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184 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES.
Part I.
This 1 is the account of the division of the days of the law and of the
testimony, according to the events of the years, according to their
sevenfold division, according to their Jubilees throughout all the
years of the -world, as the Lord spake on Mount S nai to Moses when
he went up to receive the stone tables of the law and the command-
ments, according to the voice of God as he said unto him, " Go up to
the top of the Mount."
I. — And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the
children of Israel out of Egypt, in the third month, on the sixteenth
day of the month, that God spake to Moses, saying : " Come up to
me on the Mount, and I will give thee two stone tables of the law
and of the commandments : whatsoever I have written, thou shalt
teach them.'' 2. And Moses went up into the Mount of God, and
the glory of God dwelt on Mount Sinai, and a cloud overshadowed it
six days. 3. And he called to Moses on the seventh day, in the midst
of the cloud, and he saw the glory of God like a flaming fire on the
top of the Mount. 4. And Moses was on the Mount forty days
and forty nights, and God taught him what had been and what should
be, the account of the division of all the days of the law and of the
testimony. 5. And he said : " Incline thine heart to every word
which I shall speak to thee on this Mount, and write them in a book
in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them
for all the evil which they have wrought in causing them to err from
the covenant which I established between me and thee for their
generations this day on Mount Sinai. 6. And thus it will come to
pass when all these words will come upon them, and they will recog-
nise that they (these words) are more righteous than they in all their
judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise that I have
been truly with them. 7. And do thou write for thyself all these
words which I will declare unto thee this day, for I know their
wantonness and their stiff neck, before I bring them unto the land
which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob,
saying : ' Unto your seed will I give the land which floweth with
milk and honey, and they will eat and be satisfied.' 8. And they
1 For an account of the MSS. on which this new translation is based,
see Jewish Quaeterly Review, V.
The Booh of Jubilees. 185
will turn to strange gods, to (gods) which did not deliver them from
aught of their tribulation : and this testimony shall testify for a
testimony against them. 9. For they will forget all my command-
ments, (even) all that I have commanded them, and they will walk
after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame,
and will serve their gods, and these will prove unto them an offence
and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare. 10. And many will
perish and will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the
enemy, because they have forsaken my ordinances and my command-
ments, and the festivals of my covenant, and my sabbaths, and my
holy place which I have hallowed for myself in their midst, and my
tabernacle, and my sanctuary, which I have hallowed for myself in
the midst of the land, that I should set my name upon it, and that
it should dwell (there). 11. And they will make to themselves high
places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his
own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will sacrifice their
children to demons, and to all the works of their erring hearts. 12.
And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may testify against them,
but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will
persecute those who seek the law, and they will set at nought and
change everything so as to work evil before my eyes. 13. And I will
hide my face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the
Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and for
their removal from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them
amongst the Gentiles. 14. And they will forget all my law and all
my commandments and all my judgments, and will err as to new
moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances. 15.
And after this they will turn to me from amongst the Gentiles with
all their hearts and with all their soul and with all their strength,
and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will
seek me, so that I may be found of them : and when they seek me
with all their heart and with all their soul, I will disclose to them
abounding peace with righteousness. 16. And I will transplant
them, the plant of uprightness, with all my heart and with all my
soul, and they will be for a blessing and not for a curse, they will be
the head and not the tail. 17. And I will build my sanctuary
in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be
God and they will be my people in truth and righteousness.
18. And I will not forsake them nor fail them ; for I am the Lord
their God." 19. And Moses fell on his face and prayed and said, "O
Lord my God, do not forsake thy people and thy inheritance, so
that they should wander in the error of their hearts, and do not deliver
them into the hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, lest these should
186 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
rule over them and cause them to sin against thee. 20. Let thy
mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon thy people, and create in 1 them an
upright spirit, and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse
them before thee, and to turn them deceitfully from all the paths of
righteousness, so that they may perish from before thy face. 21.
But they are thy people and thy inheritance, which thou hast de-
livered •with thy great power from the hands of the Egyptians : create
in 2 them a clean heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be en-
snared in their sins from henceforth until eternity." 22. And the
Lord said unto Moses : " I know their contrariness and their thoughts
and their stiffneckedness, and they will not hearken till they recognise
their own sin and the sin of their fathers. 23. And after this they
will turn to me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with
all (their) soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and
the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in 2 them a
holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they will not turn away
from me from that day unto eternity. 24. And their souls will cleave
to me and to all my commandments, and my commandments will
return to them, and I will be a father unto them and they shall be my
children. 25. And they shall all be called children of the living God,
and every angel and every spirit will know, yea, they will know that
these are my children, and that I am their father in uprightness and
in righteousness, and that I love them. 26. And do thou write down
for thyself all these words which I have declared unto thee on this
mountain, the first and the last, and that which shall be according to
all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in
the weeks of the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with
them throughout eternity." 27. And he said to the angel of the
presence : " Write for Moses from the beginning of creation till my
sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity. 28. And God
indeed will appear to every eye, and all will know that I am the God
of Israel and the father of all the children of Jacob, and king on
Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem will be holy."
29. And the angel of the presence who went before the camp of
Israel took the tables of the divisions of the years — from the time of
the creation of the law and of the testimony — according to weeks
and jubilees — the individual years according to all the number of the
jubilees, from the day of the new creation when the heavens and the
earth were created anew, and likewise all the creatures in them
according to the powers of the heaven, and according to all the crea-
tion of the earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in
1 MSS. give " for." 2 MSS. " for."
The Book of Jubilees. 187
Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and all the luminaries be created anew for
healing and for peace and for a blessing for all the elect of Israel,
and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days of the
earth.
II. — And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the
word of the Lord, saying : " Write all the words of the creation, how
in six days the Lord God finished all his works and all that he created,
and rested on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and ap-
pointed it as a sign for all his works. 2. For on the first day he
created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters
and all the spirits which serve before him, and the angels of the
presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels of the
breathing spirits (or blowing winds), and the angels of the spirits
of the clouds of darkness, and of snow 1 and of hail and of hoarfrost,
and the angels of the voices 2 and of thunder and of lightning, and the
angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring
and of autumn and of summer, and of all the spirits of his creatures
which are in the heavens and on the earth, and in all the abysses and
also the darkness of the deep, and light and dawn and morning and
evening which he hath prepared in the knowledge of his heart. 3.
And thereupon we saw his works, and praised him, and lauded before
him on account of all his works; for seven great works did he create on
the first day. 4. And on the second day he created the firmament in
the midst of the waters, and the waters were divided on that day —
half of them went up above and half of them went down below the
firmament over the face of the whole earth. And this was the only
work (God) created on the second day. 5. And on the third day
it was dont 3 as he said ' Let the waters pass from off the face of the
whole earth into one place, and the dry land appear.' 6. And the waters
did so as he said unto them, and they retired from off the face of the
earth into one place outside of this firmament, and the dry land
appeared. 7. And on that day he created for them all the seas
according to their separate gathering-places, and all the rivers, and
the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and on all the earth,
and all the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which is
sown, and all sprouting things, 4 and everything which is eaten, and
1 " Of snow " — an emendation of text of A B in accordance with frag-
ment in Epiphanius.
2 " Voices " — emendation in accordance with Epiphanius.
3 " Was done," reading tagabra for gabra.
4 " Sprouting things." I have emended zajetbala, " which is eaten,"
into zajebaquel. So Gr. pXaortinara .
188 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
fruit-bearing trees, and trees of the •wood, and the garden of Eden,
in Eden, for pleasure. And all these four great works God created on
the third day. 8. And on the fourth day he created the sun and the
moon and the stars, and set them in the firmament of the heaven,
that they might give light upon all the earth, and bear rule over the day
and the night, and divide between the light and the darkness. 9. And
the Lord appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days
and for sabbaths and for months and for festivals and for years and
for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all seasons of the years.
10. And he will divide between the light and the darkness, and for
prosperity, that all things may prosper which shoot and grow on the
earth. These three kinds he made on the fourth day. 11. And on
the fifth day he created great sea monsters in the depths of the waters,
for these were the first things of flesh that were created by his hands,
and all the fish that moves in the waters, and everything that flies,
the birds and all their kind. 12. And the sun rose above them to
prosper them, and above everything that was on the earth, everything
that shoots out of the earth, and all fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh.
These three kinds he created on the fifth day. 13. And on the sixth
day he created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and every-
thing that moves on the earth. 14. And after all this he created man,
male and female created he them, and gave him dominion over all
that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies,
and over beasts and over cattle, and over everything that moves on
the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this he gave him
dominion. And these four kinds he created on the sixth day.
