CHAPTER TEN

THE EXODUS ( JUBILEES 48–49)

Replacing God with Mastema

The enslavement in and Exodus from Egypt are described in detail over the rst fteen chapters of the book of Exodus. In contrast, Jubilees drastically abridges this story, which extends from the end of ch. 46 through ch. 49.1 This abbreviation is most pronounced in ch. 48, par- allel to Exod 3–14, which includes the story of the burning bush, the bridegroom of blood, Moses and Aaron appearing before Pharaoh, the plagues, and the Exodus itself. This drastic reduction makes it difcult to analyze the rewritten narrative’s interpretation of specic biblical verses or details. However, this abridged approach reveals how the rewriter understood the story as a whole, thus allowing for the identication of the general aims in this reworked version. When Moses returned to Egypt from Midian,2 he was confronted by Prince Mastema, who tried to prevent him from returning to Egypt in order to save Israel: “(2) You know . . . and what the prince of Mastema wanted to do to you while you were returning to Egypt—on the way at the lodging place.3 (3) Did he not wish with all his strength to kill you and to save the Egyptians from your power because he saw that

1 The rewritten story itself is in fact even shorter, from the end of ch. 46 through ch. 48, since ch. 49 contains the Passover laws (parallel to Exod 12–13). 2 The Ethiopic translation does not explicitly mention Midian, neither in Jub. 47:12 (parallel to Exod 2:15) nor in Jub. 48:1 (wanabarka h!yya, “you lived there”). Charles translated according to the Latin version (in terram mad[iam], “in the land of Mid[ian]”). VanderKam (1989b: 309) suggested that the lack of detail reected in the Geez translation is the result of the abridgment of the vast material from Exodus, and the Latin translation reects, in his opinion, an exegetical expansion intended to make this verse correspond to Exod 2:15. Another “missing” detail in the rewritten story is the commissioning of Moses to return to Egypt in order to save the Israelites; the reader is only made aware of it when Mastema tries to prevent him from arriving there, although it is hinted at already in v. 2: “You know what was said to you at Mt. Sinai” (in contrast to VanderKam’s translation, based upon the Latin text: “You know who spoke to you at Mt. Sinai”). 3 Most interpreters have had difculty with the Ethiopian word ba-alte. The Latin translation reads: in refectione, and this version corresponds with the Hebrew (lodging place, Exod 4:24). 204 chapter ten you were sent to carry out punishment and revenge on the Egyptians?” ( Jub. 48:2–3). This passage parallels the enigmatic episode in Exod 4:24 (MT): “And he was on the way to the lodging place, and YHWH encountered him and sought to kill him.” Interpreters have already noted the problems raised by this verse: (1) From an exegetical perspective, it is difcult to understand why God wanted to kill Moses,4 if he commanded him to return to Egypt in v. 19.5 Indeed, the passage in Exod 4:24–26 seems disconnected from its context: in the previous verses, God sends Moses back to Egypt armed with the signs and wonders to perform in front of Pharaoh, and this plot line continues in the subsequent verses (vv. 27ff.), which describe how Moses met Aaron and reported to him about his mission.6 Most scholars view vv. 24–26 as an independent story (absent of names except for Zipporah), which was inserted into Exod 4 due to v. 23b, which relates to Pharaoh’s son: “Behold, I will slay your rst-born son.”7 The addition of the passage into the narrative sequence in Exod 3–4 cre- ated the tension between Moses’ fulllment of the mission, and God’s desire to kill him. In addition to this exegetical issue, two theological questions can also be raised:

4 As interpreters have noted, the object of the innitive “to kill him” can be either Moses or one of his sons. For the opinion that Moses was the one whose life was in danger, see Exod. Rab. 5:8; the position of R. Joshua b. Qar4a in b. Ned. 31b; the position of R. Judah b. Bizna in b. Ned. 32a; Rashi and Ibn Ezra (in both the short and long commentaries) to Exod 4:24; Driver 1911: 32; Noth 1962: 49–50; Cassuto 1967: 58–60. For the opinion that the object of the verb is one of Moses’ sons, see the position of R. Simeon b. Gamliel in b. Ned. 32a and y. Ned. 3:11 (38b). Some exegetes focus on his rstborn, Gershom (Luzzato; Greenberg 1969: 111–114; Sarna 1991: 25), while others posit that the object refers to his second son, Eliezer (R. Samuel b. bofni [quoted in Ibn Ezra’s long commentary]; Saadia Gaon; Nachmanides). 5 For a response to this question, in the context of a different verse, see Gen. Rab. 76: “R. Huna in the name of R. A4a: “And he said, ‘I will be with you (Exod 3:12) and nothing bad will befall you’ ”; “And he was on the way to the lodging place” (Exod 4:24); from here that there is no promise to a righteous person in this world.” 6 Cassuto (1967: 59) identied linguistic links and connections in content between the bridegroom of blood story and the surrounding verses: “And he encountered him” (vv. 24, 27); “And he sought to kill him” (v. 24) and “that all those who sought to kill you (lit. who seek your soul) have died” (v. 19); “my son, my rstborn” (v. 22), “your son, your rstborn” (v. 23), and the circumcision of the son (v. 25). 7 If this verse is actually the motive for the insertion of this story, then the author/ editor who added it understood the object of “to kill him” as Moses’ rstborn son, and not Moses himself.