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Jubilees / Chapter 1

Jubilees 1

29 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

God speaks to Moses on Mount Sinai in the first year after the Exodus, commanding him to receive the full account of history from creation onward. God foretells Israel's future unfaithfulness, exile, and eventual repentance. The Angel of the Presence is commissioned to dictate the entire record from the heavenly tablets.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This chapter frames the entire book as a direct divine dictation — not merely inspired writing but a transcript of heavenly tablets read aloud by the Angel of the Presence. The prophecy of Israel's apostasy and restoration (vv. 5-18) closely parallels Deuteronomy 30-31 but adds the motif of circumcision of heart as a prerequisite for return. The 364-day solar calendar, central to Qumran theology, is implicitly established as the divinely ordained reckoning.

Translation Friction

The concept of 'heavenly tablets' — a pre-written divine record of all history — raises questions about determinism and free will that the text does not resolve. The Angel of the Presence as mediator between God and Moses adds an intermediary layer not found in Exodus 24-34.

Connections

Exodus 24:12-18 (Moses on Sinai receiving tablets); Deuteronomy 30:1-10 (prophecy of exile and return); Deuteronomy 31:16-21 (prediction of apostasy); Jeremiah 31:31-34 (new covenant, circumcised hearts); 1 Enoch 81:1-3 (heavenly tablets); 4Q216 (Qumran fragment of Jubilees 1).

Jubilees 1:1

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. I

This is the account of how the days are divided according to the law and the testimony — the events of the years, their weeks of years, and their jubilees throughout all the years of the world,

REF This is the history of the division of the days of the law and of the testimony, of the events of the years, of their (year) weeks, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of the world,

Notes & Key Terms 3 terms

Key Terms

jubilees

weeks

testimony

Translator Notes

  1. The opening establishes Jubilees' chronological framework: history measured in jubilee periods (49 years), each divided into seven 'weeks' of seven years. This is not mere dating but a theological claim that time itself is structured by covenant.
Jubilees 1:2

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. I

as the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tablets of the law and the commandments, according to the voice of God who said to him, 'Come up to the top of the mountain.'

REF as the Lord spake to Moses on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tables of the law and of the commandment, according to the voice of God as he said unto him, 'Go up to the top of the Mount.'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The scene parallels Exodus 24:12. 'Tablets of the law' echoes the stone tablets of Exodus but here refers to the heavenly tablets — a broader record than the Decalogue alone.
Jubilees 1:3

Ge'ez

So Moses went up onto the mountain of God, and the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and a cloud covered it for six days.

REF And Moses went up into the mount of God, and the glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud overshadowed it six days.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The six days of cloud before God speaks on the seventh day mirrors creation's pattern — Sabbath theology permeates Jubilees from the very framing of the revelation.
Jubilees 1:4

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. II

He called to Moses on the seventh day from within the cloud, and the appearance of the LORD's glory was like a blazing fire on the mountaintop.

REF And He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God speaks on the seventh day — the Sabbath — reinforcing the text's insistence that Sabbath is the axis of sacred time. Compare Exodus 24:16.
Jubilees 1:5

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. II

Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history — the division of all the days of the law and the testimony.

REF And Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days of the law and of the testimony.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

heavenly tablets

Translator Notes

  1. 'Earlier and later history' encompasses everything from creation to the eschaton. The phrase signals that Jubilees claims to be a complete divine chronology, not merely a retelling of Genesis.
Jubilees 1:6

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. III

And he said, 'Set your heart on every word I speak to you on this mountain, and write them in a book, so that their descendants may see that I have not abandoned them despite all the evil they have done in breaking the covenant that I am establishing between me and you today on Mount Sinai, for their descendants.'

REF And He said: 'Incline thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on this mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant which I establish between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai.'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God commands Moses to write — the book of Jubilees itself is presented as this commanded text. The covenant is explicitly 'for their generations,' establishing its perpetual nature.
Jubilees 1:7

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. IV

And when all these things come upon them, they will recognize that I am more righteous than they are in all their judgments and all their deeds, and they will acknowledge that I have truly been with them.

REF And so it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognise that I am more righteous than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise that I have been truly with them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God's righteousness is vindicated not by punishment alone but by the recognition it produces. The passage anticipates exile as a pedagogical event.
Jubilees 1:8

Ge'ez; cf. 4Q216 col. IV

Write down for yourself all these words that I declare to you today, for I know their rebellion and their stubbornness before I even bring them into the land that I swore to their fathers — to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — saying, 'To your descendants I will give a land flowing with milk and honey.'

REF And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: 'Unto your seed will I give a land flowing with milk and honey.'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God's foreknowledge of Israel's rebellion does not cancel the promise. This tension between divine foresight and covenantal faithfulness drives the entire prophetic section of chapter 1.
Jubilees 1:9

Ge'ez

They will eat and be satisfied, and then they will turn to foreign gods — gods that cannot rescue them from any of their affliction. And this testimony will be heard as a witness against them.