15. And there were altogether two and twenty kinds. 16. And he
finished all his work on the sixth day — all that is in the heavens and
on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, iu the light and in
the darkness, and in everything. 17. God gave us a great sign, the
Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but keep Sabbath on the
seventh day from all work. 18. And all the angels of the presence,
and all the angels of sanctification, these two great classes — he hath
bidden us to keep the Sabbath with him in heaven and on earth.
19. And he said unto us : 'Behold, I will separate unto myself a
people from among all ihe peoples, and these will keep the Sabbath
day, and I will sanctify them unto myself as my people, and will
bless them ; as I have sanctified the day of Sabbaths, and sanctified
them unto myself, and thus will I bless them, and they shall be my
people and I will be their God. 20. And I have chosen the seed of
Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down
as my first-born son, and have sanctified him unto myself for ever and
ever ; and I will teach him the day of the Sabbaths, that they may
The Book of Jubilees. 189
keep Sabbath thereon from all work." 21. And thus he created therein
a sign in accordance with which they should keep Sabbath with us on
the seventh day, to eat and to drink, and to bless him who has created
all things as he has blessed and sanctified unto himself a peculiar 1
people above all peoples, and should keep Sabbath together with us.
22. And he caused his commands to ascend as a sweet savour accept-
able before him all the days of the two and twenty heads of mankind
from Adam to Jacob. 23. And two and twenty kinds of work were
made until the seventh day ; this is blessed and holy, and the former
also is blessed and holy ; and this one serves with that one for a
sanctification and blessing. 24. And to this latter it was granted
that it should be throughout all the blessed and holy days of the first
testimony and law, as it had been sanctified and blessed on the seventh
day. 25. He created heaven and earth and everything that he created
in six days, and God appointed a seventh holy day for all his works ;
therefore he commanded on its behalf that whoever does any work
thereon shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die. 26.
Wherefore do thou command the children of Israel to observe
this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any work,
and not to defile it, as it is holier than all other days. 27. Who-
ever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever does thereon any work
shall surely die for ever, that the children of Israel may observe this
day throughout their generations, and not be rooted out of the land ;
for it is a holy day and a blessed day. 28. And every one who
observes it and keeps Sabbath thereon from all his work, will be holy
and blessed throughout all days like unto us. 29. Declare and say
to the children of Israel the law of this day that they should keep
Sabbath thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of
their hearts, and that no work 2 should be done thereon which should
not be done, which would appear to be doing their own pleasure there-
on, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or
drunk, and that they should not draw water, nor bring in nor take
out through their gates thereon anything that is carried which they
have not prepared for themselves on the six days in their dwellings.
30. And they shall not bring in nor carry out from one house to
another on that day ; for that day is more holy and blessed than any
day of the jubilee of jubilees : on this we kept Sabbath in the heavens.
1 "Peculiar." I have emended zajastari which is meaningless, into
zajetarai = H53Q Cf. Deut. vii. 6,
2 " Which would appear .... pleasure thereon." These words which
rest on a slight emendation of the text of A B, are not found in later
MSS., being lost through homoioteleuton. Cf . Is. lviii. 13.
190 The Jewish Quarterly Revieiv.
before it was made known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on
the earth. 31. And the Creator of all things blessed it, but he did
not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon, but Israel
alone : them alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath
thereon on the earth. 32. And the Creator of all things blessed it,
who had created this day for a blessing and a sanctification and a
glory above all days. 33. This law and testimony was given to the
children of Israel as a law for ever unto their generations.
III. — " And on the sixth day of the second sabbath we brought,
according to the word of God, unto Adam all the animals, and all the
cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on the earth, and
everything that moves in the water, according to their kinds, and
according to their types : the animals on the first day ; the cattle on
the second day ; the birds on the third day ; and all that which moves
on the earth on the fourth day ; and that which moves in the water
on the fifth day. 2. And Adam named them all by their respective
names, and as he called them, so was their name. 3. And on these
five days Adam saw all these, male and female, in each kind that was
on the earth, but he was alone and could find no helpmeet for him-
self. 4. And the Lord God said unto us : 'It is not good that man
should be alone : let us make a helpmeet for him.' 5. And the
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and he slept, and he
took for the woman one rib from amongst his ribs, and this rib was
the origin of the woman from amongst his ribs, and he built up the
flesh in its stead, and built the woman. 6. And he awaked Adam out
of his sleep and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and he brought
her to him, and he knew her, and said unto her : ' This is now bone
of my bone and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called my wife ;
because she was taken from her husband.' 7. Therefore shall man
and wife be one, and therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. 8. In
the first seventh was Adam created, and the rib — his wife : in the
second seventh he showed her unto him : and for this reason the
commandment was given to keep in their defilement, for a male
seven days, and for a female twice seven days. 9. And after Adam
had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we
brought him into the garden of Eden to till it and keep it, but his
wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered
into the garden of Eden. 10. And for this reason the commandment
is written on the heavenly tables in regard to her that gives birth :
' if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days
according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days shall
she remain in the blood of purifying, and she shall not touch any-
The Book of Jubilees. 191
thing holy, and shall not enter into the sanctuary, until she who has
a male child has accomplished these days. 11. But she who has a
female child shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days,
according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days in the blood of
her purification, and they shall be in all eighty days.' 12. And when
she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the garden
of Eden, for it is holier than all the earth besides, and every
tree that is planted in it is holy. 13. Therefore, there was
ordained regarding her who bears a male or a female child the
statute of those days that she should touch nothing holy, nor enter
into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are
accomplished. 14. This is the law and testimony which was written
down for Israel, in order that they should observe (it) all the days.
15. And in the first week of the first jubilee, Adam and his wife were
in the Garden of Eden, for seven years tilling and keeping it, and we
gave him work and we instructed him to do everything that has been
revealed for tillage. 16. And he tilled (the garden), and was naked
and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he protected the garden
from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its fruit, and eat,
and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife, and put aside
that which had been reserved. 17. And after the expiration of seven
years, which he had spent there, in the seventh year exactly, and in
the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent
came and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman,
' Hath God commanded you, saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of
the garden ? ' 18. And she said to it, ' Of all the fruit of the trees of the
garden God hath said unto us, Eat ; but of the f ruitof the tree which is
in the midst of the garden he hath said unto us, Ye shall not
eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' 19. And the
serpent said unto the woman, * Ye shall not surely die : for God doth
know that on the day ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, and ye shall know good and evil.' 20. And
the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye,
and that its fruit was good for food, and she took thereof and eat.
21. And when she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave
thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw
that he was naked. 22. And he took figleaves and sewed (them)
together, and made an apron for himself, and covered his shame. 23.
And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever, and he
was wroth with the woman, because she hearkened to the voice of the
serpent, and did eat ; and he said unto her : 24. ' I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy pains : in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children, and thy desire shall be unto thy husband, and he shall rule
192 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
over thee.' 25. And to Adam also he said, ' Because thon hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of
which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be
the ground for thy sake : thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou
returnest to the ground from whence thou wast taken ; for dust 1 thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' 26. And he made for them
coats of skin, and clothed them, and he sent them forth from the
Garden of Eden. 27. And on that day on which Adam went forth
from the Garden of Eden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering,
frankincense, galbanum, and myrrh, and spices in the morning with
the rising of the sun on the day when he covered his shame. 28. And
on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of
birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they
could no longer speak : for they had all spoken one with another with
one lip and with one tongue. 29. And he sent out of the Garden of
Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was
scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the
places which had been created for them. 30. And to Adam alone did
he give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and
cattle. 31. On this account this is prescribed on the heavenly tables
as touching all those who know the judgment of the law, that they
should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the
Gentiles uncover themselves. 32. And on the new moon of the
fourth month, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of
Eden, and they dwelt in the land of Eldlt, in the land of their crea-
tion. 33. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve. 34. And
they had no son till the first jubilee, and after this he knew her.
35. Now Adam tilled the land as he had been instructed in the
Garden of Eden.
IV. — " And in the third week in the second jubilee she gave birth
to Cain, and in the fourth she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth she
gave birth to her daughter Awto. 2. And in the first (week) of the
third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice of
Abel, and did not accept the offering of Cain. 3. And he slew him
in the field : and his blood cried from the earth to heaven, complaining
because he had slain him. 4. And God reproved Cain because of
Abel, whom he had slain, and he made him a fugitive on the earth
because of the blood of his brother, and he cursed him upon the
earth. 5. And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables,
' Cursed is he who smites his neighbour with wicked intent, and let
1 " Dust." Emendation with help of A.
