William K. Gildersnever change, as Jubilees' eschatological statements make clear. The full real
ization of God's relationship with Israel will be Israel's expansion and domi
nation over the whole earth and all who are not part of Israel (see, e.g., Jub
32:18-19).
While Ps 50:5 is never directly quoted in Jubilees, the author of Jubilees
would surely have affirmed its basic thrust, that covenant is made with sacri
fice.^17 Reading Gen 8:20-9:17 in the light of Exod 24:3-8, the author of Jubilees
established a basic pattern: God always spoke the terms of the covenant after
sacrifice had been made. This pattern shapes the retelling of several Genesis
narratives. Thus, the ritual described in Gen 15 is explicitly treated as sacrifi
cial in Jubilees, and a sacrificial performance is added to the narrative of the
covenant of circumcision based on Gen 17. One possible reason for this em
phasis on sacrifice is tied to the sacrificial use of blood. This legitimate use
stands over against illegitimate treatment of human and animal blood, and
serves as a sign and reminder of the fundamental covenantal obligation to ab
stain from shedding human blood and from consuming animal blood. It also
appears that Jubilees understands sacrifice in relational terms. It is the means
by which a human being expresses a desire for or a commitment to a relation
ship to God. God responds to such human overtures by affirming the desired
relationship through establishing or reestablishing covenant.
Appendix: Occurrences of "Covenant"
in Ethiopic and Hebrew Jubilees
By my count, the Ethiopic word h.^"> (kidan) occurs a total of thirty-two
times in Ethiopic Jubilees. Nineteen times it appears without a suffix (6:4,
10b, 11 [2X], 16, 17, 35; 14:18, 20 [2x]; 15:19, 26, 28, 29; 16:14; 21:11; 23:19 [2x];
30:21); nine times with the first-person singular suffix ("my covenant"; 1:10;
15:4, 9,11,13,14,19, 21; 24:11); three times it has the third masculine singular
suffix ("his covenant"; 15:34; 21:4; 22 :15); and once it appears with the second
masculine singular suffix ("your covenant"; 22 :30).^18 In every case, it refers
to a covenant between God and human beings.^19- n3T-,7S7 TTHl 'HID ''"TOn ,l 7 -1DDX ("Gather to me my devoted ones, who made
my covenant with sacrifice"). - This summary of occurrences of corrects omissions and errors in van
Ruiten's otherwise extremely helpful summary of covenantal language in Jubilees ("Cove
nant of Noah," 168-70). - As van Ruiten notes ("Covenant of Noah," 168), Jubilees never uses the word for a