The Garden of Eden and Jubilees 3:1-31

Abstract

SummaryThis article studies the rewriting of the second creation narrative in the Bible (the story of Eden) in Jubilees 3:1-31. It shows that the author of Jubilees 3 is not only putting his own views into the biblical text. He is in the first place a careful reader of Genesis2–3 and other biblical texts. The biblical text posed some difficulties to him (contradictions, unacceptable meanings, a lack of sufficient details, philological difficulties) and he tries to solve many of these with his rewriting. Characteristic of this rewriting is especially harmonisation. Sometimes he supplies details for expiaining the text. The point of departure is most often the biblical text itself, although, at the same time, he seemed to be influenced by current interpretations of certain aspects of the text (Eden as a sanctuary; Adam as a priest).