Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 30:7 and 4Q213a 3–4 3–8

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings

Summary

In 4Q213a from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a woman’s forbidden union brings shame on her family. Jubilees uses similar language to forbid marriage with foreigners throughout Israel, extending priestly concerns to the whole people.

Passages

Jubilees 30:7

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

7 And if there is any man who wishes in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the descendants of the nations he shall surely die, and they shall stone him with stones; for he has done a shameful thing in Israel; and they shall burn the woman with fire, because she has dishonored the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of Israel. 8 And let no adulteress and no impurity be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations of the earth; for Israel is holy to the Lord, and every man who has defiled (it) shall surely die: they shall stone him with stones. 9 For thus it has been ordained and written in the heavenly tablets regarding all the descendants of Israel: he who defiles (it) shall surely die, and he shall be stoned with stones. 10 And to this commandment there is no limit of days, and no pardon, nor any atonement: but the man who has defiled his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he has given of his descendants to Moloch, and acted irreverently so as to defile it. 11 And you, Moses, command the children of Israel and urge them not to give their daughters to the nations, and not to take for their sons any of the daughters of the nations, for this is abominable before the Lord.

170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

4Q213a 3–4 3–8

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Aramaic Levi b

12 [to take] from the females [who are foreign, and a profaner.] And now, the plagues of the men will come up 13 [upon those who] incur guilt [by taking her for themselves as] a wife. And she profanes her name and the name of her father. 14 [They judged] her to be burned [for the wrong of her] deed, in [profaning] the fathers. And every 15 [virgin] who ruins her name and the name of her fathers, and brings shame on all her brothers, 16 [the sons of] her father, the name of her disgrace will not be wiped out from all her people forever. 17 [She is cursed] for all the generations of eternity. And whoever [makes guilty] the holy ones of the people, who 18 [put the sons of Israel to shame,] and [let him not be] a holy tithe, an offering to God from

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q213a

References

“... It is interesting, however, that Jubilees, which appears dependent on the Aramaic Levi Document or its source, does append to its account of Dinah an excursus which deals generally with intermarriage with foreigners and uses similar language to what we find in these fragments of the Aramaic Levi Document. Thus Jub. 30:7 condemns the father or brother, who gives away daughter or sister in marriage to a foreigner, to stoning, and also condemns the daughter, herself, — to be burned. The same applies in reverse in 30:11 to sons marrying foreign women. [...] The Dinah episode lent itself to use for reflection on marriage with Gentiles. What links Aramaic Levi Document and Jubilees is more than that. It includes particular applications of priestly law from Leviticus and a sanitised account of Levi’s exploits which makes him a hero and model for his successors on the pattern of Phinehas. There are also aspects in common which are beyond our theme, in particular, the instructions about preparing sacrifices and Isaac’s blessing. In Aramaic Levi Document roles attributed to Judah have been assimilated to the priesthood of Levi, whereas in Jubilees they remain distinct though nevertheless subordinate. Yet the disparity in the evaluation of Dinah and the different foci, primarily on priests in Aramaic Levi Document and on people in Jubilees, implies either a critical reworking by Jubilees of Aramaic Levi Document or use of a common source.** ...”

William Loader, Enoch, Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality: Attitudes towards Sexuality in the Early Enoch Literature, the Aramaic Levi Document, and the Book of Jubilees (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 93, 175.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Fragment 3

4Q213a6 chapters

Compare Jubilees 30:7 and 4Q213a 3–4 3–8

Summary

Passages

Jubilees 30:7

4Q213a 3–4 3–8

References

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