Hindy Najman
of receiving the heavenly tablets. The narratives about them, their own per
sonal and spiritual transformations, and the successful transmission of the
tablets to their progeny enable us to understand the redemptive nature of
the tablets themselves as they are preserved until the time of Moses and (as
the readers of Jubilees know) beyond. The myth of context, i.e., that the text
itself is written in the time of Moses, is actually a redemptive narrative of
preservation and transmission of the authoritative tradition.
Each figure — be it Noah or Enoch, Abraham or Levi — shows himself
to be part of the distinguished, holy, and inspired line receiving and trans
mitting the traditions. The book of Jubilees is a book that demonstrates
what it is to be exemplary and worthy of prophecy. The stories constitute the
history of the heavenly tradition and its interface with earthly transmitters.
Time does not permit me to explore the various ways in which the sec
ond level of exemplars is developed along with the framework of the first
level of Mosaic and angelic exemplars in Jubilees. It is the case, however,
whether it is Pentateuchal reworking or the absorption of larger traditions
available both to the Pentateuchal compiler(s) and to Jubilees, that the nar
ratives about those who are worthy of transmitting the tradition provide us
with a context in which we can begin to understand both the way second
temple traditions are emerging and how the authors and communities be
hind these "new" texts seem to understand themselves to be extending and
expanding older paradigms.^31
III. Conclusion
Jubilees participates in prophetic discourse by attaching its origin to Mosaic
recording and angelic dictation. Thus the text is presented as a revelation in
sofar as it is the earthly copy of an already established divine and heavenly
original. This is done by emphasizing the role of the exemplar in generating
and sustaining new discourses in Judean traditions from second temple
times. Thus, the exemplar is himself the prophet who receives and transmits
inspired tradition. But in addition to this, we must consider the role of the
exemplars embedded within the narrative of Jubilees itself. These are the ex
emplars who demonstrate in their own life a kind of perfection that merits
receiving the gift of reading and writing and the tablets of the heavens.
The evidence we have points to discourses associated with particular- On this point see A. Y. Reed's contribution to this volume.