Book of Jubilees: What It Adds to Genesis, and Why It's Not in Your Bible

Genesis never names Cain's wife. The Book of Jubilees, a second-century BC retelling of Genesis found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, calls her Awan. We walk through what Jubilees adds, from seven years in Eden to Abram burning the idols and Jacob's arrow for Esau, and why only the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches and Beta Israel keep it as scripture. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:37 Not lost pages 1:26 The Little Genesis 3:00 Seven years in Eden 4:01 The nameless wives 5:52 Abram and the idols 7:33 An arrow for Esau 8:25 Why it's not in your Bible 9:51 What it really adds Key points: • c. 170-140 BC: Jubilees written in Hebrew (VanderKam's range) • 1947-1956: about 15 Hebrew copies found in five caves at Qumran • Before the 6th century AD: translated into Ge'ez; it joins the Ethiopian Bible • Jubilees 4:9-11: Cain marries Awan, Seth marries Azura • Jubilees 12:12-14: Abram burns the house of idols; Haran dies in the fire • Jubilees 38:2: Jacob kills Esau with an arrow, unlike Genesis 33 and 35 • 1859: Dillmann publishes the Ge'ez text; 1861: Ceriani publishes the Latin palimpsest from Milan • 1902: R.H. Charles publishes his English translation • Today: canonical in the 81-book Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo canon as Kufale Question for you: Which addition surprised you most: the names of the wives, the burning of the idols, or the arrow that ended Esau's life, and does it change how you read Genesis? Sources: R.H. Charles, The Book of Jubilees (public domain); KJV (BibleGateway); J. VanderKam, Anchor Bible Dictionary; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Jubilees Palimpsest Project (St. Mary's University); Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon list. Jubilees quotes are from R.H. Charles's public-domain translation; Genesis quotes are from the KJV. Jubilees is scripture for the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches and Beta Israel, and is treated as pseudepigrapha by Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches. This video describes the text and its history and respects all of these traditions. AI-generated artwork is illustrative only. Subscribe to Vesper Scripture for Bible stories and prayers: https://www.youtube.com/@VesperScript... #BookOfJubilees #Genesis #DeadSeaScrolls