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INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEMS OF THE TEXT
The Life of Adam and Eve is
an apocryphal story about the experience of the first human couple after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Of the numerous
apocryphal works that were written regarding Adam and Eve in the ancient world, this text certainly has pride of place. Not
only was its influence in antiquity quite evident and widespread but the tale also enjoyed enormous popularity in the medieval
world as well.
Date
The text has proven very difficult to date
and one can be no more accurate than to say it must have been composed between the 3rd and 7th centuries. It is quite possible
of course that certain literary units of the work are considerably older than this as there can be no question that the present
form of the work is the result of a complex redactional process that wove together different source materials into a single
story.
Provenance
Equally problematic is the question of
the work's provenance. Most scholars have assumed a Jewish origin for the work, on the grounds that evidence of explicit Christian
features are so minimal in the tale and seem to be of a late redactional level rather than integral to the story itself. Yet
recent scholarship on the creation and transmission of such apocryphal tales from antiquity suggests that the possibility
of Christian origins be given due consideration. In any event the fact that the tale was copied, edited and expanded by Christian
scribes and enjoyed immense popularity in Christian circles needs to be taken seriously. There is evidence of Jewish familiarity
with parts of the work but no evidence of any role in the transmission of the text as it now presently stands.
Languages
The text survives in six languages: Greek,
Latin, Armenian, Georgian, Slavonic, and Coptic (only small fragments remain of this version). Most scholars agree that the
text was written originally in Greek and that all of the six versions stem from some form of Greek vorlage. But it
should be emphasized here that the Greek manuscripts that we now possess are not witnesses to this putative Greek original.
The present Greek material has undergone considerable redactional activity and should not be considered a better witness to
the original form of the text than any of the other forms. Yet it should also be underscored that the text-critical work has
hardly begun on this document and almost any conclusions about such matters must be considered provisional and exploratory.
For purposes of convenience we shall refer to all the forms of this work under a simple
title, "The Life of Adam and Eve," or Vita for short. But it should be borne in mind that each version has its own
unique title.
INDIVIDUAL VERSIONS
GREEK
- Native Title: The Apocalypse of Moses
- Original Publication: C. von Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae
Mosis, Esdrae, Pauli, Iohanni. . . Leipzig, Mendelssohn; reprinted, Hildersheim, Olms, 1966.
- Current Edition Used: The text prepared by Nagel used in A.-M.
Denis, Concordance grecque des pseudépigraphes d'Ancien Testament: concordance, corpus des textes, indices. Louvain-la-Neuve,
Université catholique de Louvain, 1987.
- Translation: prepared by Gary A. Anderson
- Extended Discussion in Stone, A History of the Literature
of Adam and Eve pp. 6-13.
The Greek text of the Vita was first
published by Tischendorf in 1866 on the basis of four manuscripts. Because one of the manuscripts had a prologue which identified
the work as a "revelation (apokalypsis) to Moses" von Tischendorf titled the work accordingly. Sadly, the misnomer
has been the long-standing title of the work even to the present day. Since the original publication of van Tischendorf numerous
additional manuscripts have come to light, bringing the total to 25. A full representation of all 25 manuscripts appears in
the variorum edition of Nagel, a doctoral dissertation presented to the University of Strasbourg in 1974. Nagel compiled a
new text of the Vita for a concordance of the Greek pseudepigrapha edited by Denis. The nature of this text is unclear
but it appears to be a presentation of the superior reading from Nagel's Family I with numerous additional readings which
demosntrate close affinity to the Armenian and Georgian versions.
LATIN
- Native Title: Vita Adae et Evae ("The Life of Adam
and Eve")
- Original Publication: W. Meyer, "Vita Adae et Evae." Abhandlungen
der königlichen Bayerischen Akademie des Wissenschaften, Philosoph.-philologische Klasse. Munich: 14.3, 1878, pp. 185-250.
- Current Edition Used: The text presented here is basically
that of Meyer's edition with special notation of the additions found in Family III. The text was prepared by W. Lechner-Schmidt
of Germany.
- Translation: prepared by Berlie Custis and Gary A. Anderson
- Extended Discussion in Stone, A History of the Literature
of Adam and Eve pp. 14-30.
The Latin text was first published by W.
Meyer in 1878. He relied mainly on a set of manuscripts found in Munich. Later, J. H. Mozley published another text based
on a set of manuscripts found in England. Most recently a full listing of all of the known Latin texts was published by M.
E. B. Halford. Most still cite Meyer's edition although numerous superior readings are to be found in Mozley.
At present 73 manuscripts of the Latin are known to exist. The Latin material has only
been surveyed in a summary fashion and much work remains to be done. The Latin manuscripts are especially significant for
medievalists because of the enormous significance the Vita had in spawning later vernacular versions of the life of
Adam and Eve. Among these one should include those versions for which we now have excellent editions in English: the Old Irish,
Saltair Na Rann, the Old French, Penitence of Adam, and Lutwin's Middle High German, Eva und Adam. The
problems involved in sorting out the textual sources of these works have been usefully surveyed in the publications of Murdoch,
Quinn, and Halford.
