Matthias Henze
tended even further in the second judgment scene in the book, the final sec
tion that looks to the eschatological resurrection of the dead (12:1-3). Those
who are found "inscribed in the book" will be rescued. This is followed by
the resurrection of the dead, for some to eternal life, and for others to ever
lasting abhorrence. The great day of reckoning carries a special promise for
one group that is specifically singled out, "the wise" (12:3). They are not
identified beyond their theological epithet. Not all of them will survive the
persecutions, and so their reward is the promise of resurrection, when they
will "shine like the brightness of the sky... like the stars for ever and ever"
(12: 3 ).^8
The book of Jubilees shares several of the features that render Daniel
an apocalypse, but these elements are less dominant, while other, non-
apocalyptic elements that play only a minor role in Daniel are much more
prevalent in Jubilees, most notably the book's developed interest in halakah.
Since the dawn of its modern reading, scholars have discussed whether or
not Jubilees can rightly be called an apocalypse.^9 The lack of an agreement
regarding Jubilees' genre and the variety of different proposals that have
been advanced are indicative of the composite literary character of the book.
The issue is further complicated by the fact that overtly apocalyptic thought
is expressed only in a handful of places in Jubilees, most prominently in
chaps. 1 and 23.^10 This has led some scholars to propose that the apocalyptic
passages are later additions to the book.^11 Such literary-critical decisions
based on alleged "tensions" are unnecessarily speculative. It is true, however,
- J. F. Hobbins, "Resurrection in the Daniel Tradition and Other Writings at
Qumran," in The Book of Daniel, 2:395-420; C. Hempel, "Maskil(im) and Rabim: From Dan
iel to Qumran," in Biblical Traditions in Transmission: Essays in Honour of Michael A. Knibb,
ed. C. Hempel and J. M. Lieu (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 133-56. - See the list of scholars in A. Lange, "Divinatorische Traume und Apokalyptik im
Jubilaenbuch," in Studies in the Book of Jubilees, ed. M. Albani, J. Frey, and A. Lange
(Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997), 25-38; Lange himself concludes that "[ejine Klassifikation
des Jubilaenbuches als apokalyptische Schrift ist. .. abzulehnen" (35). J. J. Collins, The Apoc
alyptic Imagination (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 83, states diplomatically that "Jubilees
represents a borderline case for the apocalyptic genre." The discussion is a welcome re
minder that genres are not absolute categories but modern abstractions that help us catego
rize ancient literature. - G. L. Davenport, The Eschatology of the Book of Jubilees (Leiden: Brill, 1971), distin
guishes between "passages intended to teach eschatology" (1:4-29 and 23:14-31) and "non-
eschatological passages that contain significant eschatological elements" (1:1-5; 5 :i-i9> 8:10-
15; 15:1-34; 16:1-9; 22:11-23; 24:8-33; 31:1-32; and 34:1-18). - See, for example, C. Berner, "50 Jubilees and Beyond? Some Observations on the
Chronological Structure of the Book of Jubilees," Hen 31, no. 1 (2009).