as 2,951 instead of 2,952, and the sixty-fifth as 3,196 instead of 3,198. Again,
there is no explanation. In any event, the Tulidah and Jubilees are very close
up to the Noachic deluge.
Jubilees and the Asatir
Although the Asatir runs parallel to Jubilees, it is surprising how little over
lap there is. Both evidently have interpretative material from their respective
traditions, but the traditions are different. Below is a table summarizing this
detail:
Jubilees SP Samaritan Tradition: Asatir
3:15: Adam and Eve in Garden 7 years [1:25: Adam and Eve 8 days in Garden]
4:1: Cain born in 64-70 A.M.; Abel in 71-77
4:1: Awan daughter of Adam and Eve 1:3: Altaian twin sister of Cain; Makeda twin
Jubilees SP Samaritan Tradition: Asatir
3:15: Adam and Eve in Garden 7 years [1:25: Adam and Eve 8 days in Garden]
4:1: Cain born in 64-70 A.M.; Abel in 71-77
4:1: Awan daughter of Adam and Eve 1:3: Al'alah twin sister of Cain; Makeda twin
sister of Abel
4:2: Cain slays Abel (99-105 A.M.) 1:24: Cain slays Abel (30 A.M.)
4:7: Seth born in 130 A.M. 130 1:26: Adam begets Seth (130 A.M.)
4:8: Azura daughter of Adam and Eve
4:9: Cain marries his sister Awan [1.4: Cain lives in city named Nikl]
4:9: Cain builds city called Enoch