Jacob or Levi—Who Is the Officiating Priest in Jubilees 30–32? *

Abstract

The study proposes a new, redaction-critical explanation for the strikingly ambiguous portrayal of Jacob and Levi in Jubilees 30–32. It argues that the original version of the chapters only referred to Jacob, who was pictured as the officiating priest of his generation. In contrast, all references to Levi belong to later editorial stages of the text, which claimed the respective role for Levi. While Levi's rise to the ancestral priestly figure par excellence is still reflected in the literary growth of Jubilees 30–32, the ALD represents a later stage in the development of the Levi tradition, when the patriarch's prominent priestly role was already established.