The Book of Jubilees. 193
all who hear say, So be it ; and the man who sees and does not declare
it, let him be accursed as the other.' 6. And for this reason we
announce when we come before the Lord our God all the sin which
is committed in heaven and on earth, and in light and in darkness, and
everywhere. 7. And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four
weeks of years, and in the fourth year of the fifth week they became
joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and
he called his name Seth ; for he said : ' God has raised up a second
seed unto us on the earth instead of Abel ; for Cain slew him.' 8.
And on the sixth week he begat his daughter AzurA. 9. And Cain
took Awin his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the
close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of
the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city,
and called its name after the name of his son Enoch. 10. And Adam
knew Eve his wife and she bare yet nine sons. 11. And in the fifth
week of the fifth jubilee Seth took Azurlt his sister to be his wife, and
in the fourth year she bare him Enos. 12. And he began to call on
the name of the Lord on the earth. 13. And in the seventh jubilee
in the third week Enos took N6amha his sister to be his wife, and she
bare him a son in the third year of the fifth week, and called his name
Cainan. 14. And at the close of the eighth jubilee Cainan took
Mualgt his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth
jubilee, iu the first week in the third year of this week, and called his
name Malalel. 15. And iu the second week of the tenth jubilee
Malalel took unto him as his wife Dinah, the daughter of Barakihil
the daughter of his father's sister, and she bare him a son in the third
week in the sixth year, and he called his name Jared ; for in his days
the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named
the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that
they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth. 16. And ia
the eleventh jubilee Jared took to himself a wife, and her name was
BS,rak&, the daughter of Rasujal, a daughter of his father's sister, in
the fourth week of this jubilee, and she bare him a son in the fifth
week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called his name Enoch.
17. And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt
writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of
heaven according to the order of the months in a book, that men might
know the seasons of these years according to the order of their
separate months. 18. And he was the first to write a testimony,
and he testified to the sons of men concerning the generations of the
earth, and explained the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them
the days of the years, and set in order the months, and explained the
sabbaths of the years as we made them known to him. 19. And
VOL. VI. N
194 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep as it will
happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the
day of judgment ; he saw and understood everything, and wrote a
testimony thereof, and placed the testimony on earth regarding all
the children of men and regarding their generations. 20. And in the
twelfth jubilee, in the seventh week thereof, he took to himself a wife,
and her name was Edni, the daughter of D&nel, the daughter of his
father's sister, and in the sixth year in this week she bare him a son
and he called his name Methuselah. 21. And he was moreover with
the angels of God these six jubilees of years, and they showed him
everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun,
and he wrote down everything. 22. And he testified to the Watchers,
to those who had sinned with the daughters of men ; for they had
begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of
men, and Enoch testified against them all. 23. And he was taken
from amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the
Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writes
down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the
wickedness of the children of men, 24. And on his account (God)
brought the waters of the flood upon all the land of Eden ; for there he
was set as a sign that he should testify against all the children of men,
that he should declare all the deeds of the generations until the day of
judgment. 25. And he offered the offering of the sanctuary, which
was acceptable before the Lord on the Mount of the South ; for God
has four places on the earth, the Garden of Eden, and the Mount of the
East, and this mountain on which thou art this day, Mount Sinai, and
Mount Zion, (which) will be sanctified in the new creation for a
sanctification of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from
all its guilt and uncleanness throughout the generations of the world.
26. And in the fourteenth jubilee Methuselah took unto himself a
wife, Edna the daughter of Azriel, the daughter of his father's sister,
in the third week, in the first year of this week, 1 and he begat a son
and called his name Lamech. 27. And in the fifteenth jubilee in the
third week Lamech took to himself a wife, and her name was Beten6s
the daughter of Baralrfel, the daughter of his father's sister, and in
this week she bare him a son and he called his name Noah, saying,
' This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for
the earth which the Lord hath cursed.' 28. And at the close of the
nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof,
Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and
he was the first to be buried in the earth. 29. And he lacked seventy
1 " Week " : so Dillmann rightly amends. A B D give " years. "
The Book of Jubilees. 195
years of one thousand years ; for one thousand years are as one day
in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concern-
ing the tree of knowledge : ' On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall
die.' For this reason he did not complete the years of this day ; for
he died during it. 30. At the close of the jubilee Cain was killed
after him in the same year ; for his house fell upon him and he died
in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones ; for with a
stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous
judgment. 31. For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly
tables : ' With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour
with the same shall he be killed ; after the manner that he wounded
him, in like manner shall they deal with him.' 32. And in the
twenty-fifth jubilee Noah took to himself a wife, and her name was
Emz&rS, the daughter of Rake"el, the daughter of his father's sister,
in the first year in the fifth week : and in the third year thereof she
bare him Shem, in the fifth year thereof she bare him Ham, and in
the first year in the sixth week she bare him Japhet.
T. — " And it came to pass when the children of men began to mul-
tiply on the face of the whole earth and daughters were born unto
them, that the angels of God saw them on a certaia year of this
jubilee, that they weie beautiful to look upon ; and they took them-
selves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons
and they were giants. 2. And unrighteousness increased on the earth
and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and
birds and everything that walks on the earth — all of them corrupted
their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other,
and unrighteousness increased on the earth and every imagination of
the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually. 3. And the Lord
looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had
corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought
evil greatly before his eyes. 4. And he said : ' I will destroy man
and all flesh from the face of the earth which I have crea ed.' ' 5. And
Noah alone found grace before the eyes of the Lord. 6. And against
the angels whom he had sent upon the earth, he was exceedingly
wroth, so that he overthrew them wholly out of all their dominion,
and he bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold
they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate. 7.
And against their sons went forth a command from before his
face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed
1 "From the face of the earth . . . created." This text is emended
partly on MS. evidence.
N 2
196 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
from under heaven. 8. And he said ' My spirit will not always abide
on man ; for they are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and
twenty years.' 9. And he sent his sword iDto their midst that each
should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they
all fell upon the sword and were destroyed from the earth. 10. And
their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this
they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of
the great condemnation, when judgment shall be executed on all
who dwell on the earth, and on all those who have corrupted their
ways and works before the Lord. 11. And he destroyed them all from
their places, and there was not left one of them whom he judged
not according to all their wickedness. 12. And he made for all his
works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their
whole nature for ever, but should be all righteous each in his kind
alway. 13. And the judgment of all is ordained and written on the
heavenly tables in righteousness — even (the judgment of) all who
depart from the path which is ordained for them to walk in ; and if
they walk not therein, judgment is written down for each nature and for
each kind : and there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in light or in
darkness, or in Sheolor in the depth, or in the place of darknets (which
he hath not judged) ; all their judgments are ordained and written and
engraved. 14. In regard to all he will judge, the great according
to his greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each
according to his path. 15. And he is not one who will regard the
person (of any), nor receive gifts, when he says that he will execute
judgment on each : if one gave him everything that is on the earth,
he will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept any-
thing at his hands, for he is a righteous judge. 16. And of the
children of Israel it has been written and ordained : If they turn to
him in righteousness, he will forgive all their transgressions and
pardon all their sins. 17. It is written and ordained that he will
show mercy to all who turn from all their errors once each year.
18. And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their works
before the flood, no man's person was accepted save that of Noah
alone ; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom God
saved from the waters of the flood on his account ; for his heart was
righteous in all his ways, according as it was commanded regarding
him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him.
19. And the Lord said that he would destroy everything which was
upon the earth, both men and cattle, and beasts, and fowls of the air,
and that which moveth on the earth. 20. And he commanded Noah
to make an ark for himself, that he might save him from the waters
of the flood. 21. And Noah made the ark in all respects as he com-
The Booh of Jubilees. 197
mauded him, in the twenty-sixth jubilee of years, 1 in the fifth week
in the fifth year. 22. And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, in
the second month, on the new moon of the second month, till the
sixteenth ; and he entered, and all that we brought to him, into the
ark, and the Lord closed it from without on the seventeenth evening.
23. And the Lord opened seven flood-gates of heaven, and the
mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number.
24. And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven
forty days and forty nights, and the fountains of the deep also sent
up water?, until the whole world was full of water. 25. And the
waters increased upon the earth : fifteen cubits did the waters rise
above all the high mountains, and the ark was lift up above the earth
and it moved upon the face of the waters. 26. And the water
remained on the face of the earth five months — one hundred and fifty
days. 27. And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one
of the mountains of Ararat. 28. And in the fourth month the foun-
tains of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of the heaven
were restrained ; and on the new moon of the seventh month all the
mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water began
to descend into the deep below. 29. And on the new moon of tho
tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new
moon of the first month the earth became visible. 30. And the
waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the
seventh year thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second month
the earth was dry. 31. And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened
the ark, and sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every
moving thing.
