Ha-Yahas la-goyim be-Sefer ha-yovlim uve-sifrut Kumran (1995 Werman), dissertation

Ha-Yahas la-goyim be-Sefer ha-yovlim uve-sifrut Kumran be-hashvaah la-halakhah ha-Tanait ha-kedumah ule-sifrut hitsonit bat ha-tekufah <Hebrew> / The Attitudes Towards Gentiles in the Book of Jubilees and Qumran Literature Compared with Early Tanaaic Halakha and Contemporary Pseudepigrapha (1995) is a dissertation by Cana Werman.

Abstract

In this important dissertation, which ought to be translated and published into English, Werman dedicated a detailed study to the attitude toward Gentiles in Jubilees. Unlike many other scholars, Werman does not see hints of actual historical events of the author's own time reflected in such accounts as the war against the Amorites (Jub ch. 34), the battle between Esau and Jacob (Jub chs. 37-38), Isaac's curse against the Philistines (Jub ch. 34), and so on. Rather than viewing these accounts as referring to specific political circumstances of the author's period (e.g., the war between Judah the Maccabee and the Idumeans), Werman argues that the author of Jubilees crafted the image of Esau and other Gentiles primarily for theological and halakhic reasons. Accordingly, Werman leaves the dating of Jubilees fairly open, suggesting that it could have been written as late as 100 BCE or before the decrees of Antiochus IV (pp. 35). She also rejects the view that Jubilees was written against Hellenizers (p. 42). Instead, she finds many instances where the halakhah of Jubilees differs from that of the rabbinic sages. Rather than being a polemic against Hellenizers, Jubilees reflects priestly halakhah which is directed against the halakhah of the sages. Werman also finds it inappropriate to qualify Jubilees as a "midrash" or commentary on the Torah, since it claims equal status with the written Torah. Werman goes on to provide a close study of the portrayal in Jubilees of various pre-Sinaitic figures such as Enoch, Noah, as well as key Gentile characters and nations such as Ishmael, Esau, Laban, and the Philistines. As far as legislation which the author of Jubilees found binding upon all Gentiles, Werman argues that Jubilees formulated an expansive list of Noahide commandments. With respect to the views of the author of Jubilees vis-à-vis Gentiles, Werman signals the various ways in which the author tried to formulate a complete separation between Jews and Gentiles, reflecting the author's hostility toward foreigners, whom he views as bound by the power of evil spirits and as an essentially different entity than Israel with whom Jews must avoid all contact. -- Isaac W. Oliver, University of Michigan

Editions and translations

Published in Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1995.