Jubilees 11-12 Against the Background of the Polemics Against the Idols in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Literature

This contribution shows that intolerance for foreign influence can lead to polemics against one’s own people. In the book of Jubilees, separation from other nations is explicitly required and is accomplished by refusing to conclude agreements with other nations, abstaining from common meals with foreigners, and refraining from intermarriage with them. This separation is religiously motivated and consists in the idea that there is one unique and eternal covenant between God and his chosen people, and it is this that establishes Israel as different from all other peoples. This corresponds to the polemical attitude against idolatry (Jubilees 11–12), which is related to the broader discourse of polemics against idols in the Hebrew Bible and early Jewish literature. In these texts, other gods and their worshippers are criticised in a particular way—by denigrating the gods as mere artefacts. The impotence of the statue-gods brings shame on the people who attribute power to them and is an expression of their lack of knowledge. What is interesting is that the idol worshippers do not always come from among other peoples, but can also be found within the Israelite group. One may suspect that the insertion of this theme into the book of Jubilees is motivated by historical events, although no specific historical clues can be found. The author integrates the broader discourse into his own narrative, where the polemical objects are members of Abraham’s family. What remains clear, however, is that the influence of idols is closely related to the influence of evil spirits and demons, and their origin is explicitly identified with Ur of the Chaldeans