Lutz Doering
niJT, "fornication."^34 Inter alia, it is used of the Watchers' "fornication" with
women, who thus "committed the first (acts) of uncleanness" (7:21, in retro
spective; cf. 4:22; 20:5; 1 En 8:2; 9:8; 10:11; 15:4); of the inhabitants of Sodom and
Gomorrah who "defiled themselves and fornicated and did what is impure on
earth" (Jub 16:5; cf. 20:5-6); of Tamar's reported "fornication,"qualified as "im
purity in Israel" (41:16-17); and of illicit sexual unions (33:20 [mss.: zemmuna];
cf. 4i:25-26),^35 as with Reuben's intercourse with Bilhah. Here, the rationale for
Jubilees' strong criticism is stated: that Israel is a holy and priestly people, "a
priestly kingdom" (mangeita kehnat) and God's "possession" (terir; 33:20).
This is clearly an allusion to Exod 19:5-6, a text also referred to at Jub
16:17-18, where Abraham learns from the angel(s) that one of Isaac's sons
would become a "holy seed" (zar' qeddus),^36 not to be reckoned amongst the
nations but forming "a nation of possession (?)..., a priesthood, and a holy
people."^37 An important qualification of this view inherited from Exod 19:5-6
is the literal understanding of both holiness and priesthood, which applies
these terms to all Israel to some extent realistically. Although Jubilees is partic
ularly interested in the priesthood of Levi, all Israel are to live up to the stan
dards of priestly holiness. Under the influence of the Holiness Code (H), this
holiness becomes a reflection of God's own holiness (Jub 16:26; cf. Lev 19:2);
thus, fornication and impurity must not be found in Israel (Jub 30:8; 33:20). H
further focuses on the land defiled by sexual impurity (16:5; 33:10,14; contrast
the future in 50:5; cf. 1 En 10:20, 22) as well as bloodshed (see above), from
which the offenders will be uprooted (Jub 21:21-22; 30:22; 33:19; cf. Lev 18:25,28;
20:22). Within this framework, Jubilees applies H's provision for a priest's
daughter engaging in "fornication" (Lev 21:9) to all Israelite women and girls:
"Burn her in fire," is what Abraham tells his sons about such a woman (Jub
20:4) and what Judah suggests to do with Tamar (41:17,28, with reference to
Abraham's rule; but cf. already Gen 38:24). In addition, Jubilees seems to link
34. Cf. C. Werman, "Jubilees 30: Building a Paradigm for the Ban on Intermarriage"
HTR 90 (1997): 1-22,14. For sexual transgression in Jubilees, cf. the paper by William Loader,
"Jubilees and Sexual Transgression," Hen 30, no. 2 (2008), and Loader, Enoch, 125-235. Cf. the
association of HSOD with mil and WIS in AID 16 (6:3).
- Cf. Lev 18; 20; 11QT* 66:11-17; 4Q251 frg. 17; CD 5:7-11. Note the use of JllJt in CD
4:17,20; 4:20-5:2 refers most probably to polygyny, but it is unclear whether 5:7-11 (marriage
of nieces) still belongs to that rubric.
36. In the Hebrew Bible only Isa 6:13 and particularly Ezra 9:2; see below. In Jubilees,
cf. 22:27; 25:3.12> 18. Cf. ALD 17 [6:4).37. Cf. further Jub 19:15; 22:9,15 and particularly 2:19-21 (election and sanctification),
although there is no consistent rendering of if?30 OS in Ge'ez. For this motif, cf. also Deut
7:6; 14:2; 26:18.