Editing Book of Jubilees (section)

== Reception ==
According to Kugel, an editor working during the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] period used Jubilees as one of two sources for the creation of the [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs#Aramaic Levi Document|Aramaic Levi Document]].{{sfnp|Kugel|2012|p=342}} Jubilees remained a point of reference for priestly circles (although they disputed its calendric proposal), and the [[Temple Scroll]] and "[[Book_of_Enoch#The_Epistle_of_Enoch|Epistle of Enoch]]" are based on Jubilees.{{sfnp|Boccacini|1998|pp=99–101, 104–113 respectively}} It is the source for certain of the [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]], for instance that of [[Reuben (son of Jacob)|Reuben]].{{sfnp|Kugel|2012|p=110}}

It was not canonized into the Jewish canon and there is no official record of it in [[Pharisees|Pharisaic]] or [[Rabbinic literature|Rabbinical]] sources. Some Jubilees traditions are echoed in the 12th-century ''[[Midrash Tadshe]]'', the sole exception within Judaism.<ref>Wolf Leslau, Falasha Anthology (Yale 1951), xxvii, xxxviii, xlii, 9</ref> The earliest clear evidence of it in Jewish tradition is in the [[Bereshit Rabba]] (5th century) and [[Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer|Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer]] (9th century).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Falconer |first=Joshua |date=2019 |title=Familiar spirits in the Qurʾān: retracing the origins of the jinn |url=https://www.academia.edu/42941535 |journal=Henoch |language=English |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=253 |issn=0393-6805}}</ref>

It appears that [[Church Fathers|early Christian writers]] held the Book of Jubilees in high regard, as many of them cited and alluded to Jubilees in their writings.{{sfnp|Charles|1902|pp=[https://archive.org/details/bookofjubileesor00char/page/n81 lxxvii–lxxxvi]}} In relationship to the New Testament, the Book of Jubilees contains one of the earliest references to the idea that [[Ten Commandments|God gave the Law to Moses]] through an angelic mediator. This idea is likewise reflected in the [[Epistle to the Galatians]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jubilees 1:28 / Galatians 3:19 |url=https://intertextual.bible/text/jubilees-1.28-galatians-3.19 |website=intertextual.bible}}</ref>

Ethiopic-speaking Christians translated Jubilees into [[Geʽez]] before the 6th century where it became part of the [[Ethiopic Bible]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Falconer |first=Joshua |date=2019 |title=Familiar spirits in the Qurʾān: retracing the origins of the jinn |url=https://www.academia.edu/42941535 |journal=Henoch |language=English |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=258 |issn=0393-6805}}</ref>

In the Christian tradition of the [[Syriac language]], Jubilees is first received in extant sources from the mid-6th to early-7th century [[Cave of Treasures]], and then in Letter 13 to John of Litarba, and Scholion 10, both authored by [[Jacob of Edessa]] (d. 708). Later still is the [[Catena Severi]] (compiled 861), the Syriac reception of an Arabic chronicle of Agapius of Mabbug, and the writings of [[Michael the Syrian]] (d. 1199), [[Barhebraeus]] (d. 1286), and the Anonymous Chronicle by 1234.<ref name=":0" />

Jan van Reeth argues that the Book of Jubilees had great influence on the [[History of Islam|formation of early Islam]].{{refn|1={{harvp|Jan M.F. van Reeth|1992}}. Cf. also:<br/>• {{cite book |author=Klaus Berger |title=Die Urchristen |year=2008 |page=340 |publisher=Wiss. Buchges |place=Darmstadt |oclc=1074177423}}<br/>• {{cite book |editor1=Andrew Rippin |editor2=Roberto Tottoli |title=Books and Written Culture of the Islamic World: Studies Presented to Claude Gilliot on the Occasion of his 75th Birthday |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |page=280 ff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGHiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA281 |isbn=978-90-04-28375-6}}}} Etsuko Katsumata, comparing the Book of Jubilees and the Quran, notices significant differences, especially regarding [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham's role in the Quranic narrative]]. He says that "The Quran has many passages in which Abraham expounds the errors in idolatry. In these passages, Abraham always addresses his words to local people, and he does not leave their land. This probably reflects Islam’s position that aims at converting idol worshippers to monotheistic religion and settling in their place of residence."{{sfnp|Katsumata|2012|pp=52–54}}

[[Donald Akenson]] describes the book as having "a calm and steady tone ... a quietly normal piece of religious writing, produced by a well-informed, concerned, but not agitated, follower of Yahweh who lives in the home land. Yet note what he is willing to do ... He does nothing less than correct the Books of Moses".<ref name="k518">{{cite book | last=Akenson | first=Donald| title=Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | series=Oxford University Press paperback | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-19-515238-8 | url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dA8cZ8YuZS0C | access-date=4 March 2025 | page=}}</ref>