VI. — "And on the new moon of the third month he went forth
from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain. 2. And he made
atonement on the earth, and took a kid, and made atonement by its
blood for all the guilt of the earth ; for everything that had been on
it had been destroyed, save those that were in the ark with Noah.
3. And he placed the fat on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat,
and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a
dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and poured thereon an
offering kneaded in oil, and sprinkled wine and put frankincense over
everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, which was acceptable 2
before the Lord. 4. And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and he
made a covenant with him that there should not be any more a flood
to destroy the earth ; that while the earth remaineth. seed-time and
1 Text emended and restored.
2 Text emended by a change of vocalisation.
198 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
harvest should never cease ; cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night should not change their order, nor cease for ever. 5. ' And
you, increase je and multiply upon the earth, and have dominion over
it, and be a blessing in its midst. 1 The fear of you and the dread of
you I will inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea.
6. And behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things,
and everything that moves on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and
all things for food ; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to
eat. 7. But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye shall not
eat ; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest I require your blood
of your lives. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (man's
brother), will I require the blood of man. 8. Whoso sheddeth man's
blood by man shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of God made he
man. 9. And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth.' 10. And
Noah and his sons swore that they would not eat any blood that was
in any flesh, and he made a covenant before the Lord God for ever
throughout all the generations of the earth in this month. 11. On
this account he spake to thee that thou shouldest make a covenant
with the children of Israel in this month upoa the mountain with
an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of
all the words of the covenant, which the Lord made with them for
ever. 12. And this testimony is written concerning you that you
should observe it continually, so that you should not eat for ever any
blood of beasts or birds during all the days of the earth, and the man
who eats the blood of man or of beast or of cattle or of birds during
all the days of the earth, he and his seed should be rooted out of
the land. 13. And do thou command the children of Israel to eat
no blood, so that their names and their seed may be before the
Lord our God continually. 14. And for this law there is no limit
of days, for it is for ever. And they shall observe it throughout
their generations, so that they may continue supplicating on your
behalf with blood before the altar ; every day and festival, 2 morning
and evening they shall seek forgiveness in regard to it perpetually
before the Lord that they may keep it and not be rooted out. 15.
And he gave to Noah and hU sons a sign that there should not again
be a flood on the earth. 16. He set his bow in the cloud for a token
of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on
the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. 17. For this
reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tables that they
should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to
renew the covenant every year. 18. And this whole festival was
1 So emended by Dillmann. 2 Text of B slightly emended.
The Book of Jubilees. 199
celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah —
twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years : and Noah and his sons
observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day
of Noah's death, and from the day of Noah's death his sons violated
it until the days of Abraham, and they eat blood. 19. But Abraham
alone observed (it), and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it
up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until
I gave (it) anew unto them on this mountain. 20. And do thou
command the children of Israel to observe this festival in all their
families for a commandment unto them : on one day in the year
in this month they shall celebrate the festival. 21. For it is a festival
of weeks and a festival of first fruits: this festival is twofold and of
a double nature, as it is written and engraved concerning its cele-
bration. 22. For I have written in the book of the first law, in that
which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its
season, one day in every year, 1 and I explained to thee the sacrifices
that they should remember them, and that the children of Israel
should celebrate it in their families in this month, one day in every
year. 23. And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new
moon of the fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh
month, and on the new moon of the tenth month are the days of
remembrance, and the days of the feasts in the four divisions of the
years. These are written and ordained as a testimony for ever.
24. And Noah ordained them for himself as festivals for the genera-
tions for ever, so that they have become a memorial unto him. 8
25. And on the new moon of the first month he was bidden to make
for himself an ark, and on that day the earth became dry and he
opened (the ark) and saw the earth. 26. And on the new moon of the
fourth month the mouths of the abysses beneath were closed. And
on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses
of the earth were opened and the waters began to descend into them.
27. And on the new moon of the tenth month the tops of the
mountains were seen, and Noah was glad. 28. And on this account
he ordained them as festivals for a memorial unto himself for ever,
and thus are they ordained. 29. And they placed them on the
heavenly tables, each had thirteen sabbaths ; from one to another
passed their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the
second to the third, and from the third to the fourth. 30. And all the
days of this commandment will be two and fifty sabbaths of days, and
all the years will be complete. 31. Thus it is engraven and ordained
1 Text of AB slightly emended. * Right text doubtful. I have
followed B.
200 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
on the heavenly tables. And there is no transgressing (this command-
ment) for a single year or from year to year. 1 32. And command
thou the children of Israel that they observe the years according
to this reckoning — three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these)
■will constitute a complete year, and they shall not disturb the exact
dates of the days and of the festivals ; for everything will fall out in
them according to their testimony, and they shall not pass by any
day nor disturb any festival. 33. But if they do transgress and do not
observe them according to his commandment, then they will disturb
all their seasons, and their years will be dislodged from this (order),
and they will transgress their ordinances. 34. And all the children
of Israel will forget, and will not find the path of the years, and will
forget the new moons, and the seasons, and sabbaths, and they will go
wrong as to all the order of the years. 35. For I know and from
henceforth will I declare it unto thee, and it is not sprung from my
own thought; for the book (lies) written before me, and in the heavenly
tables the division of days is ordained lest they forget the festivals
of my covenant and walk according to the festivals of the Gentiles
after their error and after their ignorance. 3G. For there will be
those who will make observations of the moon — now (the moon)
disturbs the seasons and comes in every year ten days too soon. 37.
For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb
(the order), and make an abominable day the day of testimony, and an
unclean day a festival day, and they will confound all the days, the
holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy ; for they
will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and festivals and jubilees.
38. And for this reason I command and testify to thee that thou
mayst testify to them ; for after thy death thy children will disturb
(them), so that tbey will make the year only three hundred and sixty-
four days, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons
and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of
blood with all kinds of flesh. 2
VII. — " And in the seventh week in the first year thereof, in this
jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had
rested, named Lub&r, one of the Ar&rat Mountains, and they pro-
duced fruit in the fourth year, and he guarded their fruit, and
gathered it in this year in the seventh month. 2. And he made wine
therefrom and put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth year,
until the first day thereof, on the new moon of the first month. 3.
And he celebrated with joy this day as a f estival, and he made a
1 1 have followed B with a slight emendation of the text.
2 The text is here corrupt.
The Booh of Jubilees. 201
sacrifice unto the Lord, one young ox and one ram, and seven
sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats that he might make
atonement thereby for himself and his sons. 4. And he prepared the
kid first, and placed some of its blood on the flesh that was on the
altar which he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he
was making the sacrifice, and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and
he laid all their flesh upon the altar. 5. And he placed all their
offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afcer 1 he had first sprinkled
wine on the fire which was upon the altar, he placed incense on the
altar and caused a sweet savour to ascend which was acceptable 2
before the Lord his God. 6. And he rejoiced and drank of this wine,
he and his children with joy. 7. And it was evening, and he went
into his tent, and being drunken he lay down and slept, and was un-
covered in his tent as he slept. 8. And Ham saw Noah his father
naked, and came forth and told his two brethren without. 9. And
Shem took his garment and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed
the garment on their shoulders, and went 3 backward and covered
the shame of their father, and their faces were backward. 10. And
Noah awoke from his wine 4 and knew all that his youngest son had
done unto him, and he cursed his son and said : ' Cursed be servile
Canaan ; a servant shall he be unto his brethren.' 11. And he blessed
Shem, and said : ' Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan
shall be his servant. 12. God shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall
dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.' 13.
And Ham knew that his father had cursed his youngest son,
and he was displeased that he had cursed his son, and he
parted from his father, he and his sons with him, Ques and Mestarem
and Phud and Canaan. 14. And he built for himself a city and
called its name after the name of his wife N6§l&tamauk. 15. And
Japheth saw it, and became envious of his brother, and he too built
for himself a city, and he called its name after the name of his wife
Ad&tan§s6s. 16. And Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built
a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its
name after the name of his wife S6deq&t6iMb. 17. And behold
these three cities are near Mount Lftbttr ; S6d6qatelb&b fronting the
mountain on its east ; and Naeltamduk on the south ; Adat&nes^s
towards the west. 18. And these are the sons of Shem : El&m, and
Asur, and Arphaksed (and Lud and) Ar&m ; these were born two
years after the flood. 19. The sons of Japheth : Gomer and M&gug
and Madai and Ij6ij&, T3bel and Meska and TSr&s: these are the sons
1 Text of A slightly emended. 2 Text emended by change of
vocalisation. 3 Text emended. 4 Emended.
