Life of Adam and Eve

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Expulsion from Paradise ( Benvenuto di Giovanni , c. 1470, Museum of Fine Arts , Boston ). In the middle the Archangel Michael.
Expulsion from Paradise (page 46 of the Cædmon manuscript ; Bodleian Library , Oxford )

The life of Adam and Eve ( Vita Adae et Evae ) or Apocalypse of Moses ( Apocalypsis Mosis ) is a group of closely related writings, the subject of which is the life of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from Paradise . None of the scriptures are part of the biblical canon , but they have exerted great influence, especially through the description of the fall of Satan - right up to the Koran .

Overview

Adam digs with the chopping stick, while Eve breasts Cain and Abel. From Schedel's world chronicle , Nuremberg 1493.

The writings are traditionally handed down under the following titles:

  • Apocalypse of moses ( greek )
  • Life of Adam and Eve ( Latin version)
  • Life of Adam and Eve ( Slavic version)
  • Repentance of Adam ( Armenian )
  • Book Adam ( Georgian )
  • some fragments in Coptic language

The links in terms of content are close, but the scope and formulations show considerable deviations and differences. It is assumed that these writings all go back to a common source that has not survived and that was written in a Semitic language ( Hebrew or Aramaic ). A Jewish environment is assumed to be the origin. The surviving versions date from the 3rd to 5th centuries; the common source is believed to have been written in the 1st century.

Greek version (Apocalypse of Moses)

Lore

The Greek version was given the title Apocalypse of Moses or Revelation of Moses by Konstantin von Tischendorf , the first editor of the text. The name of Moses appears only briefly in the introductory chapter, where it is said that the story of the life of Adam and Eve was revealed to Moses on Sinai through the Archangel Michael when he received the law. It is believed that the Greek version is older than the Latin. The text is divided into 43 chapters.

Tischendorf used four manuscripts, namely A (Marc. Graec II 42, Biblioteca Marciana , Venice, 13th century, chapters 1–36), B and C (Vindobonensis Theol. Graec. 247, Vienna), and D (codex graecus C 237 Inf, Biblioteca Ambrosiana , Milan; probably the best text). Since then there have been other text finds, in particular E1 (Bibl. Nat. Fonds grec 1313, Paris) and E2, which correspond to the Armenian version.

content

Cain and Abel (Ch. 1–4)

  • After Adam and Eve leave Paradise, they move east and live there for 18 years and 2 months. (Chap. 1)
  • Eve gives birth to two sons, Diaphotos (Cain) and Amilabes (Abel). In Codex D the name of Cain is Adiaphotos ("the lightless"), which corresponds to the Anloys ("without light") of the Armenian version. The meaning of amilabes is unclear, different transliterations from Hebrew are suspected. (Chap. 1)
  • Eve dreams that Cain is drinking Abel's blood, which flows out of his mouth again. (Chap. 2)
  • Adam and Eve go to their sons and find Abel slain. God instructs Michael to tell Adam not to reveal the secret to Cain. He would father another son in place of Abels. He would tell him what to do. Adam stayed with Eve and Eve gave birth to Seth . (Chapter 3–4)

Adam's disease (chapters 5–14)

  • Adam fathered another 30 sons and 30 daughters. When he fell ill at the age of 930, he called his children together from all three parts of the world to see them again before his death. Seth asks him what he is suffering from, whether he misses the fruits of paradise, and he offers to ask God for them. (Chapters 5–6)
  • Adam repeats the story of the fall and that because of it he was struck by God with 72 sufferings. The angels of Paradise are referred to as the guardians of Eve, but they were not present at the hour of temptation because they had ascended to worship the Lord. (Chapters 7–8)
  • Eve offers Adam to take on half of his sufferings. Instead, Adam instructs them to go to Paradise with Seth and ask God for the oil of mercy so that Adam can anoint himself with it. (Chapter 9)
  • Seth and Eva wander to Paradise and Seth is attacked by a wild animal. Eve laments her fate and asks the animal how it can dare to open its jaws to attack the image of the deity. The animal replies that Eve also opened her mouth illegally, but leaves Seth when he tells him to. (Chapters 10–12)
  • In front of Paradise, Seth and Eve weep asking God for the oil for Adam. At God's command, Michael refuses the oil. The oil of mercy will only be granted at the end of the days, when the resurrection and the bliss of paradise will be granted to all generations since Adam. But Adam would die in three days and he would see the horror of death. Seth and Eve then return to Adam's hut. Adam commands Eve to tell the children about the Fall. (Chapters 13-14)

Eve's account of the fall of man (chap. 15–30)

