Book of Jubilees (17-20)
The Book of Jubilees covers much of the same ground as Genesis, but with the central them of the Jubilees.
Chapter 17
1 And in the first year of the fifth week Isaac was weaned in this jubilee, and Abraham made a great banquet in the third month, on the day his son Isaac was weaned.
2 And Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, was before the face of Abraham, his father, in his place, and Abraham rejoiced and blessed God because he had seen his sons and had not died childless.
3 And he remembered the words which He had spoken to him on the day on which Lot had parted from him, and he rejoiced because the Lord had given him seed upon the earth to inherit the earth, and he blessed with all his mouth the Creator of all things.
4 And Sarah saw Ishmael playing and dancing, and Abraham rejoicing with great joy, and she became jealous of Ishmael and said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, Isaac.’
5 And it was a grief to Abraham to have to drive his maidservant and his son away from him.
6 And God said to Abraham ‘Let it not be grievous in your sight, because of the child and because of the bondwoman; in all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her words and do (them); for in Isaac shall your name and seed be called.
7 But as for the son of this bondwoman I will make him a great nation, because he is of your seed.’
8 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and placed them on the shoulders of Hagar and the child, and sent her away.
9 And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and the water in the bottle was spent, and the child thirsted, and was not able to go on, and fell down.
10 And his mother took him and cast him under an olive tree, and went and sat her down over against him, at the distance of a bow-shot; for she said, ‘Let me not see the death of my child,’ and as she sat she wept.
11 And an angel of God, one of the holy ones, said to her, ‘Why weepest you, Hagar? Arise take the child, and hold him in your hand; for God has heard your voice, and has seen the child.’
12 And she opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled her bottle with water, and she gave her child to drink, and she arose and went towards the wilderness of Paran.
13 And the child grew and became an archer, and God was with him, and his mother took him a wife from among the daughters of Egypt.
14 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Nebaioth; for she said, ‘The Lord was nigh to me when I called upon him.’
15 And it came to pass in the seventh week, in the first year of it, in the first month in this jubilee, on the twelfth of this month, there were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in all that He told him, and that he loved the Lord, and that in every affliction he was faithful.
16 And the prince Mastema came and said before God, ‘Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights in him above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and You must see if he will do this command, and You must know if he is faithful in everything wherein You do try him.
17 And the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for He had tried him through his country and with famine, and had tried him with the wealth of kings, and had tried him again through his wife, when she was torn (from him), and with circumcision; and had tried him through Ishmael and Hagar, his maid-servant, when he sent them away.
18 And in everything wherein He had tried him, he was found faithful, and his soul was not impatient, and he was not slow to act; for he was faithful and a lover of the Lord.
Chapter 18
1 And God said to him, ‘Abraham, Abraham’; and he said, Behold, (here) am I.’
2 And he said, Take your beloved son whom you lovest, (even) Isaac, and go to the high country, and offer him on one of the mountains which I will point out to you.’
3 And he rose early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took his two young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood of the burnt offering, and he went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place afar off.
4 And he came to a well of water, and he said to his young men, ‘Abide you here with the ass, and I and the lad shall go (yonder), and when we have worshipped we shall come again to you.’
5 And he took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they went both of them together to that place.
6 And Isaac said to his father, ‘Father;’ and he said, ‘Here am I, my son.’ And he said to him, ‘Behold the fire, and the knife, and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt-offering, father?’ And he said, ‘God will provide for himself a sheep for a burnt-offering, my son.’
7 And he drew near to the place of the mount of God.
8 And he built an altar, and he placed the wood on the altar, and bound Isaac his son, and placed him on the wood which was upon the altar, and stretched forth his hand to take the knife to slay Isaac his son.
9 And I stood before him, and before the prince Mastema, and the Lord said, ‘Bid him not to lay his hand on the lad, nor to do anything to him, for I have shown that he fears the Lord.’ — who is the ‘I’? another angel, seems like the writer of Jubilees regards Abraham met the “prince Mastema” supposedly an angel; but now there is another angel! and yet he spoke on the Lord’s behalf? A bit confusing.
10 And I called to him from heaven, and said to him: ‘Abraham, Abraham;’ and he was terrified and said: ‘Behold, (here) am I.’