202 The Jewish Quarterly Revieiv.
of Noah. 20. And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noah began to enjoin
upon his sons' sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the
judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe
righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless
their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neigh-
bour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all
iniquity. 21. For owing to these three things came the flood upon
the earth, namely, owing to the fornication which the Watchers com-
mitted against the law of their ordinances, (going) after the daughters
of men, and they took themselves wives of all which they chose : they
made the beginning of uncleanness. 22. And they begat sons the
NSphidim, and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another :
and the giants slew the Naphil, and the N&phil slew the Eljo, and the
Eljo mankind, and one man another. 23. And everyone sold himself
to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled
with iuiquity. 24. And after these they sinned 1 against the beasts
and birds, and all that walks and moves on the earth : and much
blood was shed on the earth, and all the imaginations and desires of
men imagined vanity and evil continually. 25. And the Lord
destroyed everything from off the face of the earth ; because of the
wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had
shed in the midst of the earth he destroyed everything. 26. And we
were left, I and you, my sons, and everything that entered with us
into the ark, and behold I see your works before me that ye do not
walk in righteousness ; for in the path of destruction ye have begun
to walk, and ye are parting one from another, and are envious one of
another, so that ye are not in harmony, my sons, each with his
brother. 27. For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their)
seductions against you and against your children, and now I fear on
your behalf, that after my death ye will shed the blood of men upon
the earth, and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the
earth. 28. For every one that sheddeth the blood of man, and every
one that eateth the blood of any flesh, will all be destroyed from the
earth. 29. And there will not be left any man that eateth blood or
that sheddeth the blood of man on the earth, nor will there be left to
him any seed or descendants living under heaven ; for they will go
into Sheol, and will descend into the place of condemnation, into the
darkness of the deep will they all be removed by a violent death. 30.
There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood there shall be
all the days in which ye kill any beasts or cattle or whatever flies
over the earth, and work ye a good work to your souls by burying
1 Text restored from Enoch vii. 5.
The Booh of Jubilees. 203
that which has been shed on the face of the earth. 31. And ye shall
not be like him who eats with blood, but do your best that none may
eat blood before you : bury the blood, for as 1 1 have received this
commandment so I testify to you and your children, together with
all flesh. 32. And give not the soul to be eaten with the flesh, so
that there may be none to require your blood, which is your life,
from any flesh that sheds it. 33. For the earth will not be clean
from the blood which has been shed upon it ; for only through the
blood of him that shed it will the earth be purified throughout all its
generations. 34. And now, my children, hearken : work judgment
and righteousness that ye may be planted in righteousness over the
face of the whole earth, and your glory lifted up before my God, who
saved me from the waters of the flood. 35. And behold, ye will
proceed and build for yourselves cities, and plant in them all the
plants that are upon the earth, and all fruit-bearing trees. 3G. For
three years the fruit of anything that is eaten will not be gathered
for eating : and in the fourth year its fruit will be gathered, and the
first-fruits offered, an acceptable (offering) before the Most High
God, who created heaven and earth and all things, so that they offer
in abundance the first of the wine and oil as first-fruits on the altar
of the Lord, who receives it, and what is left the servants of the
house of the Lord shall eat before the altar which receives (it). 37.
And in the fifth year make ye the release so that ye release it in
righteousness and uprightness, and ye shall be righteous, and all that
you plant will prosper. 38. For thus did Enoch, the father of your
father Methuselah, command his son, and Methuselah his son Lamech,
and Lamech commanded me all the thiogs which his fathers com-
manded him. 39. And I also will give you commandment, my sons,
as Enoch commanded his son in the first jubilees : whilst still living,
the seventh in his generation, he commanded and testified to his son
and to his sons' sons until the day of his death.
YIII. — " In the twenty-ninth j ubike, in the first week, in the beginning
thereof ArpMksed took to himself a wife, and her name was Easuejft,
the daughter of Susan, the daughter of El&m, and she bare him a son
in the third year in this week, and he called his name K&in&m. 2.
And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to
seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. 3.
And he found a writing which former (generations) had carved on
the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and
learnt 2 from it that it contained the teaching of ihe Watchers whereby
1 Emended by a change of vocalisation in one letter.
2 So Billmann emends text.
204 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
they had founded 1 the astrology of the sun and moon and stars in all
the signs of heaven. 4. And he wrote it down and said nothing re-
garding it ; for he was afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should
be angry with him on this account. 5. And in the thirtieth jubilee,
in his second week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a
wife, and her name was M£lk&, the daughter of Abad&i, the son of
Japheth, and in the fourth year he begat a son, and called his name
Sala ; for he said : ' Truly I have been sent away.' 6. And in the
fourth year Said was born, and he grew up and took to himself a wife,
and her name was Miiak, the daughter of K6s6d, his father's brother,
in the thirtieth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof. 7.
And she bare him a son in the fifth year, and he called his name Eb6r :
and he took unto himself a wife, and her name was Azurad, the
daughter of Nebr6d, in the thirty-second jubilee, in the seventh week,
in the third year thereof. 8. And in the sixth year thereof she bare
him a son, and he called his name Phal^k ; for in the days when he
was born the children of Noah divided the earth amongst themselves :
for this reason he called his name Phaleik. 9. And in wickedness
they divided (it) amongst themselves, and told it to Noah. 10. And
it came to pass in the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee that they
divided the earth into thres parts, for Shem and Ham and Japheth,
according to the inheritance of each, in the first year of the first
week, when one of us, who were sent to them, was there. 11. And he
called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and
he divided by lot the earth, which his three sons were to take in
possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing
out of the bosom of Noah, their father. 12. And there came forth
on the writing of Shem's lot the middle of the earth which he should
take as an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations
of eternity, from the middle of the Mountain R&fsi, from the mouth
of the water from the river Tina, and his portion goes towards the
west through the midst of this river, and it extends 2 till it reaches 2
the water of the abysses, out of which this river goes forth and pours
its waters into the sea Meat, and this river flows into the great sea.
And all that is towards the north is Japheth's, and all that is towards
the south belongs to Shem. 13. And it extends till it reaches K&r£s6,*
which is in the bosom of the tongue (of land) which looks towards
the south. 14. And his portion extends unto the great sea, and it
extends in a straight line till it reaches the west of the tongue which
1 Slightly emended. Or adopting reading of Dillmann, for " founded
the astrology " read " saw the chariots."
2 Emended. 3 A gives " K&ran."
The Booh of Jubilees. 205
looks towards the south ; for this sea is named the tongue of the
Egyptian Sea. 15. And it turns from here towards the south, towards
the mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters, and it ex-
tends to the west of Afr&,' and it extends till it reaches the waters of
the river Gij6n, and to the south of the waters of GijCn, to the
extreme limit of this river. 16. And it extends towards the east, till
it reaches the Garden of Eden, to the south thereof, to the south and
from the east of the whole land of Eden, and of the whole east, and
it turns to the east, and proceeds till it reaches the east of the moun-
tain named Rafa, and it descends to the bank of the mouth of the
river TinS. 17. This portion came forth by lot for Shem and his
sons, that they should possess it for ever throughout the generations
for evermore. 18. And Noah rejoiced that this portion came forth
for Shem and for his sons, and he remembered all that he had spoken
with his mouth in prophecy ; for he had said : ' Blessed be the Lord
God of Shem, and may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem.'
19. And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and
the dwelling of the Lord, and Mount Sinai the centre of the desert,
and Mount Zion— the centre of the navel of the earth : these three
were created as sanctuaries facing each other. 20. And he blessed
the God of gods, who had put the word of the Lord into his mouth,
and the Lord for evermore. 21. And he knew that a blessed portion
and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations
for ever — the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red
Sea, and the whole land of the east, and India, and on the Red Sea
and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bltaar, and all
the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kebtfir, and all the
mountains of Sanir and Amana, and the mountains of Asshur in the
north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur and Babel, and Susan and
Madai, and all the mountains of Ararat, and all the region beyond the
sea, which is beyond the mountains of Asshur towards the north, a
blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good. 22. And
for Ham came as the second portion, beyond the Gijon towards the
south to the right of the garden, and it extends towards the south and
it extends to all the mountains of fire, and it extends towards the
west to the sea of Atel and it extends towards the west lill it reaches
the sea of Mauk— that sea into which everything which is not
destroyed descends. 23. And it goes forth towards the north to the
limits of Gadir, and it goes forth to the coast of the waters of the sea
to the waters of the great sea till it draws near to the river Gij6n, and
the river GijSn flows till it reaches the right of the Garden of Eden.