Hendrick Goltzius , The Fall (1616) ( National Gallery of Art , Washington, DC )
  • Eve reports that they tended the animals in Paradise, Adam [in the north and east] the males, and Eve in the south and west the females. Then the devil said to the snake that he had heard that it was smarter than all other animals, why did it eat Adam's weeds instead of the fruits of Paradise? He had a plan that would drive Adam out of Paradise, just as it had happened to them. The snake replies that it fears God's wrath, but the devil calms it down that he will speak through its mouth and that she shouldn't worry. (Chapters 15–16)
  • Eve meets the serpent, which has taken the form of an angel, on the wall of paradise. The snake gets to know Eve who she is, what she eats, and Eve replies that she eats everything except from the one tree in the middle of paradise. The snake regrets Eve's irrationality and says that if people ate it, they would become like gods, and that God forbade it out of envy. Then Eva lets the snake into paradise. At first she does not want to give Eve of the fruit to eat, only when Eve swears to let Adam eat too. The snake, however, with greed and malice poisons the fruit it gives Eve. (Chapters 17-18)
  • When Eve has eaten, she realizes that she is bared from the righteousness that she previously clothed as glory. All the leaves from the trees in the garden in her part have fallen off, only the fig tree (the tree she ate from) retained its leaves, from which Eva is now making an apron. She calls Adam, for she has sworn to give him some of the fruit of the tree. She persuades him that he would be like God and know good and bad, and Adam also eats after all. Adam realizes what has happened and reproaches Eve. (Chapters 19-21)
  • At this hour they hear the trumpet of judgment being blown by Michael. They fear God's judgment and go into hiding. God comes down in a cherub, the trees are green again and the throne of God is set up by the tree of life. When Adam stands before God's judgment, he claims to have been seduced by the serpent. God curses him and Eve and promises them the well-known plagues. The snake is also cursed: it should lose all limbs (including its wings), eat dust and there should be enmity between it and humans. (Chapters 22-26)
  • Adam and Eve are now to be driven out of Paradise. Adam begs God to linger a little longer and let him eat a little of the fruit of the tree. God denies him this, otherwise he would become immortal, but promises him that if he guards against evil and sends himself to death, he will be raised at the time of the resurrection and then be immortal forever. (Chapters 27-29)
  • Adam asks the angels to let him take at least a few fragrances from Paradise for sacrifice and seeds for agriculture. God allows this and gives Adam the scents of saffron , spikenard , calamus and cinnamon as well as seeds. (Chapters 29–30)

Death and burial of Adam (chap. 31-41)

  • Eva laments her future loneliness. Adam comforts her and promises her that she will soon follow him. But one should leave one's body untouched. Eve goes out and throws herself on the ground and accuses herself of her numerous sins. But the angel of mankind comes to her and orders her to arise from repentance and earthly things, because Adam has died. She looks up to heaven, where she sees a chariot of light drawn by eagles and accompanied by angels coming down. The angels burn incense and worship God. (Chapters 31–33)
  • Eve and Seth see two “great and terrible mysteries” standing before God's face, where Adam's body lies on his face and all the angels ask God for forgiveness. Seth explains that the two dark figures are the sun and the moon, who hide their light from God. (Chapters 34–36)
  • God has mercy on his creature. A seraph comes and carries Adam to Lake Acheront, where he washes him three times and brings him back to God. After three hours, God picks up Adam's body and orders Michael to take it to the third heaven of paradise, where it is to remain until the day of judgment. (Chapters 34–37)
  • Then God himself comes to paradise. All trees are in bloom and all people except Seth fall asleep from the scent. God speaks to Adam and promises him that he will one day be reinstated in his rule. Then he has Michael get three linen and three silk scarves and orders the four archangels Michael , Gabriel , Uriel and Raphael to cover Adam with the towels and anoint him with oil. Then God also has Abel's body fetched, which is still unburied. Cain tried again and again to hide the testimony of his murder, but the earth refused to receive Abel's body until Adam was buried. Eventually Adam and Abel are buried in the same place where God took the clay to form Adam. God again promises Adam the resurrection. (Chapters 38–41)

Death and burial of Eve (chap. 42–43)

  • After six days, Eva also dies. She had asked to be buried at Adam's side. By then, Adam's tomb had been sealed by God. Three angels came and buried Eve at Adam and Abel's side. And Michael ordered Seth that all humans should be buried this way in the future. More than six days should not be mourned, but the seventh day should be celebrated.

expenditure

  • Daniel A. Bertrand: La vie grecque d'Adam et Eve: Introduction, texte, traduction et commentaire. Maisonneuve, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-7200-1059-6 . Greek text and French translation.
  • Jan Dochhorn: The Apocalypse of Moses. Text, translation, comment. Texts and studies on ancient Judaism 106. Mohr / Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-16-148255-7 .
  • Paul Rießler: Old Jewish writings outside the Bible. 6th edition FH Kerle, Freiburg & Heidelberg 1988, ISBN 3-600-30046-6 . Pp. 138-155
  • Johannes Tromp (Ed.): The Life of Adam and Eve in Greek. A Critical Edition. Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece 6. Brill, Leiden 2005, ISBN 90-04-14317-3
  • Konstantin von Tischendorf : Apocalypses Apocryphae. Leipzig 1866: Reprint: Olms, Hildesheim 1966. Digitized