The Latin version of the tale is certainly the most complex of all. At present no critical
edition of the material exists. Meyer's edition is regularly cited as authoritative in spite of the fact that numerous superior
readings exist in Mozley's survey of the texts found in England. The Latin material has not been re-examined in light of the
recent publication of the Armenian and Georgian editions. The Latin material is also difficult because it was subject to such
extensive re-writing in the course of its transmission. Halford, indeed, has wondered whether the establishment of a single
critical text is possible, so varied is the text in its multiple forms. It seems to have been rewritten each time it was copied.
We may only be able to establish priority within particular narrative units. In addition, because the Latin version served
as a base text for dozens of other medieval vernacular editions, it may be that a standard critical edition of this text is
not to be preferred, for the establishment of a primitive text would be of little use for tracing the life of these traditions
in later medieval literature.
[Those in the other languages are similar
but for the Coptic, which survives only in fragments.—(JK)]
[In the translation published in The Other Bible, edited by Willis Barnstone, the work is titled
The Book of Jubilees. The second section with Moses is
included below, thought from another source—(JK).]
The Cave of Treasures
TRANSLATION
(Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 25875.)
Table of Contents for Cave.sgml
[ THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS: ADAM TO YARÊD (Jared).]
[The Creation. First Day.]
[The Creation. Second Day.]
[The Creation. Third Day.]
[The Creation. Fourth Day.]
[The Creation. Fifth Day.]
[The Creation. Sixth Day.]
[The Creation of Adam.]
[The Revolt of Satan, and the Battle in Heaven.]
[The Making of Eve.]
[THE SYMBOLISM OF EDEN.]
[Satan's Attack on Adam and Eve.]
[Adam's stay in Paradise.]
[Adam's expulsion from Paradise.]
[The Birth of Seth.]
[The Death of Adam.]
[The Burial of Adam.]
[The Rule of Seth.]
[The Rule of Anôsh.]
[The Rule of Kainân.]
[The Rule of Mahlâlâîl.]
[The Rule of Yârêd]
THE SECOND THOUSAND YEARS: YâRÊD TO THE FLOOD.
Of the Transmission of the Art of Playing the Harp, that is to say of Music
and Singing and Dancing.
[THE TITLE OF THE WORK: THE SCRIBES
PRAYER.]
[Fol. 3b, col. I.] By the might of our Lord Jesus Christ we begin to write the " Book
of the Succession of the Generations," that is to say, ME'ÂRATH GAZZÊ, which was composed by SAINT MÂR APHREM (i.e. Ephraim,
commonly known as "Ephraim Syrus," or "Ephraim the Syrian,'' who died A.D. 373). 0 our Lord, help Thou me in Thy Mercy. Amen.
[ THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS: ADAM TO YARÊD (Jared).]
[The Creation. First Day.]
In the beginning, on the First Day, which
was the holy First Day of the Week, the chief and [Firstborn of all the days, God created the heavens, and the earth, and
the waters, and the air, ( the fire, and the hosts which are invisible (that is to say, the Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Lords,
Principalities, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim), and all the ranks and companies of Spiritual beings, and the Light, and the
Night, and the Day-time, and the gentle winds and the strong winds (i.e. storms). All these were created on the First Day.
And on the First Day of the Week the Spirit of holiness, one of the Persons of the Trinity, hovered over the waters and through
the hovering thereof over the; [Fol. 3b, col. 2] face of the waters, the waters were blessed so that they might become producers
of offspring, and they became hot, and the whole nature of the waters glowed with heat, and the leaven of creation was united
to them. As the mother-bird maketh warm her young by the embrace of her closely covering wings, and the young birds acquire
form through the warmth of the heat which [they derive] from her, so through the operation of the Spirit of holiness, the
Spirit, the Paraclete, the leaven of the breath of life was united to the waters when He hovered over them.
Note 1
[The Creation. Second Day.]
And on the Second Day God made the Lower
Heaven, and called it REKI'A' [that is to say, " what is sold and fixed," or " firmament "]. This He did that He might make
known that the Lower Heaven doth not possess the nature of the heaven which is above it, and that it is different in appearance
from that heaven which is above it, for the heaven above it is of fire. And that second heaven is NÛHRÂ (i.e. Light), and
this lower heaven is Darpition [Fol. 4a, col. I]8 and because it hath the dense nature of water it hath been called
"Rekî'a." And on the Second Day God made a separation between the waters and the waters, that is to say, between the
waters which were above [Rekî'a] and the waters which were below. And the ascent of these waters which were above heaven
took place on the Second Day, and they were like unto a dense black cloud of thick darkness. Thus were they raised up there,
and they mounted up, and behold, they stand above the Rekî'a in the air; and they do not spread, and they make no motion
to any side.
Note 2
[The Creation. Third Day.]
