Book of Jubilees facts for kids
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The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish religious book. It has 50 chapters and is sometimes called Lesser Genesis. Some groups, like the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), consider it a holy book. They call it the Book of Division.
However, most other Christian churches (like Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches) and most Jewish groups do not see it as part of their official Bible.
Many early Christians knew about this book. Writings from people like Justin Martyr and Origen show they used it. Also, parts of the book were found among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. This shows it was important to the community that collected those scrolls.
The Book of Jubilees says it tells the "history of the division of the days of the Law." It claims that angels revealed this history to Moses on Mount Sinai. This happened while Moses was there for forty days and nights. The book's timeline is based on groups of seven years. These groups are called "jubilees," and each jubilee lasts 49 years.
Contents
Old Copies of the Book
Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the oldest copies of Jubilees were in a language called Ge'ez. These copies were from the 15th and 16th centuries. We also had some parts of the book quoted by early Christian writers. There was even a small piece of a Latin translation.
Between 1947 and 1956, about 15 scrolls of Jubilees were found in caves near Qumran. All these scrolls were written in Hebrew. Finding so many copies means that Jubilees was a very popular book among the people living at Qumran. When scholars compared the Ge'ez copies with the Hebrew scrolls from Qumran, they found that the Ge'ez version was a very good translation.
Where Did the Book Come From?
Scholars have tried to figure out when and where the Book of Jubilees was written. One early idea was that a Pharisee (a Jewish religious leader) wrote it. This idea suggested it was based on older Jewish writings.
However, after the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, this idea changed. The scrolls showed that the book was likely written by a different group of people.
The oldest copies of Jubilees found so far are from around 100 BC. But there is evidence that the book was written even earlier than that.
The book mentions events that are also found in another ancient text called the "Animal Apocalypse" (part of the Book of Enoch). For example, both books mention Enoch's wife, Edna. Scholars now believe that the "Animal Apocalypse" was written first, and then Jubilees came after it. The "Animal Apocalypse" seems to predict the Maccabean Revolt, which happened between 167 and 160 BC.
Because of this, most experts believe that the Book of Jubilees was written around 160–150 BC.
How the Book Was Used Later
The Hasmonean dynasty, a Jewish ruling family, quickly adopted Jubilees. It became an important source for other religious writings. Even though some people disagreed with its calendar ideas, Jubilees remained important in priestly groups. Other texts, like the Temple Scroll, were based on Jubilees.
The Book of Jubilees was not officially included in the Jewish Bible by the Sanhedrin (a Jewish council). However, many of its ideas and stories appeared in later Jewish writings, especially in a 12th-century text called Midrash Tadshe. The only Jewish group that still considers Jubilees a holy book is the Beta Israel community from Ethiopia.
Early Christian writers seemed to value the Book of Jubilees. Many of them mentioned it in their own writings. For example, Jubilees is one of the earliest books to say that God gave the Law to Moses through an angel. This idea is also found in the New Testament.
Some scholars also believe that the Book of Jubilees might have influenced the early development of Islam.
What's Inside the Book?
Jubilees tells many of the same stories as the biblical book of Genesis. But it often adds more details. It speaks to Moses directly, telling him the history of creation and of Israel up to that point. This history is divided into periods of 49 years, or "Jubilees." The book calculates that 50 Jubilees (2,410 years) passed from creation until Moses received the scriptures on Mount Sinai. This is not counting the 40 years Israel spent wandering in the desert.
The book talks about four types of angels:
- Angels who are always with God.
- Angels who make things holy.
- Angels who guard people.
- Angels who control nature (like weather).
It says that Enoch was the first person taught by angels how to write. He wrote down secrets about stars, time, and world history.
The Book of Jubilees also tells the story of how angels were created on the first day. It describes how some fallen angels had children with human women. These children were a race of giants called the Nephilim. Their descendants were called the Elioud. The Ethiopian version of the book says these "angels" were actually the disobedient children of Seth. The "mortal females" were the daughters of Cain. These giants were all wiped out by the Great Flood.
Jubilees also says that God allowed ten percent of the spirits of these giants to try and lead people astray after the flood.
The book also mentions the wives of Cain and Seth. It says that Cain married his sister Awan, and their child was Enoch. It also states that Seth married his sister Azura.
According to Jubilees, Hebrew was the language of Heaven. It was first spoken by all creatures in the Garden of Eden. But animals lost their ability to speak when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden. After the Great Flood, the Earth was divided among Noah's three sons and his sixteen grandsons. After the Tower of Babel was destroyed, people forgot Hebrew. It was not until Abraham was taught it by angels that the language was remembered.
Jubilees also talks about a future "Messianic kingdom." This kingdom would be ruled by a Messiah from the family of Judah. This kingdom would slowly grow on Earth. Nature would change along with people. Eventually, all sin and sadness would disappear. People would live for 1,000 years in peace and happiness. After they died, they would have a blessed life in the spirit world.
The book also strongly suggests a special calendar. It says a year should have 364 days. This is made up of four parts, each with 13 weeks. It says that a year with 12 lunar months is wrong because it's off by about 10 days each year.
Jubilees also has an early mention of the Noahide laws. These are a set of rules that, in Jewish tradition, God gave to Noah for all humankind.
See also
- Generations of Adam
- Wives aboard Noah's Ark