1 So B. A gives " to Arabia and Fara."
206 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
24. And this is the land 'which came forth for Ham as the portion
which he was to occupy for ever for himself and his sons unto their
generations for ever. 25. And for Japheth came forth the third
portion beyond the river Tina* to the north of the outflow of its
waters, and it extends north-easterly to the whole region of Gdg and
to all the east thereof. 26. And it extends northerly to the north,
and it extends to the mountains of Q61t towards the north, and
towards the sea of Mauk, and it goes forth to the east of G&din as far
as the coast of the waters of the sea. 27. And it extends until it
approaches the west of Pher£g, and it returns towards Apherag, and
it extends easterly to the waters of the sea of M6at. 28. And it
extends to the bank of the river Tinst in a north-easterly direction
until it approaches the boundary of its waters towards the mountain
Raff'., and it turns round towards the north. 29. This is the land
which came forth for Japheth and his sons as the portion of his
inheritance which he should possess for himself and his sons,' for their
generations for ever ; five great islands and a great land in the north.
30. But it is cold, and the land of Ham is hot, and the land of Shem
is neither hot nor cold, for it is of blended cold and heat.
IX. — " And Haui divided amongst his sods, and the first portion
came forth for Ques towards the east, and to the west of him for
M6sr§m, and to the west of him for Phud, and to the west of him
and to the west thereof on the sea for Canaan. 2. And Shem also
divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth for El&m
and his sons, to the east of the river Tigris till it approaches the east,
the whole land of India, and on the Red Sea on its coast, and the
waters of DM£n, and all the mountains of Mebri and E1&, and all the
land of Sus&n and all that is to the side of Pharnak: to the Red Sea
and the river TiniL 3. And for Asshur came forth the second portion,
all the land of Asshur and NinivS and Sin&ar and to the border of
India, and it ascends beyond 1 the river. 4. And for Arphaksed came
forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the Chaldees to
the east of the Euphrates, bordering on the Red Sea, and all the
waters of the desert up to the border of the tongue of the sea which
looks towards Egypt, all the land of Lebanon and Sanir and Aman&
to the border of the Euphrates. 5. And for Ar&m there came forth
the fourth portion, all the land of Mesopotamia between the Tigris
and the Euphrates to the north of the Chaldees to the border of the
mountains of Asshur. 6. And there came forth for Lud as the fifth
portion the land of Ardr£, the mountains of Asshur and all
appertaining to them till it reaches the Great Sea, and till it reaches
1 Text of A B C emended.
The Booh of Jubilees. 207
the east of Asshur his brother. 7. And Japheth also divided the
land of his inheritance amongst his sons. 8. And the first portion
came forth for G6mer to the east from the north side to the river
Tina ; and in the north there came forth for Mag6g all the inner
portions of the north until it reaches to the sea of M£at. 9. And for
Madai came forth as his portion that he should possess from the west
of his two brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the islands. 10.
And to Ij6v£tn came forth as a fourth portion all the islands and the
islands which are towards the border of Lud. 11. And for T6bel
there came forth the fifth portion in the midst of the tongue which
approaches towards the border of the portion of Lud to the second
tongue to the region beyond the second tongue, unto the third tongue.
12. And for Mesek came forth the sixth portion, all the region
beyond the third tongue till it approaches the east of Gadir. 13. And
for Tiras there came forth the seventh portion, four great islands in
the midst of the sea, which reach to the portion of Ham, and the
islands of Kamaturi came out by lot for the sons of Arphaksed as his
inheritance. 14. And thus the sons of Noah divided unto their sons
in the presence of Noah their father, and he bound them by an oath,
imprecating a curse on everyone that should seek to seize the portion
which had not fallen (to him) by his lot. 15. And they all said, ' So
be it ; so be it,' for themselves and their sons for ever throughout
their generations till the day of judgment, on which the Lord God
shall judge them with a sword and with fire, for all the unclean
wickedness of their errors, wherewith they have filled the earth with
transgression and uncleanness and fornication and sin.
X. — "And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began
to lead astray the children of the sons of Noah, and to deceive and
destroy them. 2. And the sons of Noah came to Noah their father,
and they told him concerning the demons which were leading astray
and blinding and slaying his sons' sons. 3. And he prayed before the
Lord his God, and said : ' God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast
shown mercy unto me, and hast saved me and my children from the
waters of the flood, and hast not caused me to perish as thou didst the
children of perdition, for thy grace has been great towards me, and
great has been thy mercy to* my soul ; let thy grace be lift up upon
my sons, and let not wicked spirits rule over them lest they should
destroy them from the earth. 4. But do thou bless me and my sons,
that we may increase and multiply and replenish the earth. 5. And
thou knowest how thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in
my day : and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and
hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring
destruction on the sons' sons of thy servant, my God ; for these are
208 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
malignant, and created in order to destroy. 6. And let them not rule
oyer the spirits of the living ; for thou alone knowest their power.
And let them not have dominion over the children of the righteous
from henceforth and for evermore.' 7. And the Lord our God bade us
to bind all. 8. And the chief of the spirits, Mast^mfi, came and said :
' Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them
hearken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them ; for if some
of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the full
power of my desires on the children of men ; for these are for corrup-
tion and leading astray before my judgment, for great is their
wickedness toward the children of men.' 9. And he said : ' Let the
tenth part of them remain before him, and let him cause nine parts
to descend into the place of condemnation.' 10. And to one of us he
said: ' Let us teach Noah all their medicines' ; for he knew that they
would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. 11. And
we did according to all his words, all the malignant evil ones we
bound in the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left
that they might be subject before Satan on the earth. 12. And we
explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases, together with
their seductions, how they might heal them with plants of the earth.
13. And Noah wrote down ali things in a book as we instructed him
concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were pre-
cluded from (hurtingj the children of Noah. 14. And he gave all
that he had written to Shem, his eldest son ; for he loved him ex-
ceedingly above all hi3 sons. 15. And Noah slept with his fathers,
and was buried on Mount Lub&r in the land of Ar&r&t. 16. Nine
hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen jubilees and
two weeks and five years. 17. And in his life 1 on earth he excelled
the children of men in righteousness, wherein he was perfect, save
Enoch. For, as a testimony to the generations of the world, the
office was ordained for Enoch of declaring all the deeds of generation
unto generation, on the day of judgment. 18. And in the three and
thirtieth jubilee, in the first year of the second week, PMlek took to
himself a wife, whose name was L6mna' the daughter of Sfri&ar, and
she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his
name RSgav ; for he said : ' Behold the children of men have become
evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and
a tower in the land of Sanaar.' 19. For they departed from the land of
Ararat in the east, 2 to Sdnaar ; for in his days they were building the
city and the tower, saving, 'Q-o to, let us ascend thereby into heaven.' 2
20. And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick s
1 Emended by a change of vocalisation. s Emended.
3 Emended and restored.
The Book of Jubilees. 209
with fire, and used brick for stone, and the clay with which they
cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and
out of the fountains of water in the land of Sanaar. 21. And they
built (it) : forty and three years were they building it ; its breadth 1
was 203' bricks, and the height 1 (of a brick) was the third of one : its
height amounted to 5,433 cubits and 2 palms, and (the extent of one
wall was) thirteen stades. 22. And the Lord our God said unto us :
' Behold, they are one people, and (this) they begin to do, and now
nothing will fail of those things. Go to, let us go down and
confound their language, that they may not understand one
another's speech, and they will be dispersed into cities and
nations, and one mind shall no longer abide with them till the day
of judgment.' 23. And the Lord descended, and we descended with
him to see the city and the tower which the children of men were
building. 24. And he confounded their language, and they no longer
understood one another's speech, and they ceased then to build the
city and the tower. 25. For this reason the whole land of SinMr is
called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of
the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into their
cities, each according to his language and his nation. 26. Then the
Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon
the earth, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the
land of SanS6r, and they called it ruins. 27. In the fourth week in
the first year in the beginning thereof 2 in the four and thirtieth
jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of SinMr. 28. And Ham
and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy, which he
acquired as his portion in the land of the south. 29. And Canaan
saw the land of Lebanon to the river of Egypt, that it was very
good, and he went not into the land of his inheritance to the west
of the sea, and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon, eastward and west-
ward from the border of Jordan and from the border of the sea.