And on the Third Day God commanded the
waters that were below the firmament (Rekî'a) to be gathered together in one place, and the dry land to appear. And
when the covering of water had been rolled up from the face of the earth, the earth showed itself to be in an unsettled and
unstable state, that is to say, it was of a damp (or moist) and yielding nature. And the waters were gathered together into
seas that were under the earth and within it [Fol. 4a, col. 2], and upon it. And God made in the earth from below, corridors,
and shafts, and channels for the passage of the waters; and the winds which come from within the earth ascend by means of
these corridors and channels, and also the heat and the cold for the service of the earth. Now, as for the earth, the lower
part of it is like unto a thick sponge, for it resteth on the waters. And on this Third Day God commanded the earth, and it
brought forth herbs and vegetables, and it conceived in its interior trees. and seeds, and plants and roots
Note 3
[The Creation. Fourth Day.]
And on the Fourth Day God made the sun,
and the moon, and the stars. And as soon as the heat of the sun was diffused over the surface of the earth, the earth became
hard and rigid, and lost its flaccidity, because the humidity and the dampness [caused by] the waters were taken away from
it. The Creator made the sphere of the sun of fire and filled it with light. And God gave unto the sphere of the moon and
the stars bodies of water and air, and filled them with light. And when the dust of the earth became hot, it brought forth
all the trees [Fol. 4b, col. I], and plants, and seeds, and roots which had been conceived inside it on the Third Day.
Note 4
[The Creation. Fifth Day.]
And on the Fifth Day God commanded the
waters, and they brought forth all kind of fish of divers appearances, and creatures which move about, and twist themselves
and wriggle in the waters, and serpents, and Leviathan, and beasts of terrible aspects, and feathered fowl of the air and
of the waters. And on this same day God made from the earth all the cattle and wild beasts, and all the reptiles which creep
about upon the earth.
Note 5
[The Creation. Sixth Day.]
And on the Sixth Day, which is the Eve
of the Sabbath, God formed man out of the dust, and Eve from his rib. And on the Seventh Day God rested from His labours,
and it is called " Sabbath."
[The Creation of Adam.]
Now the formation of Adam took place in
this wise: On the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, at the first hour of the day, When quietness was reigning over
[Fol. 4b, col. 2] all the Ranks [of the Angels], and the hosts [of heaven], God said, " Come ye, let Us make man in Our
image, and according to Our likeness." [ Gen1:26 ] Now by this word " Us" He maketh known concerning the Glorious Persons
[of the Trinity]. And when the angels heard this utterance, they {ell into a state of fear and trembling, and they said to
one another, " A mighty miracle will be made manifest to us this day [that is to say], the likeness of God, our Maker." And
they saw the right hand of God opened out flat, and stretched out over the whole world; and all creatures were collected in
the palm of His right hand. And they saw that He took from the whole mass of the earth one grain of dust, and from the whole
nature of water one drop of water, and from all the air which is above one puff of wind, and from the whole nature of fire
a little of its heat and warmth. And the angels saw that when these four feeble (or inert) materials were placed in the palm
of His right hand [Fol. 5a, Col I], that is to say, cold, and heat, and dryness, and moisture, God formed Adam. Now, for what
reason did God make Adam out of these four materials unless it were [to show] that everything which is in the world should
be in subordination to him through them? He took a grain from the earth in order that everything in nature which is formed
of earth should be subject unto him; and a drop of water in order Mysteries of Heavethat everything which is in the seas and
rivers should be his; and a puff of air so that all kinds [of creatures] which fly in the air might be given unto him; and
the heat of fire so that all the beings that are fiery in nature, and the celestial hosts, might be his helpers.
God formed Adam with His holy hands, in His own Image and Likeness and when the angels
saw Adam's glorious appearance they were greatly moved by the beauty thereof. For they saw [Fol. 5a, col. 2] the image of
his face burning with glorious splendour like the orb of the sun, and the light of his eyes was like the light of the sun,
and the image of his body was like unto the sparkling of crystal. And when he rose at full length and stood upright in the
centre of the earth, he planted his two feet on that spot whereon was set up the Cross of our Redeemer; for Adam was created
in Jerusalem. There he was arrayed in the apparel of sovereignty, and there was the crown of glory set upon his head, there
was he made king, and priest, and prophet, there did God make him to sit upon his honourable throne, and there did God give
him dominion over all creatures and things. And all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and the feathered fowl were gathered
together, and they passed before Adam and he assigned names to them; and they bowed their heads before him; and everything
in nature worshipped him [Fol. 5b, col. I], and submitted themselves unto him. And the angels and the hosts of heaven heard
the Voice of God saying unto him, "Adam, behold; I have made thee king, and priest, and prophet, and lord, and head, and governor
of everything which hath been made and created; and they shall be in subjection unto thee) and they shall be thine, and I
have given unto thee power over everything which I have created." And when the angels heard this speech they all bowed the
knee and worshipped Him.
Note 6
[The Revolt of Satan, and the Battle in Heaven.]