REF And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange gods, to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: and this witness shall be heard for a witness against them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Echoes Deuteronomy 31:20. Prosperity leads to apostasy — a recurring biblical theme. The written record itself becomes a prosecutorial witness.
Jubilees 1:10

Ge'ez

For they will forget all my commandments — everything I command them — and they will follow the nations, adopting their impurity and their disgrace, and will serve their gods. And these will become a stumbling block to them, and an affliction, and a trap.

REF For they will forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The progression is total: forgetting leads to following, following leads to serving. 'Uncleanness' is a key Jubilees concern — ritual purity boundaries between Israel and the nations are a central theme.
Jubilees 1:11

Ge'ez

Many will perish and be taken captive, falling into the hands of the enemy, because they have abandoned my statutes and my commandments, the festivals of my covenant and my Sabbaths, and my holy place that I consecrated for myself among them — my tabernacle and my sanctuary, which I set apart for myself in the midst of the land so that my name would dwell there.

REF And many will perish and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have forsaken My ordinances and My commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My Sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set my name upon it, and that it should dwell there.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

festivals of my covenant

Translator Notes

  1. The list of what Israel abandons is telling: festivals and Sabbaths come before the sanctuary. For the author of Jubilees, calendar observance is as fundamental as Temple worship — perhaps more so, since the calendar persists even without the Temple.
Jubilees 1:12

Ge'ez

They will make for themselves high places and sacred poles and carved images, and each will worship his own idol so as to go astray. They will sacrifice their children to demons and to every work born of their corrupted hearts.

REF And they will make to themselves high places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will sacrifice their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Child sacrifice 'to demons' connects to Jubilees' demonology — the spirits of the dead Watchers' offspring (see ch. 10). Idolatry is not merely theological error but collaboration with demonic powers.
Jubilees 1:13

Ge'ez

I will send witnesses to them so that I may testify against them, but they will not listen. They will kill the witnesses and persecute those who seek the law, and they will abolish and change everything so as to do evil in my sight.

REF And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The persecution of the righteous who 'seek the law' resonates with the Qumran community's self-understanding as the faithful remnant opposed by corrupt authorities.
Jubilees 1:14

Ge'ez

I will hide my face from them and hand them over to the nations — to captivity, plunder, and destruction. I will remove them from the land and scatter them among the nations.

REF And I will hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Hide my face' (hester panim) is a profound theological concept: God does not merely punish but withdraws presence. Compare Deuteronomy 31:17-18.
Jubilees 1:15

Ge'ez

They will forget all my law and all my commandments and all my judgments, and they will go astray regarding new moons and Sabbaths and festivals and jubilees and ordinances.

REF And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new moons, and Sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Calendar error is listed as a primary form of apostasy. For the Jubilees author, using the wrong calendar is not a minor liturgical dispute but a fundamental covenant violation — tantamount to forgetting God's law entirely.
Jubilees 1:16

Ge'ez

But after this they will turn to me from among the nations with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength. I will gather them from among all the nations, and they will seek me so that I may be found by them — when they seek me with all their heart and all their soul.

REF And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will seek Me, so that I shall be found of them, when they seek Me with all their heart and with all their soul.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The turning point echoes Deuteronomy 4:29-30 and 30:1-3. The triple formula 'heart, soul, strength' from the Shema (Deut 6:5) signals total covenant renewal.
Jubilees 1:17

Ge'ez

I will reveal to them abundant peace and righteousness, and I will transplant them as a plant of uprightness with all my heart and all my soul. They will be a blessing and not a curse; they will be the head and not the tail.

REF And I will disclose to them abounding peace with righteousness, and I will remove them the plant of uprightness, with all My heart and with all My soul, and they shall be for a blessing and not for a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

plant of uprightness

Translator Notes

  1. 'Plant of uprightness' is a key image in Second Temple literature, also found in 1 Enoch 10:16 and the Qumran Hodayot. God applies the Shema to himself — loving his people with all his heart and soul — a stunning reciprocity.
Jubilees 1:18

Ge'ez

I will build my sanctuary among them and I will dwell with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people in truth and righteousness.

REF And I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people in truth and righteousness.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The covenant formula ('I will be their God, they will be my people') appears in Exodus 6:7, Jeremiah 31:33, and Ezekiel 37:27. The addition of 'in truth and righteousness' specifies the quality of the restored relationship.
Jubilees 1:19

Ge'ez

I will not abandon them or fail them, for I am the LORD their God.

