The Angels of Creation - Jubilees

By Pinchas Shir

February 13, 2022

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This is a short excerpt from the book from the extra-biblical book called "Jubilees". The book is a fine example of Jewish spiritual literature from the 2nd or 1st century BCE. The composition retells the book of Genesis but in a very Midrashic way, adding a lot of legends and comments between the familiar biblical stories. This particular section speaks of different varieties of angels and their activities and sounds a lot like John's Revelation. This text was well-known to Jews of the 1st century CE when the NT was written.

2 1 And the angel of the presence spoke to Moses by the word of the LORD, saying, “Write the whole account of creation, that in six days the LORD God completed all his work and all that he created. And he observed a sabbath the seventh day, and he sanctified it for all ages. And he set it (as) a sign for all his works.” 2 For on the first day he created the heavens, which are above, and the earth, and the waters and all of the spirits which minister before him:

the angels of the presence,
and the angels of sanctification,
and the angels of the spirit of fire,
and the angels of the spirit of the winds,
and the angels of the spirit of the clouds and darkness and snow and hail and frost,
and the angels of resoundings and thunder and lightning,
and the angels of the spirits of cold and heat and winter and springtime and harvest and summer, and all of the spirits of his creatures which are in heaven and on earth.

And (he created) the abysses and darkness—both evening and night—and light—both dawn and daylight—which he prepared in the knowledge of his heart. 3 Then we saw his works and we blessed him and offered praise before him on account of all his works because he made seven great works on the first day. (Jubilees 2:1-4)