And when the prince of the lower order
of angels saw what great majesty had been given unto Adam, he was jealous of him from that day, and he did not wish to worship
him. And he said unto his hosts, "Ye shall not worship him, and ye shall not praise him with the angels. It is meet that ye
should worship me, because I am fire and spirit; and not that I should worship a thing of dust, which hath been fashioned
of fine dust." And the Rebel meditating these things [Fol. 5b, col. 2] would not render obedience to God, and of his own free
will he asserted his independence and separated himself from God. But he was - swept away out of heaven and fell, and the
fall of himself and of all his company from heaven took place on the "Sâtânâ" because he turned aside [from the right way],
and "Shêdâ" because he was cast out, and "Daiwâ" because he lost the apparel of his glory. And behold, from
that time until the present day, he and all his hosts have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible
faces. And when Sâtânâ was cast out from heaven, Adam was raised up so that he might ascend to Paradise in a chariot of fire
And the angels went before him, singing praises, and the Seraphim ascribed holiness unto him, and the Cherubim ascribed blessing;
and amid cries of joy and praises Adam went into [Fol. 6a, col. I] Paradise. And as soon as Adam entered Paradise he was commanded
not to eat of a [certain] tree; his entrance into heaven took place at the third hour of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. on Friday
morning).
Note 7
[The Making of Eve.]
And God cast a sleep upon Adam and he slept.
And God took a rib from the loins on the right side of Adam, and He made Khâwâ (i.e. Eve) from it: and when Adam woke
up, and saw Eve, he rejoiced in her greatly. And Adam and Eve were in Paradise, and clothed with glory and shining with praise
for three hours. Now this Paradise was situated on a high range of hills, and it was thirty spans--according to the measurement
of the spirit--higher than all the high mountains, and it surrounded the whole earth.
Note 8 Now Moses the prophet said that God planted Paradise in Eden and placed Adam there (Gen.
ii. 8).
Note 9
[THE SYMBOLISM OF EDEN.]
Now Eden is the Holy Church, and the Church
[Fol. 6a, col. 2] is the compassion of God which He was about to extend to the children of men. For God, according to His
foreknowledge, knew what Satan had devised against Adam, and therefore He set Adam beforehand in the bosom of His compassion,
even as the blessed David singeth concerning Him in the Psalm (90), saying "Lord, Thou hast been an abiding place for us
throughout all generations," [ Ps90 ] that is to say,
Thou hast made us to have our abiding place in Thy compassion." And, when entreating
God on behalf of the redemption of the children of men, David said, "Remember Thy Church, which Thou didst acquire in olden
time" [ Ps74:2 ] , that is to say, " [Remember] Thy compassion, which Thou art about to spread over our feeble race."
Eden is the Holy Church, and the Paradise which was in it is the land of rest and the inheritance of life, which God hath
prepared for all the holy children of men. And because [Fol. 6b, col. I] Adam was priest, and king, and prophet, God brought
him into Paradise that he might minister in Eden, the Holy Church, even as the blessed man Moses testifieth concerning him,
saying, " That he might serve God by means of priestly ministration with praise, and that he might keep that commandment which
had been entrusted to him by the compassion of God" [ Gen2:15 ] . And God made Adam and Eve to dwell in Paradise. True is
this word, and it proclaimeth the truth: That Tree of Life which was in the midst of Paradise prefigured the Redeeming Cross,
which is the veritable Tree of Life, and this it was that was fixed in the middle of the earth.
[Satan's Attack on Adam and Eve.]
And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were
happy and joyful in Paradise, that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath. and he went and
took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up, and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden]
whereon was Paradise [Fol. 6b, col. 2]. Now why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein? Because
he knew that his appearance was foul, and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before
him. Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird --now the bird that can learn the speech of men is called
"babbaghah" (i.e. parrot)--first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird. He then beginneth
to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man, it turneth round, and when it seeth its own
form [reflected] in the mirror; it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it
Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure, and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it, and it becometh eager
to learn, and to speak Greek. In this manner (i.e. with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke
to her) did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent, and he watched for the opportunity, and [when] he saw Eve by herself
[Fol. 7a, col. I], he called her by her name. And when she turned round towards him, she saw her own form [reflected] in him,
and she talked to him; and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding).
And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it, and she plucked the fruit of disobedience
from the tree of transgression of the command, and she ate. Then immediately she found herself stripped naked, and she saw
the hatefulness of her shame, and she ran away naked, and hid herself in another tree, and covered her nakedness with the
leaves thereof. And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her, and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten,
and he also did eat thereof. And when he had eaten he also became naked, and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the
leaves of the fig-trees; and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three [Fol. 7a, col. 2] hours. At mid-day
they received [their] sentence of doom. And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees, that is to
say, of the bark of the trees, because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks, and they were softer than the byssus
and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made. And God dressed them in this soft skin, which was thus spread over
a body of infirmities.
Note 10
[Adam's stay in Paradise.]
