nora
(Nora)
#1
The Book of Jubilees and the Origin of Evil
of Jubilees departs from the Enochic predecessors in several ways. We may
distinguish the emphases of Jubilees from the Book of the Watchers chaps.
6-16 in at least four ways: (i) the location of the rebellious angels' transgres
sion, (ii) the means of punishment carried out on these angels and their ma
levolent offspring, (iii) the explanation for the origin of demons, and
(iv) the motif of angelic instruction.
i. First, according to Jubilees, the angels' disobedience takes place on
earth. The Hebrew pun that relates the descent of the angels during the time
of Jared is picked up by the writer (cf. 1 En 6:6; 106:13; lQapGen ar iii 3) and
coordinated with the time the angels begin to carry out their mission to in
struct humanity "and to do what is just and upright upon the earth" (4:15; cf.
5:6). Once on the earth, the angels are then distracted from their mission and
consumed by the beauty of the daughters of humanity (5:1). In addition to
the forbidden sexual union that has led to the birth of violent and unclean
gargantuan offspring, they are held responsible for teaching that leads to sin
(see discussion of 8:3 under point iv. below).
This story in Jubilees contrasts with that of the Book of the Watchers
in that chaps. 6-16 locate the beginning of the angelic rebellion in heaven. By
postponing their transgression to earth, the text of Jubilees does two things.
First, it preserves "heaven" as a place of sanctity where the God of Israel
reigns. While the early Enochic tradition struggles to come to terms with the
fall of the angels as a breach of cosmic boundaries (1 En 15:8-11), such a
breach is not even part of the story in Jubilees. The earthly setting of their sin
served to keep the heavenly and earthly spheres distinct, so that the bound
aries established at creation are not seen to have been violated. Second,
though the paradigmatic function of the fallen angels and giants in the Book
of the Watchers is far below the surface of the tradition, in Jubilees it is more
explicit: the angels' reprehensible actions, both their union with women and
their culpable teachings, serve as a warning to anyone who would behave in
the same way. This is illustrated best in Noah's exhortations to his children
that they "keep themselves from fornication, uncleanness, and from all in
justice" (7:20), precisely those activities that the disobedient angels and their
progeny have spread to humanity (7:22-24).
So, at this stage of the story line in Jubilees, the negative consequences
of the angels' sin relate primarily to the violence their gigantic offspring
bring upon the earth (7:22-25) and the reprehensible instructions they have
disseminated among humans (8:3). Whereas in the Book of the Watchers it
is the wayward angels and giants' activities that lead to divine punishment,
in Jubilees the picture is more nuanced: it is because the sins of the angels
