The Manuscript Tradition of JubileesEpiphanius (ca. 315-403): The bishop of Salamis (Constantia) on Cy
prus wrote two major works, in both of which he made brief use of Jubilees.
The Panarion (= The Medicine Chest; Against Heresies is the Greek ti
tle): He composed this compilation of what he considered deviant views in a
two-to-three-year period during the mid-370s. It is a "historical encyclope
dia of heresy and its refutation. Epiphanius undertook the monumental task
of listing all pre- and post-Christian sects — a total of eighty — from Adam
till his own lifetime, sketching their history and chief doctrines as he under
stood them, and telling the faithful, in a few words, what answer to give
them."^27 His employment of Jubilees comes in section 3 of book 1 where he
treats sect #39, the Sethians. He wished to refute their ideas about Cain and
Abel as sons of two men, about whom two angels quarreled, leading to the
murder of Abel. The power on high, called Mother and Feminine, seems to
have won the contest. She then caused the generation of Seth and placed her
power in him (see 2, 1-3, 4). Against these ideas, "foolish, weak and full of
nonsense," Epiphanius defends the story about the first family as presented
in Genesis. In 5,5 he introduces several quotations from Genesis that he calls
scripture. The Jubilees allusions are part of his refutation of Sethian views
(6, 1-5; see also 7, 1-3).
But, as is apparent in Jubilees or "The Little Genesis" [Tic 5e TOIC
'IcupnAcdoic, euptjoKetai KCU rfj XeTtTfj reveaei KaXouuEvrj], the book even
contains the names of both Cain's and Seth's wives — to the utter shame
of these people who have recited their myths to the world. For after
Adam had had sons and daughters it became necessary that, for the time
being, his sons marry their own sisters. Such a thing was not unlawful;
there was no other human stock. In a manner of speaking, in fact, Adam
practically married his own daughter himself, since she was fashioned
from his body and bones and had been formed in union with him by
God. And this was not unlawful. And his sons were married, Cain to his
older sister, whose name was Saue [Trj aSeXcprj rfj U£i£ovi Zaun,]; and a
third son, Seth, who was born after Abel, to his sister named Azura [rfj
XeYOuevrj aurou aSsXcpfj ACoupa]. As the Little Genesis says, Adam had
other sons too — nine after these three — so that he had two daughters
but twelve sons, one of whom was killed while eleven survived.^28- F. Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis Book I (Sects 1-46), NHS 35
(Leiden: Brill, 1987), xvi. - The translation is from Williams, The Panarion, 259.