The Book of Jubilees and the Origin of Evilson of Lomna and Peleg: humanity "has now become evil through the per
verse plan to build themselves a city and tower in the land of Shinar" (Jub
10:18, emphasis mine). One may note here that the situation referred to has
not been inherited from any prior event in the narrative; it is simply pre
sented as a consequence of the city and tower builders' own making.
There is something, however, more profound behind this caricature of
humankind as evil. While this does not amount to a categorical statement
about "the human condition" — see the discussion of Jub 5:12 above — it
does describe the incident as a reflection of the nadir to which human activi
ties had descended. The outcome, the dispersion of the builders into cities,
languages, and nations (10:26), ushers the situation of humanity down to
what had happened to the animals when Adam and Eve were expelled from
the Garden of Eden: the breaking up of one mode of communication into
many in accordance with each kind and location of animal. Analogous to the
Garden of Eden episode, the story thus explains the diversity of kinds and
species among humanity.
Conclusion
None of the five episodes considered in this paper has anything to do with
the question of "where evil originally came from" or "how the activity of sin
ning got to be." Within the unfolding narrative of Jubilees, they operate as
explanations for the way things are in the world as the writer and the im
plied readers perceive it. As for the effect these episodes have on humanity,
there is no real link between the stories; one story does not create the basis
for a degenerating human condition picked up in the next. Instead, the sto
ries are linked as different points in the narrative in their presentation of a
humanity capable of adhering to divine laws engraved on the heavenly tab
lets. In line with this, it is especially clear from the story about the wayward
angels and giants that the writer has reshaped tradition associated with the
figure of Enoch to reinforce the responsibility humans ultimately have be
fore God, despite the erring influences of demonic powers; human beings
are accountable to God on the same terms as the disobedient angels and gi
ants. Rather than etiologically explanatory, the force of these stories — in
cluding that of the fallen angels — is exhortational and paradigmatic.
Nevertheless, if there is any explanation for "the way things are" in the
author's own world in Jubilees, it is found in the rebellion of the angels. This
story leaves its mark in the ongoing suffering and waywardness among hu-