Entity
Mastema
A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.
Leader of harmful spirits in Jubilees; requests some spirits and proposes Abraham’s test, subject to divine limits.
Text
JubileesBook of JubileesJewish retelling of Genesis and Exodus framed as angelic teaching to Moses, adding chronology, narratives and interpretation.Glossary · Click to read the explanation 10:7–11 orders the spirits’ confinement; Mastema requests that some remain. A tenth stays by permission, and 10:11 uses Satan in the same context. This is overlap within a particular witness, not equivalence of all Jewish evil figures. [1]
In chapters 17–18 Mastema proposes Abraham’s test and divine intervention stops the sacrifice. He is not an equal creator alongside God. The text’s second-century BCE dating need not date every tradition’s first existence. The illustration is a modern comparison of roles. [2]
References and notes
- Jubilees 10:1–17. R. H. Charles’s 1902 English translation, Internet Sacred Text Archive. 10:7–11: Mastema requests spirits; a tenth remains by permission. 10:11 uses Satan in this context: distinguishing traditions does not deny every local identification. Charles’s footnotes are his interpretation, not original wording. Return to the text ↑
- Kristen H. Lindbeck. “The Satan Provokes God into Testing Job and Abraham.” TheTorah.com. Displayed Jubilees 17:15–16, 18:9–12: Abraham’s test, intervention, Mastema’s shame; early second-century BCE dating in author’s account. Not all Jubilees or the entire article read. Return to the text ↑
Research history
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Cite this record
IL Archive, «Mastema», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/mastema