Jubilees, the Temple, and the Aaronite Priesthoodvals and observances included in the Mosaic legislation. In addition to the
firstfruits (Jub 7:34-39; 15:1-4), Abraham's celebration of the Feast of Booths
at Beersheba is mentioned in Jub 16:20-31, with the inclusion of significant
detail regarding the sacrifices offered. The Feast of Weeks or Oaths (depend
ing upon the vocalization of sb'wt) is introduced as a covenant-renewal festi
val in 6:17-22, where it is said to be written in the heavenly tablets. It is ob
served in conjunction with the covenant with Noah in 6:4-16, suggesting that
the meaning "oaths" may underlie the understanding of the feast in Jubi
lees.^9 The covenant with Abraham in Jub 15 also seems to be associated with
this festival, and it should be noted that in this case we also have the institu
tion of the practice of circumcision. The law of the tithe is introduced to
Abraham in 13:25-27. It is also observed by Jacob in 32:1-15, where Jacob ful
fills the original vow that he made upon departing from Canaan. This narra
tive comes subsequent to the blessing of Levi as priest and features Levi's in
vestiture and his service as Jacob's priest in the account of the sacrifice
associated with the tithe. The institution of the tithe in the heavenly tablets
is mentioned in 32:10-15, along with the notation that it is to belong to the
priests, who are to eat it before God year after year. This last detail is interest
ing in that in its use in Jubilees it antedates the reason given for its institu
tion in the Mosaic legislation where it serves to provide for the priests, who
are given no territory in the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes.
However, it should also be noted that Genesis shares this anachronism in
that Jacob's vow in Gen 28:20-22 involves a tithe. Jubilees seizes upon the de
tail to build its presentation of the installation of Levi as a priest.^10
Jubilees concludes with the institution of Passover in chap. 49 and the
Sabbath in chap. 50, giving us two significant festivals associated in one way
or another with the temple that appear not to be observed by the patriarchs.
The placement of these last two festivals suggests that we should look for
some sort of a system involved in the introduction of sacrifice, festivals, and
other observances, but so far the only consideration I can discover is narra
tive appropriateness.^11 This seems to be the case, for example, both in the
use of the Festival of Weeks/Oaths in the context of covenant making and in
- See the note in Wintermute, OTP, he. ext.
- For a study of Levi in Jubilees, see J. C. VanderKam, "jubilees Exegetical Creation
of Levi the Priest," RevQ 17 (1996): 359-73. - In a paper entitled "Ritual in Jubilees" presented at the Fourth Enoch Seminar,
M. A. Daise made an interesting contribution to the issue of system in the presentation of
sacrifice in Jubilees, although his approach does not necessarily deal with the question of
progression that interests me.