11 And I said to him: ‘Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither anything to him; for now I have shown that you fearest the Lord, and have not withheld your son, your first-born son, from me.’
12 And the prince Mastema was put to shame; and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold a ram caught . . . by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. — why was the prince Mastema put to shame? He acted like Satan before Job where Job refused to succum to his scheme; so is Satan having another name as prince Mastema here?
13 And Abraham called that place ‘The Lord has seen,’ so that it is said the Lord has seen: that is Mount Sion.
14 And the Lord called Abraham by his name a second time from heaven, as he caused us to appear to speak to him in the name of the Lord. — if this is the second time, then the preceding encounter would logically be the first time; and there were no second angel. So why did the writer of the Book of Jubilee placed the ‘I’ as the Lord in the first person?
15 And he said:
‘By Myself have I sworn, says the Lord,
Because you have done this thing,
And have not withheld your son, your beloved son, from Me,
That in blessing I will bless you,
And in multiplying I will multiply your seed
As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the seashore;
And your seed shall inherit the cities of its enemies.
16 And in your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed;
Because you have obeyed My voice,
And I have shown to all that you are faithful to Me in all that I have said to you: Go in peace.’
17 And Abraham went to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt by the Well of the Oath.
18 And he celebrated this festival every year, seven days with joy, and he called it the festival of the Lord according to the seven days during which he went and returned in peace. — what is the name of this feast, ‘the festival of the Lord,’ we wonder, and for seven days?
19 And accordingly has it been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets regarding Israel and its seed that they should observe this festival seven days with the joy of festival.
— if indeed “this festival” is ordained and to be celebrated by “Israel and its seed,” for seven days, then it is not supported by the Masoretic Text; hence the writer of Jubilees, whoever he was, could had gone overboard.
Chapter 19
1 And in the first year of the first week in the forty-second jubilee, Abraham returned and dwelt opposite Hebron, that is Kirjath Arba, two weeks of years.
2 And in the first year of the third week of this jubilee the days of the life of Sarah were accomplished, and she died in Hebron. — why was Abraham not living with Sarah?
3 And Abraham went to mourn over her and bury her, and we tried him [to see] if his spirit were patient and he were not indignant in the words of his mouth; and he was found patient in this, and was not disturbed. — who are the component of the ‘we’ above?
4 For in patience of spirit he conversed with the children of Heth, to the intent that they should give him a place in which to bury his dead.
5 And the Lord gave him grace before all who saw him, and he besought in gentleness the sons of Heth, and they gave him the land of the double cave over against Mamre, that is Hebron, for four hundred pieces of silver.
6 And they besought him saying, We shall give it to you for nothing; but he would not take it from their hands for nothing, for he gave the price of the place, the money in full, and he bowed down before them twice, and after this he buried his dead in the double cave.
7 And all the days of the life of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven years, that is, two jubilees and four weeks and one year: these are the days of the years of the life of Sarah. — how would “two jubilees and four weeks and one year” arrive at 127 years unless a Jubilee is just 49 years?
8 This is the tenth trial wherewith Abraham was tried, and he was found faithful, patient in spirit.
9 And he said not a single word regarding the rumour in the land how that God had said that He would give it to him and to his seed after him, and he begged a place there to bury his dead; for he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of God.
10 And in the fourth year of it he took a wife for his son Isaac and her name was Rebecca [the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham] the sister of Laban and daughter of Bethuel; and Bethuel was the son of Melca, who was the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham.
11 And Abraham took to himself a third wife, and her name was Keturah, from among the daughters of his household servants, for Hagar had died before Sarah. And she bore him six sons, Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah, in the two weeks of years.
12 And in the sixth week, in the second year of it, Rebecca bore to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and Jacob was a smooth and upright man, and Esau was fierce, a man of the field, and hairy, and Jacob dwelt in tents.
13 And the youths grew, and Jacob learned to write;
14 but Esau did not learn, for he was a man of the field and a hunter, and he learnt war, and all his deeds were fierce.
15 And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau.
16 And Abraham saw the deeds of Esau, and he knew that in Jacob should his name and seed be called; and he called Rebecca and gave commandment regarding Jacob, for he knew that she (too) loved Jacob much more than Esau.