At the third hour of the day Adam and Eve
ascended into Paradise, and for three hours they enjoyed the good things thereof; for three hours they were in shame and disgrace,
and at the ninth hour their expulsion from Paradise took place. And as they were going forth sorrowfully, God spake unto Adam,
and heartened him, and said unto him, "Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for I will restore unto thee thine inheritance. Behold, see
how greatly I have loved thee, for though I have cursed the earth for thy sake, yet have I withdrawn thee from the operation
of the curse. As; for the serpent [Fol. 7b, col. I], I have fettered his legs in his belly, and I have given him the dust
of the earth for food; and Eve have I bound under the yoke of servitude. Inasmuch as thou hast transgressed my commandments
get thee forth, but be not sad. After the fulfilment of the times which I have allotted that you shall be in exile outside
[Paradise], in the land which is under the curse, behold, I will send my Son. And He shall go down [from heaven] for thy redemption,
and He shall sojourn in a Virgin, and shall put on a body [of flesh], and through Him redemption and a return shall be effected
for thee. But command thy sons, and order them to embalm thy body after thy death with myrrh, cassia, and stakte. And they
shall place thee in this cave, wherein I am making you to dwell this day, until the time when your expulsion shall take place
from the regions of Paradise to that earth which is outside it. And whosoever shall be left in those days shall take thy body
with him, and [Fol. 7b, col. 2] shall deposit it on the spot which I shall show him, in the centre of the earth; for in that
place shall redemption be effected for thee and for all thy children." And God revealed unto Adam everything which the Son
would suffer on behalf of him.
[Adam's expulsion from Paradise.]
And when Adam and Eve had gone forth from
Paradise, the door of Paradise was shut, and a cherub bearing a two-edged sword stood by it. [According to the Book of
the Bee , the cherub, or, as some think, a " terrible form endowed with a body," was armed with a spear and sword, each
being made of fire.]
And Adam and Eve went down in ....... Of spirit over the mountains of Paradise, and
they found a cave in the top of the mountain, and they entered and hid themselves therein.
Note 11 So Adam and Eve went down from that holy mountain [of Eden] to the slopes which were
below it, and there Adam knew Eve his wife. [A marginal note in the manuscript says that Adam knew Eve thirty years after
they went forth from Paradise.] And Eve conceived and brought forth Cain and LebhÛdha, his sister, with him; and Eve conceived
again and she brought forth Hâbhîl (Abel) and Kelîmath, his sister, with him. [The Book of the Bee makes Kelîmath the
twin sister of Cain, and Lebhudhâ the twin sister of Abel.] And when the children grew up, Adam said unto Eve, " Let Cain
take to wife Kelîmath, who was brought forth with Abel, and let Abel take to wife LebhÛdhâ, who was brought forth with Cain."
And Cain said unto Eve his mother, " I will take to wife my twin sister LebhÛdhâ, and let Abel take to wife his twin sister
Kelîmath "; now LebhÛdhâ was beautiful. When Adam heard these words, which were exceedingly displeasing unto him, he said,
" It will be a transgression of the commandment for thee to take [to wife] thy sister, who was born with thee. Nevertheless,
take ye to yourselves fruits of trees, and the young of sheep, and get ye up to the top [Fol. 8a, col. I] of this holy mountain.
Then go ye into , and offer ye up your offerings, and make your prayers, and then ye shall consort with your wives." And it
came to pass that when, Adam, the first priest, and Cain and Abel, his sons, were going up to the top of the mountain, Satan
entered into Cain [and persuaded him] to kill Abel, his brother, because of LebhÛdhâ; and because his offering was rejected
and was not accepted before God, whilst the offering of Abel was accepted, Cain's jealousy of his brother Abel was increased.
And when they came down to the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and he killed him with a blow from a stone of
flint. Then straightway Cain received the doom of death, instead of curses, and he became a fugitive and a wanderer all the
days of his life. And God drove him forth into exile in a certain part of the forest of Nôdh, and Cain took to wife his twin
sister and made the place of his abode there
Note 12
[The Birth of Seth.]
And Adam and Eve mourned for Abel [Fol.
8b, col. I] one hundred years (sic). And then Adam knew his wife again, and she brought forth Seth, the Beautiful, a man mighty
and perfect like unto Adam, and he became the father of the mighty men who lived before the Flood.
Note 13 [The Posterity of Seth.]
And to Seth was born Anôsh (Enos), and Anôsh begot Kainân (Cainan), and Kainân begot
Mahlâlâîl (Mahalaleel); these [are] the Patriarchs who were born in the days of Adam.
[The Death of Adam.]
And when Adam had lived nine hundred and
thirty years, that is to say, until the one hundred(l and thirty-fifth year of Mahlâlâîl, the day of his death drew nigh and
came. And Seth, his son, and Anôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl gathered themselves together and came to him. And they were
blessed by him, and he prayed over them. And he commanded his son Seth, and said unto him, " Observe, my son Seth, that which
I command thee this day, and do thou on the day of thy death give my command to Anôsh, and repeat it to him, and let him repeat
it to Kainan, and Kainân shall repeat it to Mahlâlâîl [Fol. 8b, col. 2], and let this [my] command be handed on to all your
generations. And when I die, embalm me with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte, and deposit my body in . And whosoever shall be
left of your generations in that day, when your going forth from this country, which is round about Paradise, shall take place,
shall carry my body with him, and shall take it and deposit it in the centre of the earth, for in that place shall redemption
be effected for me and for all my children. And be thou, O my son Seth, governor of the sons of thy people. And thou shalt
rule them purely and holy in all the fear of God. And keep ye your offspring separate from the offspring of Cain, the murderer."
