Enoch and the Mosaic Torah- The Evidence of Jubilees

The Aramaic Levi Document, the Genesis Apocryphon, and Jubilees

been ordained for him." I suggest that the two-ways terminology underlies
this description, in which Noah's righteous way is contrasted to that of oth­
ers who choose the wrong way, and furthermore, that the addition of
nonbiblical elements using the two-ways terminology to explicate Noah's
righteousness echoes Genesis Apocryphon, col. VI: "and I walked in the
paths of eternal truth" (1. 2), as opposed to "the path of falsehood which
leads to everlasting darkness [.. .]" (1. 3).^40 Having demonstrated that Jubi­
lees used the Genesis Apocryphon as a source for its map of the world and
its division, I surmise that Jubilees could also have adapted it in its portrayal
of Noah. Both texts describe Noah as walking in the righteous path, but Ju­
bilees again shifts the emphasis to what is significant to its worldview,
namely, that Noah follows God's commands: "as it has been commanded
concerning him. He did not transgress from anything that had been or­
dained for him." As we have seen, this element is also found in Tobit's biog­
raphy. Another element shared with Tobit is the existence of a reward for fol­
lowing the right way — Jubilees "because favor was shown to him," and
Tobit: "For those who act with fidelity will prosper in all they do. To all those
who practice righteousness" (4:6). But, as opposed to the Genesis
Apocryphon, this context contains no eschatological theology.

Briefly, this preliminary discussion of the two-ways motif in ancient
postbiblical sources demonstrates that it appears in several contexts: in the
biography of Noah (Genesis Apocryphon, Tobit, and Jubilees); in prayer
contexts (Aramaic Levi Document and Tobit); and in an instructional con­
text (Tobit). The addition of an element of eschatological theology to this
motif is found in Genesis Apocryphon. It is not possible at this stage of my
inquiry, however, to show a direct relationship between the sources, though I
surmise that Jubilees may have relied on the Genesis Apocryphon in its de­
scription of Noah's righteousness.

40. Further, VanderKam discusses the difficult phrase "favor was shown to him" (see
    J. C. VanderKam, The Book of Jubilees [Louvain: Peeters, 1989], 34), having the "Hebrew NtP 3
    D^D underline the Ethiopic words," explaining it in "a positive sense, 'to be gracious to' (Gen
    32:21)." I would like to argue that Jubilees here is probably a corrupted text. The biblical
    phrase is Ti jrt NXQ nil (Gen 6:8), translated by Jubilees as "he was pleased with
    Noah alone," and translated literally: "Noah alone found favor before his eyes" (5:5;
    VanderKam, The Book of Jubilees, 33). This verse is referred to in Genesis Apocryphon 6:23:
    JUttnpl 13T jn m: TUN nrD[tt>K1, "And I Noah found favor, greatness and truth." We might
    trace the development of the Jubilees version as follows: jn NXE was understood as parallel
    with jn the latter also found in the phrase ''SD^1? jn e.g., Esther 2:17. This is paral­
    leled with ""IS^1? jn where •'UQ - ^D"7, thus creating the wrong phrase D^D +