The Relationship between Jubilees and the Early Enochic Books- For further discussion on the origin of evil in BW and Jubilees, see G. Borgonovo,
"Jubilees' Rapprochement between Henochic and Mosaic Tradition," Hen 31, no. 1 (2009).
Borgonovo agrees that Jubilees stresses human responsibility for evil, in agreement with the
biblical text and in contrast to the Enochic literature. - See Reed, "Angelology and Demonology," 4-7.
- Translated by O. S. Wintermute, OTP, 2:78.
- Mastema is behind the testing of Abraham at the Akedah, but he is unable to lead
Abraham into sin (Jub 18:9-12). He attempts to slay Moses (48:1-4) and is a motivating force
behind the Egyptians' persecutions of Israel (48:9-19).
which Jubilees emerges with a tighter, more logically and theologically co
herent narrative.^30
- The postflood activity of demons is portrayed as much more limited. In
BW evil spirits emerge from the bodies of the slain giants and are free to
wreak havoc in human society indefinitely (1 En 15:8-12). In Jub 10:1-14 the
origin of the demons appears to be the same, but Noah petitions God to
bind them, with the result that nine-tenths are bound in the place of judg
ment. One-tenth is left to carry out the will of the Satan-figure Mastema on
earth. Thus the range of influence of the demons in Jubilees is considerably
more limited than in BW.^31
This is part of a consistent tendenz of Jubilees vis-a-vis BW to empha
size human rather than demonic responsibility for the iniquities of human
society. A pointed example of this is Jub 11:1-6, which describes the degrada
tion of human society after the death of Noah. Responsibility for the corrup
tion is attributed to Noah's descendants in w. 2-4. At the end of v. 4 it is fi
nally mentioned that "cruel spirits assisted them and led them astray,"^32 and
v. 5 mentions the activity of Mastema. The entire passage illustrates Jubilees'
approach to the problem of human sin: human beings give themselves over
to sin and so are responsible for it, although there is no doubt that evil spirits
encourage the process. After Jub 11 there is very little mention of evil spirits
being responsible for human sin in the rest of Jubilees.^33
As a corollary to this discussion, it may be pointed out that Jubilees
does not show the concern for the names and identities of the evil Watchers
that BW does. BW enumerates their names and roles in various places (cf.
1 En 6:7; 8:1-4), and places at their head at times one Azaz'el (or Asael), and
at other times a certain Semyaza (or Shemihaza). The only named demon in
Jubilees, by contrast, is their leader Mastema, a Satan figure who combines
the roles of Azaz'el and Semyaza. In this way Jubilees resolves the awkward
confusion in 1 Enoch concerning the identity of the head demon.