And when the report " Adam is dying " was known generally, all his offspring gathered
together, and came to him, that is to say, Seth, his son, and ânôsh, and Kainân and
Mahlâlâîl, they and their wives [Fol. 9a, col. I], and their sons, and their daughters; and Adam blessed them. And the departure
of Adam from this world took place in the nine hundred and thirtieth year--according to the reckoning from the beginning--on
the fourteenth day of the moon, on the sixth day of the month of Nîsân (April), at the ninth hour, on the day of the Eve of
the Sabbath (i.e. Friday). At the same hour in which the Son of Man delivered up his soul to His Father on the Cross, did
our father Adam deliver up his soul to Him that fashioned him; and he departed from this world.
[The Burial of Adam.]
And when Adam was dead his son Seth embalmed
him, according as Adam had commanded him, with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte; now Adam's dead body was the first [body buried]
in the earth. And grief for him was exceedingly sore, and Seth [and his sons] mourned for his death one hundred and forty
days; and they took Adam's body up to the top of the mountain, and buried it in . And after the families and peoples of the
children of Seth had buried Adam, they separated themselves from the children of Cain, the murderer. And Seth took Anôsh [Fol.
9a, col. 2], his firstborn, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and their wives and children, and led them up into the glorious mountain
where Adam was buried; and Cain and all his descendants remained below on the plain where Cain slew Abel.
[The Rule of Seth.]
And Seth became the governor of the children
of his people, and he ruled them in purity and holiness. And because of their purity they received the name, which is the
best of all names, and were called " the sons of God," they and their wives and their sons. Thus they lived in that mountain
in all purity and holiness and in the fear of God. And they went up on the skirts of [the mountain] of Paradise, and they
became praisers and glorifiers of God in the place of that host of devils who fell from heaven. There they dwelt in peace
and happiness: there was nothing about which they needed to feel anxiety, they had nothing to weary or trouble them [Fol.
9b, col. I], and they had nothing to do except to praise and glorify God, with the angels. For they heard continually the
voices of the angels who were singing praises in Paradise, which was situated at no great height above them--in fact, only
about thirty spans--according to the measure of the spirit. They suffered
neither toil nor fatigue, they had neither seed [time] nor harvest, but they fed themselves
with the delectable fruits of glorious trees of all kinds, and they enjoyed the sweet scent and perfume of the breezes which
were wafted forth to them from Paradise. [Thus lived] those holy men, who were indeed holy, and their wives were pure, and
their sons were virtuous, and their daughters were chaste and undefiled. In them there was no rebellious thought, no envy,
no anger, no enmity. In their wives and daughters there was no impure longing, and neither lasciviousness [Fol. 9b, col. 2],
nor cursing, nor lying was heard among them. The only oath which they used in swearing was, " By the blood of Abel." And they,
and their wives, and their children used to rise up early in the morning, and go up to the top of that holy mountain, and
worship there before God. And they were blessed by the body of Adam their father, and they lifted up their eyes to Paradise,
and praised God; and thus they did all the days of their life.
Note 14 And when Seth had lived nine hundred and thirteen years he became sick unto death. And
ânôsh his son, and Kainan, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd (Jared), and Henôkh (Enoch), and their wives and their sons, gathered
together and came unto him, and they were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, and made them to take
an oath, and said unto them [Fol. 10a, col. 1], " I will make you to take an oath, and to swear by the holy blood of Abel,
that none of you will go down from this holy mountain to the children of Cain, the murderer. For ye know well the enmity which
hath existed between us and Cain from the day whereon he slew Abel." And Seth blessed ânôsh, his son, and gave him commands
concerning the body of Adam, and he made him ruler over the children of his people. And Seth ruled them in purity and in holiness,
and he ministered diligently before the body of Adam. And Seth died when he was nine hundred and twelve years old, on the
seven-and-twentieth day of the blessed month of Abh (August), on the second day of the week (Monday), at the third hour, in
the twentieth year of the life of Enoch. And ânôsh, Seth's first-born son, embalmed his body and buried him in , with his
father Adam; and they made a mourning for him forty [Fol. 10a, col. 2] days.
Note 15
[The Rule of Anôsh.]
And Anôsh rose up to minister before God
in . And he became the governor of the children of his people, and he kept all the commandments which his father Seth had
commanded him, and he urged them to be constant in prayer.