30. And Ham, his father, and Ques and Masrem, his brothers said
unto him : ' Thou hast settled in a land which is not thine, and
which did not fall to us by lot : do not do so ; for if thou dost do
so, thou and thy sons will fall in the land and (be) accursed through
sedition ; for by sedition ye have settled, and by sedition will thy
children fall, and thou shalt be rooted out for ever. 31. Dwell not
in the dwelling of Shem ; for to Shem and to his sons did it come
by lot. 32. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the
sons of Noah, by the curse which we consented to by an oath in the
1 Emended by means of the Greek fragment preserved in the Catena
of Nicephorus I. See Ronsch, pp. 274-277. 2 Emended.
VOL. VI. O
210 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
presence of the holy judge, and in the presence of Noah our father.'
33. Bui he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of
Lebanon from Emath to the entering, of Egypt, he and his sons
until this day. 34. And for this reason that land is named Canaan.
35. And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in
the land of their portion, and MMai saw the land of the sea and it
did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Elam and
Asshur and Arph&ksed, his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land
M6dqm, near to his wife's brother Until this day. 36. And he called
his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, MMiqtn, after
the name of their father MMai.
XI. — " And on the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first
year thereof, Bagav took to himself a wife, and her name was Oril,
the daughter of Ur, the son of K6s§d, and she bare him a son, and
he called his name S6r6, in the seventh year of this week in this
jubilee. 2. And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to
take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on
the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and
towers, and to exalt individuals 1 above the nation, and to found
the beginnings of kingdoms, and to make war nation against nation,
nations against nations, and city against city, and to make all things
worse, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they
began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3. And
Ur, the son of K6sed, built the city of Ara of the Chaldees, and
called its name after his own name and by the name of his father.
4. And they made for themselves molten images, and they
worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made
each for himself, and they began to make graven images and unclean
simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted them, and seduced them
into committing sin and uncleanness. 5. And the prince Ma9t6ma
exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth various 2 spirits
which were put under his hand, to do all manner of evil and sin, and
all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood
upon the earth. 6. For this reason he called the name of Sero,
SSruk, for everyone turned to do all manner of sin. 7. And he
became great, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father
of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself
a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year
thereof, and her name was Melkit, the daughter of Kfiblr, the
daughter of his father's brother. 8. And she bare him Nachcir, in
the first year of this week, aud he grew and dwelt in Ur of the
1 Emended. * Emended.
The Book of Jubilees. 211
Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the Chaldees
to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven. 9. And in
the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first year
thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Ij&sk&,
the daughter of Nest^g of the Chaldees. 10. And she bare him
T£r& in the seventh year of this week. 11. And the prince
Mastemd sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which
was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the
children of men of their labours : before they could plough in the
seed, the ravens picked it from the surface of the ground. 12.
And for this reason he called his name Titk, because the ravens and
the birds plundered them and devoured their seed. 13. And the
years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they eat all the
fruit of the trees from the trees : it was only with great effort that
they could save a little of all the fruit of the earth in their days. 14.
And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year,
Tjtra" took to himself a wife, and her name was EdnS,, the daughter
of Abram, the daughter of his father's sister. 15. And in the seventh
year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram,
by the name of the father of his mother ; for he had died before this
daughter had conceived a son. 16. And the child began to understand
the errors of the earth that all went astray after graven images and after
uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks
of years old, and he separated himself from his father, that he might
not worship idols with him. 17. And he began to pray to the Creator
of all things that he might save him from the errors of the children
of men, and that his portion should not fall into error after unclean-
ness and vileness. 18. And the seed time came for the sowing of seed
upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed
against the ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and
the child was a lad of fourteen years. 19. And a cloud of ravens
came to eat the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they settled
on the ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to
eat the seed, and said, ' Descend not : return to the place whence
yo came,'' and they turned back. 20. And he caused the clouds of
ravens (to turn back) that day seventy times, and none of all the
ravens throughout all the land where Abram was, there settled there
not so much as one. 21. And all who were with him throughout all
the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name
became great in all the land of the Chaldees. 22. And there came to
him that year all those that sowed seed, and he went with them until
the time of sowing ceased : and they sowed their land, and that year
they brought enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. 23. And
O 2
212 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
in the first year of the fifth week Abram taught those who made
implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and they made vessels
above the ground, facnig the frame of the plough, in order to put the
seed thereon, and the seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the
plough, and was hidden in the earth, and they no longer feared the
ravens. 24. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the
ground on all the frames of the ploughs, and they sowed and tilled
all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer
feared the birds.
XII. — "And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh
year thereof, that Abram said to T&rfi,, his father, saying, ' Father ! '
And he said, ' Behold, here am I, my son.' 2. And he said, ' What
help and pleasure have we from the idols which thou dost worship,
and before which thou dost bow thyself ? 3. For there is no spirit in
them, for they are dumb forms, and they lead the heart astray :
worship them not. 4. Worship the God of heaven, who causes the
rain and the dew to descend on the earth, and does everything upon
the earth, and has created everything by his word, and all life is from
before his face. 5. Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in
them ? for they are the workmanship of (men's) hands, and on your
shoulders do ye carry them, and ye have no help from them, but they
are a great cause of shame to those who make them, and a misleading
of hearts to those who worship them : worship them not.' 6. And
his father said unto him, ' I also know it, my son ; but what shall I
do with a people who have made me to serve before them ? 7. And
if I tell them the truth, they will slay me ; for their soul cleaves to
them to worship them and honour them. Keep silent, my son, lest
they slay thee.' 8. And these words he spake to his two brothers,
and they were angry with him and he kept silent. 9. And in the
fortieth jubilee, in the second week, in the seventh year thereof,
Abram took to himself a wife, and her name was Sarah, the daughter
of his father, and she became his wife. 10. And ArSn, his brother,
took to himself a wife in the third year of the third week, and she
bare him a son in the seventh year of this week, and he called his
name Lot. 11. And Nachor, his brother, took to himself a wife.
12. And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is, in the
fourth week, in the fourth year thereof, Abram arose by night, and
burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in
the house, and no man knew it. 13. And they arose in the night and
sought to save their gods from the midst of the fire. 14. And
Aran hasted to save them, but the fire flamed over him, and he was
burnt in the fire, and he died in tjr of the Chaldees before T&ra" his
father, and they buried him in Ur. 15. And Tilra' went forth from
The Book of Jubilees. 213
Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon
and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of K&r&n, and
Abram dwelt with Tara" his father in Karsln two weeks of years. 16.
And in the sixth week, in the fifth year thereof, Abram sat up through-
out the night on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the
stars from the evening to the morning, in order to see what would be
the character of the year with regard to rain, and he was alone as he
sat and observed. 17. And a word came into his heart and he said :
' All the signs of the stars, and all the signs of the moon and of the
sun are in the hand of the Lord. "Why do I search them out ? 18.
If he desires, he causes it to rain, morning and evening ; and if he
desires, he withholds it, and all things are in his hand.' 19. And he
prayed that night and said : ' My God, God Most High, thou alone
art my God, and thou hast created all things, and all things that are
the works of thy hands, and thee and thy dominion have I chosen.
20. Deliver me from the hands of evil spirits who have dominion
over the thoughts of the hearts of men, and let them not lead me
astray from thee, my God, and stablish thou me and my seed for ever
that we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore. 21. And I
said, Shall I return unto TjTr of the Chaldees who seek my face that I
may return to them, or how shall I remain here in this place ? The
right path before thee prosper in the hands of thy servant that he
may follow it, and not walk in the deceitf ulness of my heart, O my
God.' 22. And he ended his words and his prayer, and behold the
word of the Lord was sent to him through me, saying : ' Get thee up
from thy country and from thy kindred and from the house of thy
father unto a land which I will show thee, and I will make thee a
great and numerous nation. 23. And I will bless thee and will make
thy name great, and thou shalt be blessed in the land, and in thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed, and I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse them that curse thee. 24. And I will be a God
to thee and thy son, and to thy son's son, and to all thy seed and to
all that are thine, fear not, from henceforth and unto all generations
of the earth I am thy God.' 25. And the Lord God said : ' Open his
mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with
the language which has been revealed ' ; for it had ceased from the
mouths of all the children of men from the day of the fall. 26. And
I opened his mouth, and I opened his ears and his lips, and I began to
speak with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation. 27. And
he took the books of his fathers, and these were written in Hebrew,
and he transcribed them, and he began from henceforth to study
them, and I made known to him that which would have been im-
possible for him (to understand), and he studied them during the sis
214 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
rainy months. 28. And it came to pass in the seventh year of the
sixth week that he spoke to his father and informed him, that he
would leave K&rsm to go into the land of Canaan to see it and return
to him. 29. And T&rfi his father said unto him : ' Go in peace :
may the eternal God make thy path straight, and the Lord (be) with
thee, and protect thee from all evil, and grant unto thee grace, mercy
and favour before those who see thee, and may none of the children
of men have power over thee to do thee harm ; go in peace. 30.
