The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

ENOCHIC W R I T I N G S A N D E S S E N E T E X T S F R O M Q U M R A N 6I
Isolated mentions of his name in sQ13 3 2 (Milik, DJD iii, p. 182) and
in 3QI4 7 I (Baillet, ibid., p. 103; my reading against fbni of the ed.).
3. Jub. 4:18 attributes to Enoch the written composition of a 'testimony'
on the weeks of years of the jubilees, on the number of the years, on the
order of the months, and on the sabbaths of years. As we have noted above
(p. 11), this information goes beyond the calendar of the Astronomical Book
of Enoch, which describes only one lunisolar year or at the very most
a triennial cycle. On the other hand, about twenty calendrical texts of 4Q
deal in detail with the cycles of three, six, seven, and forty-nine years. ^
The Ethiopic text of Jub. 4: 18 does not speak, in the plural, of 'weeks of the
jubilees (as Charles translates), but in the singular, 'the week (subd'ehomuY
of the jubilees.^ This expression refers, beyond doubt in my opinion, to the
most extensive cycle to be found in the calendars of 4Q, namely to the cycle
of the seven jubilees. This cycle is sufficiently represented by fragments
of the calendar in a copy of the Rule of the Community, 4QS^ (4Q26O), which
dates from the second half of the second century B.C. But before summarizing
this text let us first recall what is already known about the calendar revealed
to us by the Qumran manuscripts.
The year contains 'only 364 days' (Jub. 6: 38; En. 72: 32, etc.), a figure
divisible by seven; it has twelve months, each of thirty days, and four intercalary
days, one in each period of three months. The three-month period
or season contains exactly thirteen weeks (Jub. 6: 29), and the days of the
week are distributed symmetrically over each period. New Year's day and
the first day of each three-month period (i/I, i/IV, i/VII, i/X) always fall
on a Wednesday. The dates of the feasts are likewise fixed; a particular day
of any given month comes on the same day of the week every year. Here is
the Essene calendar schematically arranged:
Day of the week Months
I, IV, Vll, X II, V, Vlll, XI HI, VI, IX, XII
4th (Wed.) I 8 15 2Z 29 6 13 20 27 4 II i8 25
5th(Thur.) 2 9 16 23 30 7 14 21 28 5 12 19 26
6th (Fri.) 3 10 17 24 1 8 15 22 29 6 13 20 27
7th (Sabbath) 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 7 I4 ^8
ist(Sun.) 5 12 19 26 3 10 17 24 1 8 15 22 29
2nd (Mon.) 6 13 20 27 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30
3rd(Tue.) 7 14 21 28 5 12 19 26 3 10 17 24 31
^ To be given the numbers 4Q26OB, 293, w^sdt, occur in a quotation of Jub. 4: 18; see
319-37. Add to these a tiny fragment of CSCO 221/Aeth. 41, pp. 66, 24, and Version,
6Q17 (DJD iii, pp. 132-3 and pi. XXVII). 222/42, p. 59, 7-8.
* The same terms, subd^ehomu baiyubele-