Loren T. Stuckenbruck
and giants have caused humanity to do the same that the flood was sent
upon the earth (7:21a, 25).^17 This additional, more transparent emphasis on
human responsibility in Jubilees mirrors the culpability of the angels; just as
the angels were steered away from the mission they were originally given by
God, so also the people of Israel should be wary of doing the same.
ii. In relation to the fallen angel tradition, the flood in Jubilees func
tions in a way that negotiates conceptually between the Book of the
Watchers (1 En 10), the story in Gen 6-9, and its subsequent reuse in the
early Enochic tradition (1 En 1—5; 98:4-8). Unequivocally, in Gen 6 the flood
comes as God's response to the violence and sin committed by human be
ings on earth (see Gen 6:3,13,17). By contrast, the Book of the Watchers and
Book of the Giants treat the flood tradition as but one manifestation of di
vine judgment against the angels and giants (see 1 En 10:2-3; the motif is
more prominent in the Book of Giants: 2Q26; 4Q530 ii 4-7; 6Q8 frg. 2). The
book of Jubilees, analogous to the Book of Giants' reception of the Book of
the Watchers, places greater emphasis on the flood while picking up on the
motif of the giants destroying one another (1 En 7:5; 10 :9,12; Book of Giants
1Q23 9 + 14 + 15?; 4Q531 4), which is noticeably absent from Genesis. The
narrative of Jubilees thus weaves together elements from received traditions
to create a new account: the great flood comes as the divine retribution
against antediluvian sins of human beings whose wrongdoings were fueled
by the transgressing angels and giants who, in turn, have likewise been pun
ished. It is appropriate to elaborate this story line a little further below.
As just suggested, in contrast to the Book of the Watchers, Jubilees
does not clearly assign the flood itself a role in God's punishment of the an
gels and giants. On the one hand, in 1 En 10:1-3 a deluge is announced to "the
son of Lamech" after the corrupt instructions and horrific misdeeds of the
watchers and giants have been described (cf. 7:1-8:3) and after the com
plaints by the murdered of humanity have been mediated by angels to God
(cf. 8:4-9:10). On the other hand, Jub 5:3-5 and 7:20-25 suggest that it is sinful
humanity — whatever the role of the fallen angels and giants in the narrative
— whose deeds, as in Gen 6, are the immediate reason for the flood.^18
- Though the Book of the Watchers implicates people who have been taught by the
fallen angels, the story of punishment does not so much focus on them as on the angels and
the giants. - As mentioned above, the watchers' fornication with the women of the earth and
the violence of several generations of their progeny (7:2ib-24a) contribute to conditions that
make divine judgment through the flood necessary, though they themselves are not ex
pressly punished through the flood.