A triadic construct in Jubilees 30

Abstract

Publications on Old Testament ethics often use triadic constructs to explain the moral impact of Biblical passages. In Genesis 11:27–50:26, Ezra 9:6–15, Nehemiah 7:72b–10:40, Damascus Document (CD) V:1, 2–6 and Jubilees 8–9 and 23, constructs of three interrelated concepts are used, all related to the issue of marriage. This paper investigates the story of Dinah’s ravishment in the book of Jubilees 30:1–25 and compares it to the original rendition in Genesis 33:18–34:31. The conclusion is drawn that both renditions use a construct of three interrelated concepts. Genesis uses a triad of progeny, marriage and land. The book of Jubilees uses an interrelated construction of Law, identity and marriage. In Jubilees the focus is shifted from the shame of Dinah’s rape to the shame of intermarriage between different groups in Jubilees. Here a cultic-oriented person links the laws revealed to Moses with his particular view on intermarriage and purity/impurity. His purpose is to propagate a new purified identity for the Jews of his day.