Texts in Conversation
Leviticus commands Israel to love your neighbor as yourself. Jubilees narrows that into a call for family solidarity, where Abraham tells his children to love one another so they can stand together against an enemy in war.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 19:18
Hebrew Bible
17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed together, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of material.
Jubilees 20:2
Pseudepigrapha
1 During the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the seventh week [2052], Abraham summoned Ishmael and his twelve children, Isaac and his two children, and the six children of Keturah and their sons. 2 He ordered them to keep the way of the Lord so that they would do what is right and that they should love one another; that they should be like this in every war so that they could go against each one who was against them; and do what is just and right on the earth. 3 That they should circumcise their sons in the covenant which he had made with them; that they should not deviate to the right or left from all the ways which the Lord commanded us; that we should keep ourselves from all sexual impurity and uncleanness; and that we should dismiss all uncleanness and sexual impurity from among us.
Search:
Notes and References
... Jubilees 20:2de ('that they should be like this in every war so that they could go against each one [who was] against them') can be understood as an addition with regard to Leviticus 19:18b, and it probably contains an answer to the question concerning who is 'your neighbor' and the meaning of 'to love.' The reference to the commandment to love in a context of war is unexpected but not impossible. The commandment to love is interpreted as a commandment to prevent internal discord in order to be able to join together against an enemy (Jubilees 20:2e: 'against each one who was against them'). This implies that 'your neighbor' is understood as a compatriot. ...
van Ruiten, Jacques T.A.G.M.
Abraham in the Book of Jubilees: The Rewriting of Genesis 11:26-25:10 in the Book of Jubilees 11:14-23:8
(p. 266) Brill, 2012
* 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:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.