Judgment and Revenge: The Exodus Account in Jubilees 48

This paper analyzes the Exodus account in Jub. 48 as a story of judgment and revenge. The Jubilean author reworks the two-fold promise given by God to Abraham in the Covenant between the Pieces in two units (vv. 2–8, 9–19) in order to demonstrate that the plagues constitute the “judgment” God pledges to bring upon the nation enslaving his descendants and that the Israelites would leave Egypt with great wealth. He further depicts Moses’ commissioning as serving to execute judgment upon the Egyptians, reinforcing the Leitmotif of “taking revenge.”