Jewish Identity, Exclusion of Foreigners, and Group Survival

Abstract Jubilees’ treatment of circumcision provides a powerful illustration of how the author reimagined the foundational past to speak to the present. The Pentateuch had depicted circumcision as a sign of the Abrahamic covenant required of each of his (male) descendants, violation of which will lead to expulsion from the group (Gen 17:9–14). Unique among ancient Jewish literature, Jubilees characterizes circumcision as Mosaic law, transforming this individual requirement for inclusion in the group into a communal requirement for group survival (Jub 15:28–34). The Pentateuch had also presented circumcision as a means for foreigners to join the Israelite community, at least under certain conditions (Gen 34:13–17; Exod 4:24–26; Exod 12:44, 48). Jubilees implicitly negates any such possibility by eliding circumcision from its retelling of these stories (Jub 30; 48:2–4; 49) and by emphasizing that only circumcision on the eighth day is legitimate (Jub 15:25–26; 16:14).