b. Of the ditYculties in the sacred narrative which the book of Jubilees tries to solve, may be men tioned that it accounts for the serpent speaking to Eve, by saying that all animals spoke before the fall in paradise (comp. Gen. i. with Jubil. 98); explains very minutely whence the first heads of families took their wives (Jubil. iv. 24, 71, too, etc.) ; how far the sentence of death pronounced in Gen. ii. 17 has been fulfilled literally (iv. 99, etc.); shews that the sons of God who came to the daughters of men were angels (v. 3) ; with what help Noah brought the animals into the ark (v. 76) ; wherewith the tower of Babel was destroyed (x. 87) ; why Sarah disliked Ishmael and urged Abraham to send him away (xvii. 13) ; why Re becca loved Jacob so dearly (xix. 40-84) ; how it was that Esau came to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage (xxiv. 5-20) ; who told Rebekah (Gen. xxvii. 42) that Esau determined to kill Jacob (xxxvii. I, etc.) ; how it was that he aftenvards desisted from his determination to kill Jacob (xxxv. 29-105); why Rebekah said (Gen. xxvii. 45) that she would be deprived of both her sons in one day (xxxvii. 9) ; why Er Judah's first-born died (xli. 1-7) ; why Onan would not redeem Tamar (xli. 11-13) ; why Judah was not punished for his sin with Tamar (xli. 57-67); why Joseph had the money put into the sacks of his brethren (xlii. 71-73); and how Moses was nourished in the ark (xlvii. 13), and that it was not God but the chief mastemah, rInt7VD, the enemy who hardened the hearts of the Egyptians (xlviii. 58).
c. Instances where events which arc briefly men tioned or simply hinted at in the canonical book of Genesis, and which seem to refer to another narra tive of an earlier or later date, are given more fully in the book of Jubilees, will be found in Jubil. xvi. 39-tot, where an extensive description is given of the appearance of the angels to Abraham and Sarah as a supplement to Gen. xviii. 14 ; in Jubil. xxxii. 5-38, 50-53, where Jacob is described as giving tithes of all his' possessions, and wishing to erect a house of God in Bethel, which is a fuller description of that hinted at in Gen. xxviii. 22 ; in Jubil. xxxiv. 4-25, where Jacob's battle vvith the seven kings of the Amorites is described, to which allusion is made in Gen. xlviii. 22.
a'. As to the religious observances, we are told that the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (r3,-Itnn or nIznr.), nvspn an), is contained in the covenants which God made with Noah and Abraham (comp. Jubil. vi. 56-6o with Gen. ix. 8-17; xiv. 51-54 with Gen. xv. t8-2t) ; the Feast of Tabernacles wa.s first celebrated by Abraham at Beersheba ( Jubil. xvi. 6t-tor); the concluding Festival (n-INT which is on the 23d of Tishri, continuing the Feast of Tabernacles [FEsTtvAts), was instituted by Jacob (Jubil. xxxii. 87-94) after his vision at Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 9-14) ; and that the mourning on the Day op A tonenzent ("ODD ni+) was instituted (Lev. xvi. 29) to commemorate the mourning of Jacob over the loss of Joseph (Jubil. xxxiv. 50-6o).
The German version by Dill mann, through which this book has recently been made known to Euro peans, has been divided by the emdite translator into/iffy chapters, but not into verses. The refer ences in this article are to those chapters, and Me lines of the respective chapters.
3. Author anel Original Language of the Book.
—That the author of this book was a Jew is evi dent from—(i) His minute description of the Sab bath and festivals, as well as all the Rabbinic ceremonies connected therewith (1. 19-33, 49-60, which developed themselves in the course of time, and which we are told are simply types described by Moses from heavenly archetypes, and have not only been kept by the angels in heaven, but are binding upon the Jews world without end ; (2) The elevated position he ascribes to the Jewish people (ii. 79-9r ; xvi. 50-56), ordinary Israelites are in dignity equal to angels (xv. 72-75), and the priests are like the presence-angels (xxxi. 47-49), over Israel only does thc Lord himself rule, whilst he appointed evil spirits to exercise dominion over all other nations (xv. 8o-9o) ; and (3) The many Hagadic elements of this book whicli are still pre served in the Talmud and Midrashim. Comp. for instance Jubil. i. 116, where the presence-angel, 1111.300, 1L1, is described as having pre ceded the hosts of Israel, with Sanhedrim 38, b ; the description of the creation of paradise on the third day (7ttbil. 37 with Bereshith Rabba, c. xv.); the twenty-two generations from Adam to Jacob (yubi/. ii. 64, 91, vvith Bereshith Rabba and Midrash Tadske, 169); the animals speaking be fore the fall (7zebi/. iii. 98 with the Afia'y-ashint); the remark that Adam lived 70 years less than too° years in order that the declaration might be fulfilled in the day in which thou eatest thereof thou shalt die,' since moo years are as one day with the Lord ( Yuba. iv. 99 with Bereshith Rabba, c. xix.; Justin. Dial. c. p. 278, ed. Otto); the causes of the deluge (7nbit. v. 3-20 with Bereskith Rahba, c. xxxi.); the declaration that the beginning of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth months, are to be celebrated as festivals, being the beginning of the four seasons called mom, and having already been observed by Noah (Yuba. vi. 31-93 with PU-ke d. R. Eliezer, cap. viii. ; Fseudo-Yonathan on Gen. viii. 22); the statement that Satan induced God to ask Abraham to sacrifice his son (Yuba. xvii. 49-33 with Sanhea'rim 89, b); that Abraham was tempted ten times (7ubd. xix. 22 with Agskna, Ahoth v. 3; Targum 7erusalem on Gen. xxii. t, etc.); and that Joseph spake Hebrew when he made himself known to his brothers (ywil. 54 with Bereshith Rabba, cap. xciii.) As, how ever, some of the practices, rites, and interpreta tions given in this book are at variance with the traditional expositions of the Rabbins, Beer is of opinion that the writer was a .Dosithean who was anxious to bring about a fusion of Samaritanism and Rabbinic-Judaism, by making mutual conces sions (Das Bitch d. Yubiliien, pp. 61, 62) ; Jellinek again thinks that he was an Esselte, and wrote this book against the Pharisees, who maintained that the beginning of the month is to be fixed by obser vation and not by calculation OD 5v tniiri tvrrp msnro, and that the Sanhedrim had the power of ordaining intercalary years [Ilium. H.], adducing in corroboration of this view the remark in Jubil. vi. 95-r33, the chronological system of the author, which is based upon heptades ; and the strict vance of the Sabbath, which as an Essene loving the sacred number seven, he urges upon every Israelite (comp. 73-r33; iv. r9-6i ; Bet.