Reconsidering Jubilees: Prophecy and Exemplarity
think it would be very helpful to link these figures to textual traditions that
we come to know as "biblical." These traditions emerged over many centu
ries through copying, the growth and transformation of community, and in
terpretation of the past in the present.
The founding figure is the exemplar — here, Moses and the angel of
the presence. It is clear that both Moses and the angel confer authority, but
they are also responsible for the accuracy of the dictation and inscription of
the traditions included in the book of Jubilees. They are the ones to whom
the text is attributed. They are not only characters, but they are also given re
velatory roles. So, at the level of authorship the text is both angelic and Mo
saic.^28 The figures of the angel and Moses are trusted as the tradents and
producers as they accord a heavenly and prophetic status to the tradition
that builds upon and expands an already established and authoritative Mo
saic tradition.^29
There is, however, a second level throughout the book of Jubilees, a
level on which well-known biblical figures function as exemplars, without
the authorship or the dictation of the book being attributed to them.^30 The
book itself is comprised of narratives that are built upon the reputations of
selected exemplary figures — all of whom play a significant role in the trans
mission of the very same tablets now being dictated to Moses by the angel of
the presence. But these figures are worthy of receiving these traditions pre
cisely because of their own adherence to the law, their observance of the cor
rect calendar, and their perfect sacrifices. Finally, they will receive the tablets
and copy them, or preserve them and transmit them to the next tradent.
The very first tradent, Enoch, along with later tradents, who figure
prominently in Jubilees as well as in the Pentateuch and other prophetic tra
ditions, belongs to what I want to call a second level of exemplarity. It is not
that the text itself is attributed to Abraham or Enoch. Nor does the fact that
they are entrusted with the heavenly tablets render them authors of the text
of Jubilees. Rather, they serve as examples to the reader of how to be worthy
28. See J. C. VanderKam, "The Angel of the Presence in the Book of Jubilees," DSD 7
(2000): 378-93, and Najman, "Angels at Sinai." See also the discussion of the angel of the
presence in A. Orlov's conference paper and a more expanded version of this paper in "Mo
ses' Heavenly Counterpart in the Book of Jubilees and the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian,"
Bib 88, no. 2 (2007).