And if thou seest a land pleasant to thy eyes to dwell in, then arise
and take me to thee, and take Lot with thee, the son of ArUn thy
brother as thine own son, and the Lord be with thee. 31. And
Nahor thy brother leave with me till thou returnest in peace, and we
go with thee altogether.'
XIII. " And Abram journeyed from K&r&n, and he took Sarah, his
wife, and Lot, his brother Aran's son, to the land of Canaan, and he came
into Asshur, and proceeded to SakimSn, and dwelt near a lofty oak. 2.
And he saw, and, behold, the land was very pleasant from the entering
of Em&th to the lofty oak. 3. And the Lord said to him : ' To thee
and to thy seed will I give this land.' 4. And he built an altar there,
and he offered thereon a sacrifice to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
5. And he removed from thence unto a mountain with Bethel on the
west and Agge 1 on the east, and pitched his tent there. 6. And he saw
and behold, the land was very wide and good, and everything grew
thereon — vines and figs and pomegranates, oaks and ilexes, and tere-
binths and oil trees, and cedars and date trees, 1 and cypresses and all
trees of the field, and there was water on the mountains. 7. And he
blessed the Lord who had led him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and had
brought him to this land. 8. And it came to pass in the first year, in
the seventh week, on the new moon of the month, on which he built
an altar on this mountain, that he called on the name of the Lord and
said : ' The eternal God is my God.' 9. And he offered on the altar
a sacrifice unto the Lord that he should be with him and not forsake
him all the days of his life. 10. And he removed from thence and
went towards the south, and he came to KcSbrSn, and KlbrSn was built
at that time, and he dwelt there two years, and he went (thence) into
the land of the south, to B6a Lot, and there was a famine in the land.
11. And Abram went into Egypt in the third year of the week, and he
dwelt in Egypt five years before his wife was torn away from him.
12. Now Tanais in Egypt was at that time built — seven years after
K6br6n. 13. And it came to pass when Pharaoh seized Sarah, the
wife of Abram, that the Lord punished Pharaoh and his house with
1 Text of A emended.
The Book of Jubilees. 215
great punishments on account of Sarah, Abram's wife. 14. And
Abram was very glorious by reason of possessions in sheep, and
cattle, and asses, and horses, and camels, and menservaots, and maid-
servants, and in silver and gold exceedingly : And Lot also, his
brother's son, was wealthy. 15. And Pharaoh gave back Sarah, the
wife of Abraham, and he sent him out of the land of Egypt, and he
journeyed to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning,
to the place of the altar, with Agge on the east and Bethel on the
west, 1 and he blessed the Lord his God who had brought him back in
peace. 16. And it came to pass in the for.ty-first jubilee, in the third
year of the first week, he returned to this place and offered thereon a
burnt sacrifice, and called on the name of the Lord, and said : ' Thou,
most high God, art my God for ever and ever.' 17. And in the fourth
year of this week Lot parted from him, and Lot dwelt in Sodom, and
the men of Sodom were sinners exceedingly and wicked. 18. And he was
grieved 2 at heart that his brother's son had parted from him ; for he
had no children . 19. In that year when Lot was taken captive, the
Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot had parted from him, in the
fourth year of this week : 3 ' Lift up thine eyes from the place where
thou art dwelling, northward and southward, and westward and east-
ward. 20. For all the land which thou seest I will give to thee and to
thy seed for ever, and I will make thy seed as the sand of the sea : if
a man can number the dust of the earth, yet thy seed will not be
numbered. 21. Arise, go through the length and breadth of it, and
see it all ; for to thy seed will I give it.' And Abram went lo
K§br6n, and dwelt there. 22. And in this year came K6d61%6m6r,
king of Elam, and Amarphel, king of S§naar, and Ari6k, king of
SIHSsar, and Tergal, king of nations, and slew the king of G6m6r, and
the king of Sodom fled, and many fell in battle in the vale 4 of Siddim,
by the Salt Sea, and they took captive Sodom and Adam aDd Seb6im,
and they took captive Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, and all
his possessions, and they went 5 to Dan. 23. And one who had
escaped came and told Abram that his brother's son had been taken
captive 6 24. And the houseservant made atonement for
Abram, and for his seed, with a first tenth to the Lord, and the Lord
ordained it as an ordinance for ever that they should give it to the
priests who served before him, that they should possess it for ever.
25. And to this law there is no limit of days, but he hath ordained
1 Text of B slightly emended. 2 Emended.
3 A B C D wrongly add " and he said " against Lat. and Gen. xiii. 11.
* Text of A B D emended.
5 Emended. 6 There is evidently a lacuna here.
216 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
it for the generations for ever that they should give to the Lord the
tenth of their seed and of the wine and of the oil and of the cattle
and of the sheep. 26. And he gave it unto his priests to eat and to
drink with joy before him. 27. And the king of Sodom came to him
and bowed himself before him, and said : ' Our Lord Abram, give
unto us the souls which thou hast rescued, but let the booty be thine.'
28. And Abram said unto him : ' I have lift up my hands to the most
high God, that from a thread to a shoe-latchet I will not take aught
that is thine lest thou shouldst say : I have made Abram rich, save
only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who
went with me — Aun&n, fiskal, and Mamri. These will take their
portion.'
XIV. — " After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on
the new moon of the third month, the word of the Lord came to
Abram in a dream, saying : ' Fear not, Abram ; I am thy defender,
and thy reward shall be exceeding great.' 2. And he said : ' Lord,
Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go hence childless, and the
son of Maseq, the son of my handmaid, 1 this Dammasek Eliezer, he
will be my heir, and to me thou hast given no seed.' 3. And he said
unto him : ' This (man) will not be thy heir, but one that will come
out of thine own bowels ; he will be thine heir.' 4. And he brought
him forth abroad, and said unto him : ' Look toward heaven and
number the stars, if thou art able to number them.' 5. And he
looked toward heaven, and beheld the stars ; and he said unto him :
'So shall thy seed be.' 6. And he believed in the Lord, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. 7. And he said unto him : ' I
am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, that I
might give thee the land of Canaan to possess it for ever ; and I will
be God unto thes and to thy seed after thee.' 8. And he said :
' Lord, Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ? ' 9. And
he said unto him : ' Take me an heifer of three years, and a goat of
three years, and a sheep of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a
pigeon.' 10. And he took all these in the middle of the month ; and
he dwelt at the oak of Mamri, which is near Kebrdn. 11. And he
built there an altar, and sacrificed all these ; and he poured their
blood upon the altar, and divided them in the midst, and laid them
over against each other ; but the birds divided he not. 12. And
birds came down upon the pieces, and Abram drove them away, and
did not suffer the birds to touch them. 13. And it came to pass, when
the sun had set, that an ecstasy fell upon Abram, and lo ! an horror
of great darkness fell upon him, and it was said unto Abram : ' Know
1 Emended by Dillmann.
The Book of Jubilees. 217
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land (that is) not
theirs, and they will bring them into bondage, and afflict them four
hundred years. 14. And the nation also whom they shall serve will I
judge, and after that they will come forth thence with much sub-
stance. 15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried
in a good old age. 16. But in the fourth generatiou they shall return
hith<-r ; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17. And he
awoke from his sleep, and he arose, and the sun had set ; and there
was a flame, and behold ! a furnace was smoking, and a flame of fire
passed between the pieces. 18. And on that day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying : ' To thy seed will I give this land,
from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the
Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Perizzites, and the
Bephaim, the Phakerites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and
the Gergashites, and the Jebusites. 19. And the day passed, and
Abram offered the pieces, and the birds, and their fruit offerings, and
their drink offerings, and the fire devoured them. 20. And on that
day we made a covenant with Abram, according as we had covenanted
with Noah in this month ; and Abram renewed the festival and ordi-
nance for himself for ever. 21. And Abram rejoiced, and made all
these things known to Sarah his wife ; andjhe believed that he would
have seed, though she had not yet borne children. 22. And Sarah
advised her husband Abram, and said unto him : 'Groin unto Hagar, my
Egyptian maid : it may be that I shall obtain seed unto thee by her.'
23. And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarah his wife, and said
to her, ' Do it.' And Sarai took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and
gave her to Abram, her husband, to be his wife. 24. And he went in
unto her, and she conceived and bare him a son, and he called his name
Ishmael, in the fifth year of this week ; and this was the eighty-sixth
year in the life of Abram."
B. H. Charles.
(To be continued.')
