The Aramaic Levi Document, the Genesis Apocryphon, and Jubileesfield, M. E. Stone, and Esther Eshel, The Aramaic Levi Document, SVTP 19 (Leiden: Brill,
2004), 1-6.
- Two of the copies from Qumran (4QLevid and 4QLevie) contain shorter texts than
the Geniza manuscript. Moreover, ALD probably inspired two other works found at
Qumran, 4QTestament of Qahat (4Q542) and 4QVisions of Amram (4Q543-549). Another
work related to ALD is the Testament of Levi (— TPL, which is part of the Testaments of the
Twelve Patriarchs), especially three insertions in one of its Greek manuscripts (Athos
Koutloumous 39, called manuscript e). - Greenfield, Stone, and Eshel, The Aramaic Levi Document, 20.
present ten pages of the Geniza manuscript of this work are known. Seven
Qumran scrolls, all fragmentary, have been identified as copies of this work.
The single copy from Cave l, and the six from Cave 4, can be dated
paleographically to the late Hasmonean or early Herodian period. Neither
the work's beginning nor its end has survived.^2 ALD is significant for its reli
gious ideas, which illumine the early postbiblical period, for the light it
sheds on early priestly practice, for its understanding of wisdom, and for its
emphasis on the transmission of ancient learning.
In the edition of ALD published by the late Jonas Greenfield, Michael
Stone, and myself, we date this work to the third or the early second century
B.C.E. at the latest. This dating is grounded in paleography, the centrality of
the priesthood, and ALD's use of a solar calendar similar to the one pro
moted by 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Qumran sectarian writings.^3 The ab
sence of polemic surrounding the calendar in the surviving fragments of
ALD contrasts with the situation in Jubilees and supports this early dating,
making ALD one of the earliest known postbiblical Jewish writings. On the
basis of an examination of shared traditions found in both ALD and Jubi
lees, we argue that ALD served as a source for Jubilees and the Damascus
Document, as well as for the Testament of Levi.
The two main examples of shared thematic traditions provided here,
which are discussed in detail in our edition of ALD, demonstrate that Jubi
lees was familiar with, and relied on, ALD. (For additional scattered exam
ples, see the commentary to our edition.) The first example concerns the
story of the events found in ALD 4:9-5:8 and its parallel in Jub 31-32. Both
recount, though not necessarily in the same order, Jacob's journey from
Shechem to Bethel and Levi's visions, adding events that have no biblical
background. Levi's vision in ALD 4, which combines priestly and royal func
tions, is followed by Levi's investiture as a priest, and his receiving tithes
from Jacob and being blessed and instructed by his grandfather Isaac in
chap. 5. These instructions are detailed in chap. 6. But certain incidents