The Book of Jubilees in the Mashafa Milad and the Mashafa Berhan

A study of the reception history of the book of Jubilees holds great interest because the book is itself a kind of reception history of older material.1 While the work is presented as the transcript of a revelation of forty days and nights received by Moses on Mount Sinai, it is apparent that Jubilees presupposes the material that can be found in Genesis 1 to Exodus 19. Most of this materialfollows the same sequential order, and nearly all pericopes can be discerned in the new composition. It is true, of course, that there are many differences between the older scriptural text and the version incorporated into the new composition, but the use and interpretation of the scriptural material showthat the author of Jubilees acknowledges the existence and authority of the Torah. At the same time, the book incorporates sources and traditions beyond Genesis and Exodus, including the addition of material originating from the Enochic traditions. Thus, in the book of Jubilees, one can speak of a fusion and reconciliation of different Jewish streams in the second century BCE