Is the Book of Jubilees Torah?

Where did Luke get this? It's not in the Pentateuch.:

(CLV) Ac 7:30
"And, at the completion of forty years, a messenger was seen by him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in the flame of a thorn bush fire.


It can be explained with Jubilees.

JUBILEES 48
Mosheh returns from Midian to Egypt
1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee you did depart and dwell (in [2372 A.M.] the land of Midian, five weeks and one year. And you did return into Egypt in the second week in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee.
2 And you yourself know what He spoke to you on [2410 A.M.] Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with you when you were returning into Egypt.

Don't confuse this passage with Moses wandering the desert for 40 years. He killed an Egyptian and fled to Midian for 40 years, before he came to the burning bush, before returning to Egypt.


Where did he get this?:

(CLV) Ac 7:53
who got the law for a mandate of messengers and do not maintain it!"

Again, not in the Pentateuch. Here it is:

Jubilees 1

27 And He said to the malak of the presence: Write for Mosheh from the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.

13 And I will hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles.

14 And they will forget all My Torah and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new months, and Shabbats, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances.

ViaCrucis said:

Not Torah. And not Scripture.
But early Christians were familiar with Jubilees and many other 2nd Temple period texts.

-CryptoLutheran

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Why would you say that it's not Torah?

Where did Paul get this:

(CLV) 2Co 5:17
So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!

Jubilees 5:12

12 And he made for all his works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature forever, but should be all righteous each in his kind always.

Where did Paul get this expression?:

(CLV) Ga 2:15
We, who by nature are Jews, and not sinners of the nations,

Jubilees 23:23

23 And He will wake up against them the sinners of the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who shall respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men. And they shall use violence against Yisrael and transgression against Yacob, And much blood shall be shed upon the earth, And there shall be none to gather and none to bury.

Perfect match.

ViaCrucis said:

Because the Torah refers to the instructions given to the Jewish people as contained in the Pentateuch. Jubilees isn't one of the books of the Pentateuch.

It's that simple really.

-CryptoLutheran

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It's not that simple. The Pentateuch is a man made word. It appears that Jubilees was given to Moses. If it was; it's Torah.

ViaCrucis said:

There's no reason to believe Paul is alluding to that passage from Jubilees. And even if he was, it's not relevant.

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Why would it not be relevant? Surely you believe that this matter is deeper than Greek poetry. Surely you wouldn't dismiss this as Paul's unfounded opinion.

2 Thessalonians 2:3


3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

John 17:12

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Jubilees 10:3

3 And he prayed before YAHWEH his Sovereign Ruler, and said:
'YAHWEH of the spirits of all flesh, who have shown mercy unto me
And have saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood,
And have not caused me to perish as You did the sons of perdition;
For Your free unmerited pardon has been great towards me,
And great has been Your mercy to my soul;
Let Your free unmerited pardon be lift up upon my sons,
And let not wicked spirits rule over them
Lest they should destroy them from the earth.

This expression appears nowhere in the TaNaK.

CLV) Ja 2:23
And fulfilled was the scripture which is saying, Now "Abraham believes God, and it is reckoned to him for righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God."

8 This is the tenth trial wherewith Abraham was tried, and he was found faithful, patient in spirit.

9 And he said not a single word regarding the rumor in the land how that YAHWEH had said that He would give it to him and to his seed after him, and he begged a place there to bury his dead; for he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of YAHWEH.

Where did James get this? It's not in the TaNaK.

Here is a list of how many copies of each book were found at Qumran:

Book Number found
Psalms 39
Deuteronomy 33
1 Enoch 25
Genesis 24
Isaiah 22
Jubilees 21
Exodus 18
Leviticus 17
Numbers 11
Minor Prophets 10[note 1]
Daniel 8
Jeremiah 6
Ezekiel 6
Job 6
Tobit 5[note 2]
1 & 2 Kings 4
1 & 2 Samuel 4
Judges 4[515]
Song of Songs (Canticles) 4
Ruth 4
Lamentations 4
Sirach 3
Ecclesiastes 2
Joshua 2

Apparently Jubilees was a well read manuscript in the time of Yahshua.

Dkh587 said:

I don’t think so.

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Why not?

Dkh587 said:

isaiah 41:8
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

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...and here we have a literal translation:

(CLV) Isa 41:8
Now you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, The seed of Abraham, who loved Me,

Not quite the same. Looks like the translators pulled some monkey business.

.Mikha'el. said:

I see no reason to assume that Luke would only have had access to the Torah or Hebrew Scriptures.

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Agreed; however, the extreme majority of the scrolls found at Qumran were written in Hebrew; and Jubilees was one of the most widely copied texts found there. I have no reason to believe that Luke didn't read this book in his own language.