Jubilees, the Temple, and the Aaronite Priesthoodthe priesthood per se but of the Zadokites in particular based upon this sys
tem of sanctification thus raise a serious problem that deserves further dis
cussion. The critiques of her work by VanderKam and Doering should go
further in recognizing the conceptual difference in understanding the issue
of purity and impurity implied by her argument for a system of sanctifica
tion in Jubilees. They also need to explore further the conundrum posed by
the selective use of anachronism in Jubilees, which reads the sacrificial prac
tice and festivals of the temple back into the world of the patriarchs more so
than its system of ritual purity.^31 With the extensive use of anachronism on
the part of the author, it is not enough to argue, as Doering does, that "To
expect ritual (im)purity generally in 'pre-Temple' narrative contexts would
be anachronistic in the perspective of Jubilees."
Conclusions
This study confirms my conclusion in "Temples and the Temple in the Early
Enoch Tradition" that the role of Enoch in Jubilees as a priest offering in
cense in a sanctuary reflects a redactional concern of the author of Jubilees
and should therefore be left out of a consideration of temple, cult, and
priesthood in the early Enoch tradition. The study, however, allows me to re
fine to some degree my understanding of the role of Enoch in the
redactional concerns of Jubilees. The sage and scribe makes more than a
cameo appearance in Jubilees as a priest offering incense in the evening. He
is also cited twice at crucial points in the narrative as the author of a book
that represents a key source of authority on sacrificial practice. Although his
role is small in terms of the lines assigned to him, so to speak, it is central to
the process of selective and creative anachronism that the author of Jubilees
uses to read the sacrifices and the festivals of the temple back into the narra
tive of the patriarchs. This difference between the early Enoch literature in
cluded in 1 Enoch and Jubilees needs to be taken as a starting point in any ef
fort to develop an understanding of the portrait of Enoch in Jubilees. In
Jubilees, Enoch is part of a system of signification involving a restatement of
the roles of priest, temple, and cultus in Israel. That system must be under
stood first of all on the basis of clues found within the text of Jubilees itself
rather than on the basis of systems imported from other literature of the pe-
- Note here Loader, "Jubilees and Sexual Transgression," who seems to recognize the
limits of anachronism.