Note 16 And in the days of Anôsh, in his eight hundred and twentieth year, Lamech, the blind
man, killed Cain, the murderer, in the Forest of Nôdh. Now this killing took place in the following manner. As Lamech was
leaning on the youth, his son [Tubal-Cain], and the youth was setting straight his father's arm in the direction in which
he saw the quarry, he heard the sound of Cain moving about, backwards and forwards, in the forest. Now Cain was unable to
stand still in one place and to hold his peace. And Lamech, thinking that it was a wild beast that was making a movement in
the forest, raised his arm, and, having made ready, drew his bow and shot an arrow [Fol. 10b, col. I] towards that spot, and
the arrow smote Cain between his eyes, and he fell down and died. And Lamech, thinking that he had shot game, spake to the
youth, saying, " Make haste, and let us see what game we have shot." And when they went to the spot, and the boy on whom Lamech
leaned had looked, he said unto him, " O my lord, thou hast killed Cain." And Lamech moved his hands to smite them together,
and as he did so he smote the youth and killed him also.
Note 17 And when ânôsh had lived nine hundred and five years, and was sick unto death, all the
patriarchs gathered themselves together, and came unto him, viz. Kainân, his first-born son, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and
Enoch, and MatÛshlah (Methuselah), they, and their wives, and their sons. And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over
them and commanded them, and spake unto them, saying, " I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of
you shall go down from this mountain to the plain, nor into the encampment of [Fol. 10b, col. 2] the children of Cain, the
murderer; and ye shall not mingle yourselves among them. Take ye good heed unto this matter, for ye well know what enmity
hath existed between us and them from the day whereon Cain slew Abel." And he blessed Kainân, his son, and commanded him concerning
the body of Adam, that he should minister before it all the days of his life, and that he should rule over the children of
his people in purity and holiness. And Anôsh died at the age of nine hundred and five years, on the third day of the month
of the First Teshrin (October), on the day of the Sabbath, in the fifty-third year of the life of Methuselah. And Kainân,
his first-born, embalmed him and buried him in , with Adam and Seth, his father. And they made a mourning for him forty days.
Note 18
[The Rule of Kainân.]
And Kainân stood up before God to minister
in the Cave of Treasures. He was an honourable and pure man, and he governed the children of his people in the complete [Fol.
11a, col. I] fear of God, and he fulfilled all the commandments of ânôsh his father. And when Kainân had lived nine hundred
and twenty years [in The Book of Adam and the Book of the Bee 910 years], and was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs
gathered together and came unto him, viz. Mahlâlâîl his son, and Yârêd, and Enoch and Methuselah and Lamech, they and their
wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them and commanded them, saying, " I will make you swear
by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain into the camp of the children of Cain,
the murderer, for ye all know well what enmity hath existed between us and them since the day whereon he killed Abel." And
he blessed his son Mahlâlâîl, and admonished him concerning the body of Adam, and said unto him, " Behold, O my son Mahlâlâîl,
minister thou before God in purity and holiness [Fol. 11a, col. 2] in , and depart not thou from the presence of the body
of Adam all the days of thy life. And be thou the governor of the children of thy people, and rule thou them purely and holy."
Kainân died, being nine hundred and twenty years old, on the thirteenth day of the month of Hezêrân (June), on the fourth
day of the week (Wednesday), at mid-day, in the five and sixtieth year of [the life of] Lamech, the father of Noah. And Mahlâlâîl,
his son, embalmed him, and buried him in ; and they made mourning for him forty days.
Note 19
[The Rule of Mahlâlâîl.]
And Mahlâlâîl rose up and ministered before
God in the place of Kainân his father. He was constant in prayer by day and by night, and he urged earnestly the children
of his people to observe holiness and purity, and to pray without ceasing. And when Mahlâlâîl had lived eight hundred and
ninety-five years [Fol. 11b, col. I], and the day of his departure drew nigh, and he was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs
gathered together and came unto him, viz. Yârêd, his first-born, and Enoch and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah, they and
their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, saying, " I will make
you to swear by the holy blood of Abel, that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain. And ye shall not permit
any one of your descendants to go down to the plain, to the children of Cain, the murderer, for ye all well know what enmity
hath existed between us and them from the day whereon he slew Abel." And he blessed Yârêd his first-born, and he commanded
him concerning the body of Adam, and revealed unto him the place whereto he should make ready to go. And he also commanded
him, and made him to swear an oath, saying, " Thou shalt not depart from the body of our father Adam all the days of thy life,
and thou shalt be [Fol. 11b, col. 2] the governor of the children of thy people, and shalt rule them in chastity and holiness."
And Mahlâlâîl died, [being] eight hundred and ninety-five years old, on the second day of the month Nîsân (April), on the
first day of the week (Sunday), at the third hour of the day, in the four and thirtieth year of the life of Noah. And Yârêd,
his first-born, embalmed him, and buried him in ; and the people made a mourning for him forty days.
Note 20
[The Rule of Yârêd]
And Yârêd his son rose up and ministered
before God [in ]. He was a perfect man, and was complete in all the virtues, and he was constant in prayer by day and by night.
And because of the excellence of his life and conversation, his days were longer than those of all the children of his people.
