William K. Gilderstus of God's firstborn son. The rite of circumcision visibly marks that divine
choice. It is a "rite of affirmation."^14
Since the mark makes a divine choice effective in the world, and since
the existence of the mark depends on human action, failure to obey the
commandment will result in loss of the covenantal relationship. Those who
are uncircumcised fail to become or remain members of the category of
those who belong to God, "the sons of the covenant" (15:26a).^15 They be
come simply like the rest of humanity, who are doomed — by divine decree
— to remain alienated from God. Moreover, those who had the potential to
be "sons of the covenant" but failed to be circumcised will suffer destruction
as a result of their alienation (15:26b; see also 15:34), making their fate worse
than that of Gentile humanity.
Again, in giving the practice of circumcision, God knows that Israel
will fail to adhere to the commandment that guarantees their covenantal
identity (15:33). Dire consequences will follow for the people of Israel (15:34).
But, again, this predication has to be read in the light of the guarantees ex
pressed at the beginning of the book. God will succeed in bringing into exis
tence an Israel capable of living in relationship with God. Then, circumci
sion will be faithfully observed.
VI. Jacob as the Covenantal Focus
For all his significance, Abraham is not the central focus of God's covenantal
attention. Rather, it is Jacob, the eponymous ancestor of the chosen people,
who is at the center of God's plan.^16 This has already been made clear in Jub
2, where God announces his election of "the descendants of Jacob" (v. 20),
and it is then worked out in the parts of the book based on the Jacob narra
tives in Genesis.
Worthy of special note in this connection is Jub 44:1-6, which is based on
Gen 46:1-4. The changes and additions made to the biblical base text reflect Ju
bilees' specific covenantal emphases. First, Jubilees supplies the date for the be
ginning of Jacob's journey to Beer Sheva — the first day of the third month —
and for Jacob's sacrifices there — the seventh of the month. The text then adds
- This is Christiansen's apt characterization ("Covenant Consciousness," 96, 101).
- 1 follow Wintermute's translation here. On "sons of the covenant," see the appen
dix to this paper. - On Jacob's covenantal significance for Jubilees, see Halpern-Amaru, "Meta-
historical Covenant," 36-41; Christiansen, "Covenant Consciousness," 80-82, 88-89.