Enoch, Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality

John C. Endres, S.J.
— Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley
"Loader's monograph provides a significant and positive contribution to contemporary study of the Book of Jubilees. His focus on the role of sexuality in the thought-world of Jubilees synthesizes many important studies of Jubilees. He models the value of sustained attention to the vocabulary of sexuality — in Ethiopic, Latin, and Hebrew — and translation patterns, but also charts the sustained and often surprising aspects of sexuality in a number of key narratives. Consistent with patterns of literature of this genre, sexuality is seen as incompatible with sacred time and space, but Loader finds surprisingly positive views of sexuality and its unitive power, particularly in his subtle reading of the story of Eden. This work on Jubilees models the fruitful use of various methods to push forward the limits of our knowledge of this topic."