Answer · confidence: partial

Did the Dead Sea group see Enoch and Jubilees as holy, like Bible books?

Research question: How did the Qumran community treat the Enochic books and other non-Masoretic texts such as Jubilees, and what do the scroll copies reveal about their status compared with later rabbinic canon?

The records show that the Qumran scrolls include Enochic material, such as The Book of Giants (4Q203), where the name Azazel appears ¹. The Pesher on the Periods (4Q180) also reads 'on Azazel (some read Uzael) and the angels' ³, and the Enochic books and Jubilees identify the Watchers with the 'sons of God' of Genesis 6, a reading the scrolls also reflect ². The Deuteronomy 32:8 copies 4QDtj and 4QDtq preserve 'sons of God' or 'sons of El' where the Masoretic Text reads 'sons of Israel' ⁵⁶. The facts do not establish how the community ranked these books, or Jubilees itself, against later rabbinic canon, so the question is only partly answered; the variant is described as differing from the later standard text ⁵.

Checked 2026-10-14. Only documented and supported facts are used.

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Sources

[1] supported

The name Azazel appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls in line 6 of 4Q203, The Book of Giants, which is part of the Enochic literature found at Qumran.

"In the Dead Sea Scrolls , the name Azazel occurs in the line 6 of 4Q203, The Book of Giants , which is a part of the Enochic literature found at Qumran ."

Azazel

[2] supported

The Enochic books and Jubilees identify the Watchers with the 'sons of God' of Genesis 6, a reading that Dead Sea Scrolls texts also reflect.

"The Book of Enoch , the Enochic Book of Giants , and the Book of Jubilees refer to the Watchers who are paralleled to the "sons of God" in Genesis 6."

Sons of God

[3] supported

The Pesher on the Periods A (4Q180), another Qumran scroll, reads 'on Azazel (some read Uzael) and the angels.'

"The Pesher on the Periods A ( 4Q180 ) reads, "on Azazel (some read Uzael ) and the angels"."

Azazel

[4] supported

Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Genesis Apocryphon, the Damascus Document and 4Q180, along with Jubilees and Enochic literature, are among the sources that read Genesis 6:2 'sons of God' as angels.

"references are found in the Enochic literature , the Dead Sea Scrolls (the Genesis Apocryphon , the Damascus Document , 4Q180), Jubilees"

Sons of God

[5] supported

At Deuteronomy 32:8, the Masoretic Text reads 'sons of Israel', but the Dead Sea Scroll 4Q37 reads 'sons of God', a variant that differs from the later standard text.

"For the verse in Deuteronomy the Masoretic Text does not say "sons of God" but "sons of Israel", however in 4Q37 the term "sons of God" is used."

Sons of God

[6] supported

Scroll copies of Deuteronomy 32:8 preserve 'sons of God' or 'sons of El' readings in two Dead Sea Scrolls, 4QDtj and 4QDtq.

"in two Dead Sea Scrolls (4QDtj and 4QDtq)"

Sons of God

[7] supported

The Aramaic text presents Enoch as the author of a book of explanation that he wrote and gave to Methuselah and his brothers.

"די כתב ויהב למתושלח בר׳ה ולכל אחו׳הי חנוך ספר פרשא"

4Q212 f1ii:18 to f1ii:23 [Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q212]

[8] supported

The scroll portrays Enoch as a wise, chosen figure who wrote instructions for his descendants and for later generations.

"וחכים אנושא ובחיר בני ארעא למדן עבדי׳הון כתב לבני"

4Q212 f1ii:18 to f1ii:23 [Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q212]

[9] documented

The fragment ends its narrative by stating that after Enoch gave his letter, he took up his parable (a literary or prophetic speech).

"וכדי יהב אגרת׳ה נסב חנוך מתל׳ה"

4Q212 f1ii:18 to f1ii:23 [Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q212]