Enoch and the Mosaic Torah- The Evidence of Jubilees

Jubilees, the Temple, and the Aaronite Priesthood

and Elohistic narratives. Although it is unlikely that the author of Jubilees is

aware of the Priesdy Code per se and its presuppositions concerning sacri­

fice, Charles is correct in drawing a sharp contrast between that strand and

Jubilees.

What seems obvious in reading Jubilees is that the book engages in a

kind of selective anachronism^4 in its treatment of the antediluvians and the

patriarchs in light of the "subsequent" history of the Israelite cultus, and

while it might be a mistake to conclude too quickly that the purpose of the

cultic portrait of the patriarchs involves a polemic directed toward the party

responsible for the Priestly Code per se, the treatment of cultic issues in Ju­

bilees is too distinctive to assume that it is simply the result of consider­

ations resulting from the narrative adaptation of Genesis.

The priestly activity of Adam and Enoch, for example, suggests a pro­

gressive unfolding of cultic practice leading up to the roles of Noah, Abra­

ham, Isaac, and Jacob.^5 Adam offers incense in the morning and Enoch in

the evening, corresponding to later priestly practice. Adam offers his sacri­

fice on the morning of the day on which the couple is expelled from the gar­

den (Jub 3:27), and it is difficult to determine whether the sacrifice is offered

within the garden or outside of it. The sacrifices of Abel and Cain follow in

Jub 4:2, but the author seems only to mention them in passing rather than as

a part of his account of the development of sacrifice. Enoch institutes the

evening sacrifice of incense by offering it in the sanctuary on Mount Qater,

apparently the mountain of the east, one of the four sanctuaries to be sancti­

fied in the new creation (Jub 4:25-26).^6 Elsewhere Jubilees cites Enoch as the

source of commandments regarding ritual (see 7:39 and 21:10), giving the

role of Enoch in Jubilees a decidedly priestly cast.

Noah's sacrifice upon disembarking from the ark in 6:1-4 reflects fur­

ther development of cultic practice in that Jubilees pictures him following

what would appear to be Levitical practice in making a sin offering, includ­

ing the use of frankincense to make a sweet savor before God. Gen 8:20-21

merely tells us that upon leaving the ark Noah builds an altar and makes a

burnt offering. God smells the pleasing odor and resolves never again to de-

4. Here compare W. Loader, "Jubilees and Sexual Transgression," Hen 31, no. 1 (2009).

5. In "Worship in Jubilees and Enoch," Larson describes in similar terms the presenta­

tion of worship in Jubilees as a process that unfolds, reaching some conclusions about the

balance of interests in Jubilees but stopping short of offering a system behind the way that

the process unfolds.

6. Following the translation and notes of O. S. Wintermute, "Jubilees," in OTP, 2:35-