Enoch and the Mosaic Torah- The Evidence of Jubilees

Worship in Jubilees and Enoch

presently make up the work we refer to as 1 Enoch.^10 But the idea of Enoch as
priest did not come from l Enoch. And there is no mention in any of the in­
dividual Enochic documents that he offered incense or sacrifice of any kind.
However, they do state many times that Enoch blessed and praised God, ei­
ther as a result of his beholding the order and glory of creation (l En 36:4;
81:3; 83:11-84:3) or because of the revelation of God's justice in judging the
wicked and rewarding the righteous (22:14;^25 :7J^27 :5! 81:3; 90:40). The author
of Jubilees passes over in silence this aspect of Enoch's worship.

Genesis gives more attention to Noah than to anyone previous. Jubi­
lees follows suit. The first and only act of worship performed by Noah in
Genesis is sacrifice. Here is a comparison between what we find in Genesis
and what is in Jubilees:

Gen 8:20-21

"Then Noah built an altar to the
LORD, and took of every clean
animal and of every clean bird, and
offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And when the LORD smelled the
pleasing odor, the LORD said in his
heart, T will never again curse the
ground because of humankind, for
the inclination of the human heart
is evil from youth.

Jub 6:1-4

"On the first of the third month he

left the ark and built an altar on this

mountain. He appeared on the

earth, took a kid, and atoned with

its blood for all the sins of the earth

because everything that was on it

had been obliterated except for

those who were in the ark with

Noah. He placed the fat on the altar.

Then he took a bull, a ram, a sheep,

goats, salt, a turtledove, and a dove

and offered (them as) a burnt

offering on the altar. He poured on

them an offering mixed with oil,

sprinkled with wine, and put

frankincense on everything. He sent

up a pleasant fragrance that was

pleasing before the Lord. The Lord

smelled the pleasant fragrance and

made a covenant with him that

there would be no flood waters

which would destroy the earth... ."

10. Cf. J. C. VanderKam, Enoch: A Man Jor All Generations (Columbia: University of
    South Carolina Press, 1995), 110-21.