nora
(Nora)
#1
The Book of Jubilees and the Origin of Evil
pletely destroyed^21 while one-tenth are permitted to carry on with their de
structive malevolence. This permission is granted as a divine concession to
the petitions of Mastema, their chief, who, after God has commanded the
angels to bind all the spirits for judgment, requests that some spirits be al
lowed to corrupt humans, lead them astray, and cause suffering through ill
ness (10:8,12; cf. 7:27 — Noah's words: "For I myself see that the demons
have begun to lead you and your children astray").
The writer of Jubilees thus attempts to steer a fine line between human
responsibility, on the one hand, and demonic cause, on the other. While evil
in its various forms is regarded as a manifestation of activities of the spirits
of the giants, humanity is essentially capable of rising above such influences
and, to some degree, even managing afflictions by applying the herbal reme
dies given to Noah by one of the angels (10:10-13). If in comparison with the
Book of the Watchers the situation of disobedient humans and the giants in
Jubilees is less distinct and more analogous, the fallen angels tradition serves
not only to explain why humans in the author's day fall prey to wrongdoing
and suffering from external influences, but also serves as a warning that Jews
should stay away from engaging in the giants' "fornication," "uncleanness,"
and "injustice" (7:20; cf. 7:21-25).
iv. One aspect of the fallen angels tradition has been mentioned above
but not developed: the reprehensible instructions traced back to the rebel
lious angels. Their teaching was mainly concerned with "the omens of the
sun, moon, and stars and every heavenly sign," that is, with astrological lore
associated with wrong calendrical reckonings and objectionable forms of
divination (8:3; n:8).^22 This instruction does not disappear when the angels
are punished. After the deluge, it is discovered inscribed on a stone by
Kainan, who "read what was in it, copied it, and sinned on the basis of what
was in it" (8:3; cf. 1 En 80:1-8 and 82:5). This learning, which is kept secret
from Noah for fear that it would incur his anger (8:4), eventually finds its
way down to Noah's descendants, that is, down to the time of Nahor, Abra
ham's grandfather (11:8). In Jubilees, then, while the watchers are originally
good when sent to instruct human beings on earth (cf. 5:6), their knowledge
becomes skewed through their illicit sexual union with women. Once the
21. Cf. Animal Apocalypse at 1 En 89:3-6, according to which all the giants are de
stroyed by the flood and have no afterlife.
22. On this, see Armin Lange, "The Essene Position on Magic and Divination," in Le
gal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the International Organization
for Qumran Studies, Published in Honour of Joseph M. Baumgarten, ed. M. Bernstein,
F. Garcia Martinez, and J. Kampen, STDJ 23 (Brill: Leiden, 1997), 377-435 (esp. 401-3).
