John S. Bergsma
the passage of some years (cf. Jub 5:1) — they succumb to temptation. Per
haps the extended time of service away from the heavenly realm makes their
defection more plausible. God, too, is not implicated in their sin to the same
degree. In the BW narrative one is tempted to ask, "Could God not have op
posed or prevented the Watchers' pact-of-sin taking place in the heavenly
realm?" In contrast, Jubilees assures its readers that God sent the Watchers to
the earth for good purposes, and there on earth — far from him — they even
tually defected.
- Enoch never appeals on behalf of the Watchers, he only witnesses
against them. The section describing Enoch's intercession on behalf of the
Watchers (1 En 12-16) is elided in Jubilees, no doubt because the whole sce
nario presents multiple theological difficulties. First, it is inappropriate for
a human being to intercede on behalf of angelic beings in general, as BW it
self acknowledges (1 En 15:2). Second, since the Watchers' sin was so serious,
why did Enoch agree to take up their case before the Almighty? It calls into
question his good moral judgment. Jubilees avoids these difficulties by pre
senting Enoch only in the role of witnessing against the Watchers and their
iniquity. - Mankind bears more responsibility for evil; they are not merely passive
victims of the Watchers, giants, and demons. In 1 En 7-9 the Watchers and
their giant offspring oppress the population of the earth with violence, and
their innocent victims bring their case before God posthumously (1 En 9:10).
God's response is, in part, to send the flood (1 En 10:2). There is a serious dif
ficulty with this scenario: If the Watchers and their offspring are responsible
for oppressing the human population of the earth, why does God respond
by wiping out the human population in the flood? It would seem that God is
punishing the victims. Thus, in BW the sins of the Watchers do not provide a
moral justification for the flood. Indeed, BW does not stress the causal rela
tionship between the Watchers' sins and the flood. The flood is not narrated
(as it is in Jubilees), and 1 En 10:2 is the only mention of either Noah or the
flood in the whole of BW.
Jubilees is more faithful to the intention of the text of Gen 6:1-4. It
never directly states — even if it implies — that the Watchers misled man
kind or caused mankind to be evil. Instead, in passages such as Jub 5:2-3
and 7:22-25, mankind (and the animals) are described as corrupting them
selves. Therefore, the flood appears as morally justified. It wipes out all hu
man and animal life, because both man and animals had freely given
themselves over to great evil — even if enticed and assisted by the
Watchers. This is one of several differences between Jubilees and BW in