17 And he said to her:
My daughter, watch over my son Jacob,
For he shall be in my stead on the earth,
And for a blessing in the middle of the children of men,
And for the glory of the whole seed of Shem.
18 For I know that the Lord will choose him to be a people for possession to Himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
19 And behold, Isaac my son loves Esau more than Jacob, but I see that you truly lovest Jacob.
20 Add still further to your kindness to him,
And let your eyes be upon him in love;
For he shall be a blessing to us on the earth from henceforth to all generations of the earth.
21 Let your hands be strong
And let your heart rejoice in your son Jacob;
For I have loved him far beyond all my sons.
He shall be blessed for ever,
And his seed shall fill the whole earth.
22 If a man can number the sand of the earth,
His seed also shall be numbered.
23 And all the blessings wherewith the Lord has blessed me and my seed shall belong to Jacob and his seed always.
24 And in his seed shall my name be blessed, and the name of my fathers, Shem, and Noab, and Enoch, and Mahalalel, and Enos, and Seth, and Adam.
25 And these shall serve
To lay the foundations of the heaven,
And to strengthen the earth,
And to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament.
26 And he called Jacob before the eyes of Rebecca his mother, and kissed him, and blessed him, and said: ‘Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loves, may God bless you from above the firmament,
27 and may He give you all the blessings wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem; and all the things of which He told me, and all the things which He promised to give me, may he cause to cleave to you and to your seed for ever, according to the days of heaven above the earth.
28 And the Spirits of Mastema shall not rule over you or over your seed to turn you from the Lord, who is your God from henceforth for ever.
29 And may the Lord God be a father to you and you the first-born son, and to the people always.
30 Go in peace, my son.’ And they both went out together from Abraham.
31 And Rebecca loved Jacob, with all her heart and with all her soul, very much more than Esau; but Isaac loved Esau much more than Jacob.
Chapter 20
1 And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the seventh week, Abraham called Ishmael, [2052 (2045?) AM] and his twelve sons, and Isaac and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah, and their sons.
2 And he commanded them that they should observe the way of the Lord; that they should work righteousness, and love each his neighbour, and act on this manner amongst all men; that they should each so walk with regard to them as to do judgment and righteousness on the earth.
3 That they should circumcise their sons, according to the covenant which He had made with them, and not deviate to the right hand or the left of all the paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we should keep ourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, [and renounce from amongst us all fornication and uncleanness].
4 And if any woman or maid commit fornication amongst you, burn her with fire and let them not commit fornication with her after their eyes and their heart; and let them not take to themselves wives from the daughters of Canaan; for the seed of Canaan will be rooted out of the land.
5 And he told them of the judgment of the giants, and the judgment of the Sodomites, how they had been judged on account of their wickedness, and had died on account of their fornication, and uncleanness, and mutual corruption through fornication.
6 ‘And guard yourselves from all fornication and uncleanness,
And from all pollution of sin,
Lest you make our name a curse,
And your whole life a hissing,
And all your sons to be destroyed by the sword,
And you become accursed like Sodom,
And all your remnant as the sons of Gomorrah.
7 I implore you, my sons, love the God of heaven
And cleave you to all His commandments.
And walk not after their idols, and after their uncleannesses,
8 And make not for yourselves molten or graven gods;
For they are vanity,
And there is no spirit in them;
For they are work of (men’s) hands,
And all who trust in them, trust in nothing.
9 Serve them not, nor worship them,
But serve you the most high God, and worship Him continually:
And hope for His countenance always,
And work uprightness and righteousness before Him,
That He may have pleasure in you and grant you His mercy,
And send rain upon you morning and evening,
And bless all your works which you have done upon the earth,
And bless your bread and your water,
And bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land,
And the herds of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep.
10 And you will be for a blessing on the earth,
And all nations of the earth will desire you,
And bless your sons in my name,
That they may be blessed as I am.
11 And he gave to Ishmael and to his sons, and to the sons of Keturah, gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, and he gave everything to Isaac his son.
12 And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in all the land which is towards the East facing the desert.
13 And these mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelites.
Joel
A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob 