HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: Bible

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Prof. Michael Segal

Coordinator Email: Michael.Segal@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Monday 16:00 - 17:00

Teaching Staff:
Prof Michael Segal

Course/Module description:
Reading selected passages from the Book of Jubilees using the literary-critical method. Discussions will also include larger issues such as Rewritten Bible, Early Jewish Biblical exegesis, the unity of the Book of Jubilees, the world view expressed in the book, and the relationship to other compositions from the Second Temple period.

Course/Module aims:
(1) to provide the basic tools for the study of the Book of Jubilees, in its literary and historical context.
(2) to read the Book of Jubilees in comparison with Genesis-Exodus, and with other rewritten Bible texts.
(3) to locate the book of Jubilees within the world of early biblical exegesis.
(4) to examine the question of the unity of the composition.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Analyze the text of Jubilees according to the philological-textual method.
Discuss comprehensively the text of Jubilees and the exegetical issues that arise when reading it.
Interpret verses and passages in Jubilees with the assistance of previous exegetes .
Assess the advantages and disadvantages of specific interpretations/interpreters.
Formulate clearly these conclusions in oral and written form.

Attendance requirements(%):
85

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Seminar course. Students who choose to write a seminar paper will present a summary of their work in front of the other participants in the class.

Course/Module Content:
Selected chapters from the Book of Jubilees.

Required Reading:
I. Editions and Translations
משה גולדמאן, "ספר היובלים", בתוך הספרים החיצונים (ערך א' כהנא; שני כרכים; תל-אביב: מסדה, תשט"ז) א: רטז–שיג
אליהו ש. הרטום, "ספר היובלות", בתוך הספרים החיצונים (7 כרכים; מהדורה שנייה; תל אביב: יבנה, תשכ"ט) 5ב: 7–147
Klaus Berger, Das Buch der Jubiläen (JSHRZ 2/3; Gütersloh: G. Mohn, 1981)
R.H. Charles, The Book of Jubilees or the Little Genesis (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1902)
Chaim Rabin, “Jubilees,” in The Apocryphal Old Testament (ed. H.F.D. Sparks; revision of R.H. Charles, The Book of Jubilees; Oxford: Clarendon, 1984) 1–139
James C. VanderKam, The Book of Jubilees (2 vols.; CSCO 510–511; Scriptores Aethiopici 87–88; Leuven: Peeters, 1989)
James C. VanderKam and Jozef T. Milik, “Jubilees,” in Qumran Cave 4.VIIII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 1 (ed. H.W. Attridge et al.; DJD XIII; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) 1–185
O.S. Wintermute, “Jubilees: A New Translation and Introduction,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J.H. Charlesworth; 2 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1985) 35–142

Additional Reading Material:
יוסף באומגרטן, "הלוח של ספר היובלים והמקרא", תרביץ לב (תשכ"ב) 317–328
דבורה דימנט, "בני שמים – תורת המלאכים בספר היובלים לאור כתבי עדת קומראן", בתוך מנחה לשרה: מחקרים בפילוסופיה יהודית ובקבלה מוגשים לפרופסור שרה א' הלר וילנסקי (בעריכת מ' אידל, ד' דימנט וש' רוזנברג; ירושלים: מאגנס, תשנ"ד) 97–118
כנה ורמן, היחס לגויים בספר היובלים ובספרות קומראן בהשוואה להלכה התנאית הקדומה ולספרות חיצונית בת התקופה (עבודת דוקטור; ירושלים: האוניברסיטה העברית, תשנ"ה)
כנה ורמן, "עיצוב מאורעות דור המבול בספר היובלים", תרביץ סד (תשנ"ה) 183–202
כנה ורמן, "'התורה והתעודה' הכתובה על הלוחות", תרביץ סח (תשנ"ט) 473–492
כנה ורמן, "ספר היובלים בהקשר הלניסטי", ציון סו (תשס"א) 275–296
כנה ורמן, "ספר היובלים ועדת קומראן: לשאלת היחס בין השניים", מגילות ב (תשס"ד) 37–55
מיכאל סיגל, "סיפורת וחוק בספר היובלים: עיון מחודש בסיפור הכניסה לגן עדן", מגילות א (תשס"ג) 111–125
מיכאל סיגל, ספר היובלים: שכתוב המקרא, עריכה, אמונות ודעות (ירושלים: מאגנס, תשס"ח)
מיכאל סיגל, "ההתהוות הספרותית של סיפור שכם ודינה ביובלים ל", מגילות ח–ט (תש"ע) 227–241
מנחם קיסטר, "לתולדות כת האיסיים: עיונים בחזון החיות, ספר היובלים וברית דמשק", תרביץ נו (תשמ"ז) 1–18
מנחם קיסטר, "על שני מטבעות לשון בספר היובלים", תרביץ ע (תשס"א) 289–300
ליאורה רביד, "המינוח המיוחד של לוחות השמים בספר היובלים", תרביץ סח (תשנ"ט) 463–471
ליאורה רביד, "הלכות שבת בספר היובלים נ 6–13", תרביץ סט (תש"ס) 161–166
Chanoch Albeck, Das Buch der Jubiläen und die Halacha (Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums 27; Berlin: Siegfried Scholem, 1930) 3–60
Phillip Alexander, “Retelling the Old Testament,” in It is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture (ed. D.A. Carson and H.G.M. Williamson; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988) 99–121
Gary Anderson, “The Status of the Torah Before Sinai: The Retelling of the Bible in the Damascus Covenant and the Book of Jubilees,” DSD 1 (1994) 1–29
Joseph M. Baumgarten, “The Beginning of the Day in the Calendar of Jubilees,” JBL 77 (1958) 355–360; repr. in J. Baumgarten, Studies in Qumran Law (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977) 124–130
Joseph M. Baumgarten, “Some Problems of the Jubilees Calendar in Current Research,” VT 32 (1982) 485–489
George J. Brooke, “Exegetical Strategies in Jubilees 1–2: New Light from 4QJubileesa,” in Studies in the Book of Jubilees (ed. M. Albani, J. Frey, and A. Lange; TSAJ 65; Tübingen: J.C.B Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1997) 39–57
Gene L. Davenport, The Eschatology of the Book of Jubilees (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971)
August Dillman, “Das Buch der Jubiläen oder die kleine Genesis,” Jahrbuch der biblischen Wissenschaft 2 (1850) 230–256; 3 (1851) 1–96
Lutz Doering, “The Concept of the Sabbath in the Book of Jubilees” in Studies in the Book of Jubilees (ed. M. Albani, J. Frey and A. Lange; TSAJ 65; Tübingen: J.C.B Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1997) 179–205
Robert Doran, “The Non-Dating of Jubilees: Jub 34–38; 23: 14–32 in Narrative Context,” JSJ 20 (1989) 1–11
John Endres, Biblical Interpretation in the Book of Jubilees (CBQMS 18; Washington, D.C.: Catholic Bible Association of America, 1987)
Louis Finkelstein, “The Book of Jubilees and the Rabbinic Halakha,” HTR 16 (1923) 39–61
Louis Finkelstein, “The Date of the Book of Jubilees,” HTR 36 (1943) 19–24
Florentino García Martínez, “The Heavenly Tablets in the Book of Jubilees,” in Studies in the Book of Jubilees (ed. M. Albani, J. Frey and A. Lange; TSAJ 65; Tübingen: J.C.B Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1997) 243–260.
Jonathan A. Goldstein, “The Date of the Book of Jubilees,” PAAJR 50 (1983) 63–86
Betsy Halpern-Amaru, “The First Woman, Wives and Mothers in Jubilees,” JBL 113 (1994) 609–626
Betsy Halpern-Amaru, The Empowerment of Women in the Book of Jubilees (Leiden: Brill, 1999)
Todd Hanneken, The Subversion of the Apocalypses in the Book of Jubilees (EJL 34l; Atlanta: SBL, 2012)
Martha Himmelfarb, “Some Echoes of Jubilees in Medieval Hebrew Literature” in Tracing the Threads: Studies in the Vitality of Jewish Pseudepigrapha (ed. J.C. Reeves; SBLEJL 6; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994) 115–141
Annie Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper (trans. Staten Island, N.Y.: Alba House, 1965); trans. of Jaubert (1957)
Menahem Kister, “Some Aspects of Qumranic Halakhah,” in The Madrid Qumran Congress: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Madrid 18-21 March 1991 (ed. J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Montaner; STDJ 11; 2 vols.; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992) 571–588
James L. Kugel, “Levi’s Election to the Priesthood in Second Temple Writings,” HTR 86 (1993) 1–64
James L. Kugel, “The Jubilees Apocalypse,” DSD 1 (1994) 322–337
