Jubilees, Sirach, and Sapiential Traditionissues in early Jewish literature. Oft noted has been the central role in Jubi
lees played by the heavenly tablets and the written transmission of what is
found thereon. In addition to the specific halakic regulations enjoined in Ju
bilees, one important problem has been how Jubilees legitimates its own
particular interpretation of the law as binding on all of Israel. One tack has
been to argue that Moses took down these laws (i.e., Jubilees' interpreta
tions) at the dictation of the angel of the presence who was transmitting
what was written on the heavenly tablets. Thus, the halakic claims of Jubilees
have equal status to the Torah of Moses, since both Jubilees and the Torah
stem from them. That is, Jubilees' interpretations are not really interpreta
tions, but their primordial origins on the heavenly tablets afford them divine
authorization. If we look to one of the quintessential wisdom texts of early
Judaism, one predating Jubilees by only a few decades, the Wisdom of Ben
Sira, we can identify a similar strategy for legitimating the author's interpre
tations. Only in this case primordial Wisdom serves as the authorizing
mechanism.
Finally, in Jubilees, while all the major figures write, some do more;
they read and study. Besides their other roles, they play the part of the ideal
scribe. In writing, reading, and studying, the heroes of Jubilees become the
authoritative voices of the tradition that guard it against corruption or ille
gitimate use. As such they function as exemplars for contemporary scribes to
emulate in their own guardianship of the tradition transmitted in Jubilees.
They form a chain of transmission, ensuring that what came from the heav
enly tablets has been handed down accurately, but they also act as examples
to follow so as to assure those in the present that the authoritative tradition
remains unsullied.^2
I. "And Now, My Children"
Throughout Jubilees one could isolate individual passages that parallel mate
rial in wisdom texts. They are few, however, and do not characterize Jubilees
in any general sense. So, to give one example, in three passages (5:16; 21:4;
33:18) Jubilees emphasizes that God does not "accept gifts," that is, take bribes,
but God judges righteously. Jub 5:16 is typical: "And he is not one who accepts
- For reasons of space, I use Ben Sira as my text of comparison. Others might illu
minate these strategies further. 4QInstruction would make an excellent addition to this
discussion.