Enoch and the Mosaic Torah- The Evidence of Jubilees

William K. Gilders

The purpose of the book as a whole is to stand as a witness to the Isra­

elites that God had remained faithful to the covenant despite their failures,

that the sufferings of Israel had not been the result of divine failure, but the

predicted and promised consequence of their covenant violation. Thus,

when all the predicted things happen as a result of Israel's disobedience,

"They will recognize that I have indeed been with them" (1:6).

The first chapter of the book is crucial for understanding Jubilees' con­

cept of covenant. It establishes the framework of meaning. God is establish­

ing a covenant with Israel in full knowledge that they will fail to adhere to it.

But this failure has no ultimate significance, because God is committed to

the relationship and knows — and makes known to Moses — that it will ul­

timately work: "I will neither abandon them nor become alienated from

them, for I am the Lord their God" (1:18).

God's relational identity is essential to Jubilees' view of covenant; God

is committed to the people, committed to being their God. Thus, in Jub 1:22-

25 God responds to Moses' plea for the people begging God not to allow the

predicted disasters to occur. God affirms that he knows that Israel will not

obey until they have been brought to an acknowledgment of their sins.

Then, when they finally turn to God, God will act to transform the people

into those who are fully able to obey. This passage emphasizes the ultimate

accomplishment of God's purpose and highlights the nature of the relation­

ship God will establish. It will be a father-child bond: "I will become their fa­

ther and they will become my children. All of them will be called children of

the living God. Every angel and every spirit will know them. They will know

that they are my children and that I am their father in a just and proper way

and that I love them" (1:24^25).

II. Relationship and Covenant

At the beginning of Jubilees God makes it clear that Israel's violation of the
covenant is inevitable and fully known. God's insistence that God will not
abandon the Israelites, despite their violations of the covenant, indicates that
the divine commitment depends on something more fundamental than the
covenant made at Sinai. It is not the covenant itself that binds God. The cov­
enant simply expresses God's commitment. This point is reinforced and illu­
minated in the second chapter of the work, in a passage that relativizes the
covenant, indicating that it is only the formal enactment of a divine choice
made long before Israel came into existence. After establishing the Sabbath,