And in the days of Yârêd, in the five hundredth year of his life, the children of Seth broke the oaths which their fathers
had made them to swear. And they began to go down from that holy mountain to the encampment of iniquity [Fol. 12a, col. I]
of the children of Cain, the murderer, and in this way the fall of the children of Seth took place.
Note 21 AND IN THE FORTIETH YEAR OF YÂRÊD THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS, FROM ADAM TO YâRêD, CAME
TO AN END.
And in these years the handicraftsmen of sin, and the disciples of Satan, appeared,
for he was their teacher, and he entered in and dwelt in them, and he poured into them the spirit of the operation of error,
through which the fall of the children of Seth was to take place.
THE SECOND THOUSAND YEARS: YâRÊD TO THE FLOOD.
Of the Transmission of the Art of Playing the Harp, that is to say
of Music and Singing and Dancing.
Yôbâl (Jubal) and Tôbalkin (Tubal-Cain),
the two brethren, the sons of Lamech, the blind man, who killed Cain, invented and made all kinds of instruments of music.
Jôbâl made reed instruments, and harps, and flutes, and whistles, and the devils went and dwelt inside them. When men blew
into the pipes, the devils sang inside them, and sent out sounds from inside them. Tôbalkîn made [Fol. 12a, col. 2] cymbals,
and sistra, and tambourines (or drums). And lasciviousness and fornication increased among the children of Cain, and they
had nothing to occupy them except fornication--now they had no obligation [to pay] tribute, and they had neither prince nor
governor--and eating, and drinking, and lasciviousness, and drunkenness, and dancing and singing to instruments of music,
and the wanton sportings of the devils, and the laughter which affordeth pleasure to the devils, and the sounds of the furious
lust of men neighing after women. And Satan, finding [his] opportunity in this work of error, rejoiced greatly, because thereby
he could compel the sons of Seth to come down from that holy mountain. There they had been made to occupy the place of that
army [of angels] that fell [with Satan], there they were beloved by God, there they were held in honour by the angels, and
were called "sons of God," even as the blessed David saith in the psalm, "I have said [Fol. I b, col. I], Ye are gods,
and all of you sons of the Most High." Ps. 82:6
Meanwhile fornication reigned among the daughters of Cain, and without shame [several]
women would run after one man. And one man would attack another, and they committed fornication in the presence of each other
shamelessly. * * * For all the devils were gathered together in that camp of Cain, and unclean spirits entered into the women,
and took possession of them. The old women were more lascivious than the maidens, fathers and sons defiled themselves with
their mothers and sisters, sons respected not even their own fathers. and fathers made no distinction between their sons [and
other men]. And Satan had been made ruler (or prince) of that camp [Fol. 12b, col. 2]. And when the men and women were stirred
up to lascivious frenzy by the devilish playing of the reeds which emitted musical sounds, and by the harps which the men
played through the operation of the power of the devils, and by the sounds of the tambourines and of the sistra which were
beaten and rattled through the agency of evil spirits, the sounds of their laughter were heard in the air above them, and
ascended to that holy mountain.
And when the children of Seth heard the noise, and uproar, and shouts of laughter in
the camp of the children of Cain, about one hundred of them who were mighty men of war gathered . together, and set their
faces to go down to the camp of the children of Cain. When Yârêd 3 heard their words and knew their intention, he became sorely
afflicted, and he sent and called them to him, and said unto them, "By the holy blood of Abel, I will have you swear that
not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain. Remember ye [Fol. 13a, col. I] the oaths which our fathers Seth, and
Anôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl made you to swear." And Enoch also said unto them, "Hearken, O ye children of Seth, no man
who shall transgress the commandment of Yârêd, and [break] the oaths of our fathers, and go down from this mountain, shall
never again ascend it." But the children of Seth would neither hearken to the commandment of Yârêd, nor to the words of Enoch,
and they dared to transgress the ocmmandment, and those hundred men, who were mighty men of war, went down [to the camp of
Cain]. And when they saw that the daughters of Cain were beautiful in form and that they were naked and unashamed, the children
of Seth became inflamed with the fire of lust. And when the daughters of Cain saw the goodliness of the children of Seth,
they gripped them like ravening beasts and defiled their bodies. And the children of Seth slew their souls by fornication
with the daughers of Cain. And when the children of Seth wished to go up [again] to that holy mountain [Gol. 13a, col. 2],
after they had come down and fallen, the stones of that holy mountain became fire in their sight, and having defiled their
souls with the fire of fornication, God did not permit them to ascend to that holy place. and moreover, very many others made
bold and went down after them, and they, too, fell.
BELOW IS THE SECOND PORTION OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES—BY A DIFFERENT PUBLISHER AND TRANSLATOR.
THE
BOOK OF JUBILEES
R.
Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Oxford,
1913.
The
Book of Jubilees, is an extensive retelling of Genesis and Exodus [Gensis above] which emphasis is on the Halakhah
(the teachings and ordinances of biblical law). Its contenst reveals an opposition
to both Hellenizing influences and an affinity with the Qumran community (thus its 2nd cent. B.C. date).
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