Reading an Outsider: Lot in Jubilees *

Abstract

This article examines the characterization of Lot in Jubilees and considers how it relates to the centrality of covenant in the book. The article suggests that the author of Jubilees systematically reworked the Genesis account so as to remove any possibility of interpreting Lot positively, and argues that a wholly negative portrayal of Lot was important to uphold the strict bifurcation between covenant and non-covenant peoples. A comparison with other Second Temple period works serves to demonstrate further the particular choices and emphases of the author of Jubilees.