Book of Jubilees

Book of Jubilees 5

V. And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daugh- ters were born unto them, that the angels of God 4 saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were 1 Cf. Gen. ii. 14. Notice that " day " here is interpreted as = 1000 years — a belief early current among Jews and Christians (cf. Ber. rabba xix. on Gen. iii. 8), 2 Pet. iii. 8. Justin Martyr, Tryf>ho. lxxxi ; cf. also Pirke de R. Eliezer xviii. 1 The lex taltonxs ; cf. Exod. xxi. 24 (" eye for eye, tooth for tooth ") ; Lev. xxiv. 19. Similar examples are given in 2 Mace. v. 19 f., xv. 32 f. The rigorous application of this " law " was upheld by the Sadducees, as against the Pharisees. ■ Cf. Gen. v. 22. Note that Shem is represented as the eldest; cf. Gen. x. 21 (R.V.). * This is the LXX rendering of Gen, vi. 2 (R.V. " sons of God ") and represents the older Jewish exegesis, which was jater given up. chap.v] THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 57 '1 1 beautiful to look upon ; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.1 2. And lawless- ness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way,* alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walketh on the earth — all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour 8 each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts . of all men (was) thus evil continually.4 3. And X}od looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all nesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth 5 had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes. 4. And He said : " I shall destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth which I have created." 5. But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord.* 6. And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them 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 from under heaven. 8. And He said " My spirit will not always abide 7 on man ; for they also are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 9. And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neigh- bour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth. 10. And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruc- tion), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great con- demnation,8 when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before 1 Giants, i. 9. " Nephilim." • Cf. Gen. vi. 12. • Cf. 1 Enoch vii. 5. « Cf. Gen. vi. 5. • Cf. Gen. vi. 12. • Cf. Gen. vi. 7, 8. T Cf- Gen. vi. 3, R.V. marg. • Cf. 1 Enoch x. 13. 58 THE BOOK OF JUBILEES [chap, v the Lord. n. And He | destroyed! all from their places, and there jwasf not left one of them whom He judged not according to all their wickedness. 12. And He fmadet for all His works a new and righteous nature,1 so that they should not sin in their whole nature for ever, but thould be all righteous «ach in his kind alway. 13. And the judgment of all is ordained arid written on the heavenly tables in right- eousness—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 every creature and for every kind. 14. And there is notjung in heaven or on earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the depth, or in the place of darkness (which is not judged) ; and all their judgments are ordained and written and engraved. 15. In regard to all He will judge, the great according to his greatness, and the small according to his small- ness, and each according .to his way. 16. And He is not one who will regard the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts, ii He saith that He will execute judgment on each : if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at nis hands, for He is a righteous judged [17. And of the children of Israel It hath been written and ordained : If they turn to Him in righteousness, He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. 18. It is written and ordained that He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year.] 8 19. x 10-12, as Charles has shown, describe the final judg- ment. The tenses must be altered from past to future. Render : " until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment shall be executed. . . . And He shall destroy . . . and there shall not be left one of them whom He shall not have judged. . . . And He shall make," etc. * Cf. xl. 8; Deut. x. 17; 1 Chrpn. xix. 7. " The bracketed clauses have been either transposed here cr interpolated from xxxiv. 18-19. The reference is to the Day of Atonement which takes place on the 10th of the 7th month. For " once each year," cf. Heb. ix. 7. *: chXp.v] THE BOOK OF JUBILEES 59 And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their, thoughts 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 com- manded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him. 20. And the Lord said that He would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men ami cattle, and beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth.1 The Building of the Ark ; the Flood (v. 21-32 ; cf. Gen. vi. 13-viii. 19). 21. And He commanded Noah to make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters oi the flood.1 22. And Noah made the ark jn all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth vearjon the new moon of the Jirst month). 23. And he enterecT in the sixth (year) thereot, in the second month, on the new moon of the sernnH mpjith^flM^jxtpSth^ and he entered, ana all that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed 8 it from without on the seventeenth 4 evening. " 24. And the Lord opened ^evgnflood-gates^ of heaven, And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number. 25. 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 waters, until the whole world was full of water. 26. And the waters increased upon the earth : Fifteen cubits did the waters rise above all the high mountains, 1 Cf. Gen. vi. 7. > Cf. Gen. vi. 14. » Cf. Gen. vii.' i6( * Cf. Gen. vii. n. • Cf. 1 Enoch lxxxix. 2. Note the recurrence of the number seven in these connexions. 6o THE BOOK OF JUBILEES [chap, v . And the ark was lift up above the earth, And it moved upon the face of the waters.1 2^. And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months — one hundred and fifty days.1 28. And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one of the mountains of Ararat.8 2Q. And Ibn the new mooiilin the foujlh month TFe fountain^ pi the great deep were closed and the flood-gates oi heaven were restrained; and on the new moon of the seventh mon^ all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep 309 A.M. below.4 30. And nn thp npw moon of th«* tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new moon ofjhe first moiTth the earth became visible?* 31. 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. 32. And on the twenty-seventh^ thereof he opened the ark, and sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every moving thing.7 Noah* 8 Sacrifice ; God's Covenant with him (cf . Gen. viii. 20-ix. 17). Instructions to Moses about eating of Blood, the Feast of Weeks, etc., and Division of the Year (vi. 1-38).