James L. Kugel, “Reuben’s Sin with Bilhah in the Testament of Reuben” in Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law, and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom (ed. D. P. Wright et al.; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1995) 525–554
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997)
James L. Kugel, Traditions of the Bible (Cambridge, Mass./London: Harvard University Press, 1998)
David Lambert, “Last Testaments in the Book of Jubilees,” DSD 11 (2004) 82–107
Jacob Milgrom, “The Concept of Impurity in Jubilees and the Temple Scroll,” RevQ 16, 2 (1993) 277–284
Hindy Najman, “Interpretation as Primordial Writing: Jubilees and its Authority Conferring Strategies,” JSJ 30 (1999) 379–410
Hindy Najman, Seconding Sinai: The Development of Mosaic Discourse in Second Temple Judaism (Leiden: Brill, 2003)
George W.E. Nickelsburg, “The Bible Rewritten and Expanded,” in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (ed. M. Stone; CRINT; Assen/Philadelphia: Van Gorcum/ Fortress, 1984) 89–156
Liora Ravid, “The Book of Jubilees and its Calendar: A Reexamination,” DSD 10 (2003) 371–394
Hermann Rönsch, Das Buch der Jubiläen oder die kleine Genesis (Leipzig: Fues’s Verlag, 1874)
David Rothstein, “Sexual Union and Sexual Offences in Jubilees,” JSJ 35 (2004) 363–384
Michael Segal, The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology (JSJSup 117; Leiden: Brill, 2007); reprinted softcover edition (Society of Biblical Literature, 2012)
Michael Segal, “The Literary Relationship between the Genesis Apocryphon and Jubilees: The Chronology of Abram and Sarai’s Descent to Egypt,” Aramaic Studies 8 (2010): 71–88
Michael Segal, “Rewriting the Story of Dinah and Shechem: The Literary Development of Jubilees 30,” in The Hebrew Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (eds. N. Dávid et al.; FRLANT 239; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2012), 337–356.
Michel Testuz, Les idées religieuses du livre des Jubilés (Genève/Paris: Droz/Minard, 1960)
Jacques T.A.G.M. van Ruiten, “The Rewriting of Exodus 24:12–18 in Jubilees 1:1–4,” BN 79 (1995) 25–29
Jacques T.A.G.M. van Ruiten, Primaeval History Interpreted: The Rewriting of Genesis 1-11 in the Book of Jubilees (JSJSup 66; Leiden: Brill, 2000)
Jacques T.A.G.M. van Ruiten, Abraham in the Book of Jubilees: The Rewriting of Genesis 11:26–25:10 in the Book of Jubilees 11:14–23:8 (JSJSup 161; Leiden: Brill, 2012)
James C. VanderKam, Textual and Historical Studies in the Book of Jubilees (HSM 14; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1977)
James C. VanderKam, “Enoch Traditions in Jubilees and Other Second-Century Sources,” SBLSP (1978) 229–251; repr. in From Revelation to Canon (2000) 305–331
James C. VanderKam, “The Origin, Character, and Early History of the 364–Day Calendar: A Reassessment of Jaubert’s Hypothesis,” CBQ 41 (1979) 390–411
James C. VanderKam, “The Putative Author of the Book of Jubilees,” JJS 26 (1981) 209–217
James C. VanderKam, Enoch and the Growth of an Apocalyptic Tradition (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1984)
James C. VanderKam, “Genesis 1 in Jubilees 2,” DSD 1 (1994) 300–321
James C. VanderKam, “Studies in the Chronology of the Book of Jubilees,” in From Revelation to Canon (2000) 522–544; trans. of “Das chronologische Konzept des Jubiläenbuches,” ZAW 107 (1995) 80–100
James C. VanderKam, “The Origins and Purposes of the Book of Jubilees,” in Studies in the Book of Jubilees (ed. M. Albani, J. Frey, and A. Lange; TSAJ 65; Tübingen: J.C.B Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1997) 3–24
James C. VanderKam, “The Angel Story in the Book of Jubilees,” in Pseudepigraphic Perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings of the International Symposium of the Orion Center, 12-14 January 1997 (ed. E.G. Chazon and M.E. Stone; STDJ 31; Leiden: Brill, 1999) 151–170
James C. VanderKam, “The Angel of the Presence in the Book of Jubilees,” DSD 7 (2000) 378–393
James C. VanderKam, “Studies on the Prologue and Jubilees 1,” in For a Later Generation: The Transformation of Tradition in Israel, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity (ed. R.A. Argall, B.A. Bow and R.A. Werline; Harrisburg: Trinity, 2000) 266–279
James C. VanderKam, The Book of Jubilees (Guides to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001)
Ben Zion Wacholder, “Jubilees as the Super Canon: Torah-Admonition versus Torah-Commandment,” in Legal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies (ed. M.J. Bernstein et al.; STDJ 23; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 195–211
Cana Werman, “Jubilees 30: Building a Paradigm for the Ban on Intermarriage,” HTR 90 (1997) 1–22
Ernest Wiesenberg, “The Jubilee of Jubilees,” RevQ 3 (1961) 3–40

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 20 %
Project work 80 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
N/A