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The Book of Jubilees (Book of Division) app for iPhone and iPad


4.8 ( 4528 ratings )
Education Book
Developer: Oleg Shukalovich
Free
Current version: 1.0, last update: 6 years ago
First release : 27 Jun 2016
App size: 7.83 Mb

The Book of Jubilees, probably written in the 2nd century B.C.E., is an account of the Biblical history of the world from creation to Moses. It is divided into periods (Jubilees) of 49 years. For the most part the narrative follows the familiar account in Genesis, but with some additional details such as the names of Adam and Eves daughters, and an active role for a demonic entity called Mastema. The anonymous author had a preoccupation with calendar reform, and uses Jubilees as a platform for proposing a solar calendar of 364 days and 12 months; this would have been a radical departure from the Jewish Calendar, which is lunar-based. There are also a couple of messianic, apocalyptic passages, although quite a bit less than the Book of Enoch.
The only complete version of the Book of Jubilees is in Ethiopian, although large fragments in Greek, Latin and Syriac are also known. It is believed that it was originally written in Hebrew. If at times one gets the impression that you are reading a first draft of Genesis, you are in good company. R.H. Charles, the translator, a distinguished academic Biblical scholar, concluded that Jubilees was a version of the Pentateuch, written in Hebrew, parts of which later became incorporated into the earliest Greek version of the Jewish Bible, the Septuagint.