Tradition and Innovation in the Calendar of Jubilees- A. Jaubert, "Le calendrier des Jubiles et de la secte de Qumran. Ses origines
bibliques," VT3 (1953): 250-64; Jaubert, "Le calendrier des Jubiles et les jours liturgiques de
la semaine," VT 7 (1957): 35-61; S. Talmon, "The Calendar Reckoning of the Sect from the
Judaean Desert," reprinted with revisions in Talmon, The World of Qumran from Within (Je
rusalem: Magnes; Leiden: Brill, 1989), 147-85. Talmon repeated his opinion in a recent publi
cation: S. Talmon, "Calendars and Mishmarot," in EDSS, 1:108-17, here 114. - Glessmer, "Calendars in the Qumran Scrolls."
- L. Ravid, "The Book of Jubilees and Its Calendar — a Reexamination," DSD 10
(2003): 371-94.
liQPs^3 XXVII 4-6. It would be natural to assume that all mentions of the
364DY relate to the same annual framework. This was the insight underlying
the pioneering studies of A. Jaubert and S. Talmon.^3
However, with the publication of new material the opposite side of the
dialectic prevailed, as scholars tended to emphasize various discrepancies
within the 364DCT.^4 Most notably, Liora Ravid pointed out the book of Ju
bilees as an exception from the norm in the sectarian 364DCT.^5 The
Qumranic sources are generally consistent, pointing to a more-or-less stable
tradition, which originated in Enochic literature and continued into yahad
practice. In contrast, here it is claimed that the book of Jubilees seems to rep
resent a divergent thread of the same tradition.
Jaubert's insight on the similarity of the calendar of Jubilees to the
Qumran calendars has been a crucial factor in the reconstruction of the
calendrical scrolls. This is in itself proof that Jaubert's system is valid
through significant parts of the calendrical tradition. However, Jubilees
stands in distinction from other parts of the tradition, not only with regard
to the place of the moon in the calendar reckoning, but also with regard to
the general structure of the year. It would seem that, although the author of
Jubilees was indebted to the Jewish 364DCT, he was at the same time
strongly committed to other constitutive principles, which compelled him
to produce a unique cast of calendrical concepts.
The disagreements are often explicit, but usually they are implicit in
the things left unsaid. It is amazing to see the amount of calendrical details
left untold in Jubilees. For this reason, prudence must be practiced when at
tempting to reconstruct the author's position in these matters. The discus
sion below reviews the constitutive principles in Jubilees' calendar in order
to ascertain just how much the author was indebted to, or independent