Texts in Conversation
Rabbinic tradition in Pesikta Rabbati explains that Adam’s death fulfilled Genesis 2:17 because a “day” equals 1,000 years, an interpretation similar to Jubilees which similarly resolves the “day” by saying Adam’s 930 years are less than 1,000 years.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 4:30
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in its sixth year [930], Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth. 30 And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore it was written concerning the tree of knowledge: 'On the day that you eat of it you shall die.' For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
Pesikta Rabbati 40
Midrash
Rabbinic
He [God] did not specify to Adam if it would be a day of his [own days] or a day of God's, which lasts one thousand years, since 'a thousand years in your [God's] sight are like yesterday' [Ps. 90:4].
Date: 600–900 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... This verse addresses an exegetical problem in Genesis 2:17. According to that verse, God commanded the man not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and threatened him “for on the day you eat from it you shall surely die.” Soon after, the snake promised the man and the woman that they would not die if they ate from the fruits of the Garden, and accused God of deception ... Jubilees 4:30 solves this problem by a reinterpretation of the word “day” in Genesis 2:17, “for on the day you eat from it you shall surely die,” not as 24 hours, but rather as a 1000-year period. The first man, who died at the age of 930 (Genesis 5:5), therefore did indeed die on the same “day” on which he ate, during the same 1000-year period. The identification of “one day” with “1000 years” is based upon Ps 90:4, which equates the two “in the eyes of God” ..."
Segal, Michael
The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology
(pp. 310-311) Brill, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
User Comments
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,
What is the biblical mean of testimony of the heavens? Jubilee 4:30
What is the biblical mean of testimony of the heavens? Jubilee 4:30