REF And I will not forsake them nor fail them; for I am the Lord their God.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. A compact covenant assurance echoing Deuteronomy 31:6. God's identity ('I am the LORD their God') is itself the guarantee.
Jubilees 1:20

Ge'ez

Then Moses fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'O Lord my God, do not abandon your people and your inheritance so that they wander in the error of their hearts. Do not hand them over to their enemies, the nations, or they will rule over them and cause them to sin against you.

REF And Moses fell on his face and prayed and said, 'O Lord my God, do not forsake Thy people and Thy inheritance, so that they should wander in the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, lest they should rule over them and cause them to sin against Thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Moses intercedes — a role central to his identity in Jubilees. His prayer acknowledges the inevitability of sin while appealing to God's investment in Israel as 'your inheritance.'
Jubilees 1:21

Ge'ez

Let your mercy, O Lord, be lifted up over your people. Create in them an upright spirit, and do not let the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before you and to trap them away from every path of righteousness, so that they perish from before your face.

REF Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright spirit, and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Beliar

Translator Notes

  1. Beliar (Belial) as an accusing spirit connects to the broader Second Temple demonology. Moses asks not just for forgiveness but for spiritual transformation — 'create in them an upright spirit' echoes Psalm 51:10. The adversarial role of Beliar parallels Mastema later in Jubilees.
Jubilees 1:22

Ge'ez

They are your people and your inheritance, whom you rescued with your great power from the hand of the Egyptians. Create in them a clean heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be trapped in their sins from now until eternity.

REF But they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, which Thou hast delivered with Thy great power from the hands of the Egyptians: create in them a clean heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be ensnared in their sins from henceforth until eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Moses grounds his appeal in the Exodus — God's prior investment in Israel. 'Clean heart and holy spirit' combines Psalm 51:10-11 language with eschatological hope.
Jubilees 1:23

Ge'ez

And the LORD said to Moses, 'I know their defiance and their thoughts and their stubbornness. They will not obey until they confess their own sin and the sin of their fathers.

REF And the Lord said unto Moses: 'I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess their own sin and the sin of their fathers.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. God responds to Moses' intercession not with reassurance but with realism. Confession must encompass both personal and generational sin — a concept central to exilic theology (cf. Leviticus 26:40, Daniel 9:16).
Jubilees 1:24

Ge'ez

After this they will turn to me in all uprightness, with all their heart and with all their soul. I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their descendants. I will create in them a holy spirit and I will cleanse them so that they will not turn away from me from that day until eternity.

REF And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

circumcise the foreskin of their heart

Translator Notes

  1. Circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 30:6) is God's act, not Israel's. This is Jubilees' most explicitly 'new covenant' passage — divine surgery that makes faithfulness permanent. The holy spirit here is not the later Trinitarian concept but God's own sanctifying power placed within the people.
Jubilees 1:25

Ge'ez

Their souls will cling to me and to all my commandments, and they will fulfill my commandments. I will be their Father and they will be my children.

REF And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall be My children.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The father-children language intensifies the covenant formula of v. 18. Compare Jeremiah 31:9 and 2 Samuel 7:14. This familial covenant language is rare in Second Temple literature outside of Jubilees.
Jubilees 1:26

Ge'ez

They will all be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit will know — truly know — that these are my children and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them.

REF And they will all be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit will know, yea, they will know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Children of the living God' echoes Hosea 1:10. The cosmic audience — angels and spirits — must acknowledge Israel's status. God's love for Israel is stated as a fact that even the heavenly realm must recognize.
Jubilees 1:27

Ge'ez

Write down for yourself all these words that I declare to you on this mountain — the first things and the last things — everything that will come to pass in all the divisions of the days: in the law and in the testimony, in the weeks and the jubilees, until eternity, until I descend and dwell with them for all eternity.

REF And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees, unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with them throughout eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Until I descend and dwell with them' is an eschatological promise of permanent divine presence — God will not merely send messengers but come himself. This is one of the strongest theophanic promises in Second Temple literature.
Jubilees 1:28

Ge'ez

Then he said to the Angel of the Presence, 'Write for Moses from the beginning of creation until my sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.

REF And He said to the angel of the presence: 'Write for Moses from the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Angel of the Presence

Translator Notes

  1. The Angel of the Presence — the highest angelic being, who stands in God's immediate presence — is the actual narrator of Jubilees from this point forward. God delegates the writing but retains authorship. The endpoint ('until my sanctuary is built for all eternity') points to the eschatological Temple.
Jubilees 1:29

Ge'ez

The LORD will appear before the eyes of all, and all will know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob — King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem will be holy.'

REF And the Lord will appear to the eyes of all, and all shall know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem shall be holy.'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter closes with a grand eschatological vision: universal theophany, God reigning from Zion, and the final sanctification of Jerusalem. This frames everything that follows as moving toward this consummation. The Angel of the Presence then begins dictating the history from creation (chapter 2 onward).
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