Latin version (life of Adam and Eve)

Lore

Wilhelm Meyer, the first editor, divided the manuscripts available to him into the following four classes:

  • Class 1: earliest form; 3 manuscripts from the 9th, 10th and 12th centuries
  • Class 2: contains two interpolations ; 4 manuscripts from the 13th to 14th and 15th centuries
  • Class 3: with only one of the interpolations from class 2, but with material from the cross legend ; 4 manuscripts from the 15th century; Most medieval manuscripts belong to this class
  • Class 4: Parisian manuscript of the 9th century

The manuscripts used by Meyer all came from Munich, except for the Paris Codex. A later edition of Mozley was based on manuscripts from English libraries, most of which can be assigned to Meyer's Class 2, including Codex Arundel 326.10 from the 14th century.

content

Satan enviously watches Adam and Eve in Paradise (watercolor by William Blake , 1808; Museum of Fine Arts , Boston )

Repentance of Adam and Eve (chap. 1-16)

  • After Adam and Eve are driven from Paradise, they build a hut and spend seven days in mourning and lamentation. They get hungry but cannot find food like they had in Paradise, only food for animals. Eve offers Adam to kill her and thus gain God's forgiveness. Adam refuses, instead he wants to repent with Eve. (Chapters 1–4)
  • Adam instructs Eve to go to the Tigris and stand up to her neck on a stone for 37 days. He himself wants to fast and stand immersed in the Jordan for 40 days. The animals of the Jordan gather around it and the waters of the Jordan stop flowing. (Chapters 5–8)
  • After 18 days the devil comes to Eve in the form of an angel. He tells her that God accepted her repentance and commanded him to bring Eve out of the Tigris. Eva believes the devil and gets out of the water. When they come to Adam, he recognizes the devil. Eva breaks down crying. She and Adam accuse the devil: why does he persecute them? Could they be to blame for his case? The devil affirms this: When God created Adam, he commanded all angels to honor Adam as his image. Michael obeyed immediately. He, Satan, rejected this because Adam was younger and inferior to him. Rather, Adam should worship him. (Chapters 9-14)
  • The angels subordinate to Satan followed his example. Michael then threatened God's wrath. To Satan: If God is angry with me, then I will place my throne over the stars of heaven and be like him. Then Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven and banished to earth. In revenge, he then seduced Eva. (Chapters 15–16)

Birth of Cain and Abel (Ch. 17-29)

  • Adam prays to God to drive away the devil, who then disappears. Adam continues to stand in the Jordan until the 40 days are completed. Aware of her renewed transgression, Eve no longer wants to stay with Adam. She moves to the west to stay until her death. She is building an apartment there because she is three months pregnant. When the time of birth came, she was in pain and pleaded with God for mercy, but he did not hear her. She asks the Heavenly Lights to tell Adam when they come to the east. (Chapters 17–19)
  • Adam hears Eva's call and goes to her. He asks God for help in Eve's name and is heard: on Eve's right and left, 12 angels and two “forces” ( virtutes ) appear, including Michael, who stands on Eve's right and touches her from face to chest. Eve then gives birth to a son who is described as shining and can walk immediately. He brings Eva a stalk or a reed. (Chapters 20–21)
  • Adam, Eve and Cain then return to the east. At God's command, Michael brings seeds and teaches Adam agriculture. Eva becomes pregnant again and gives birth to Abel. She dreams of Cain swallowing Abel's blood and is worried. The parents decide to separate Cain and Abel. They therefore make Cain the farmer and Abel the shepherd. Nevertheless, Abel was slain when he was 122 years old and Adam 130 years old (chapters 22-23)
  • Adam begets a son again, Seth. After that he fathered another 30 sons and 30 daughters. When Seth was 800 years old, Adam told him about a vision in which he was caught up in a fiery chariot into heaven. There God announced to him that he must now die. After Adam returns, he reveals more secrets to Seth that he learned while eating from the tree of knowledge. (Chapters 24–29)

Adam's disease (chap. 30-44)

In terms of content, this section largely corresponds to the section in Chapters 5 to 14 of the Greek version (see above). The following deviations are noticeable:

  • Seth is wounded while fighting the animal. (Chapter 40)
  • Cape. 42 contains a Christian interpolation from chap. 19. The Pilate Acts : Michael tells Seth that after 5500 years through Christ the dead will rise. Christ was baptized in the Jordan and after baptism all who believed in him were anointed with the oil of mercy. Finally he would also lead Adam home to paradise.
  • In the Greek version (chapter 29), Adam was allowed to take four fragrances with him from paradise. Here it is Eva and Seth who bring the same four fragrances with them from their unsuccessful petition (chap. 43).

Death of Adam and Eve (chap. 45–51)

  • At the hour of his death, Adam asked his children to bury him in the east. The sun, moon and stars are darkened for seven days (cf. chapters 34–36 of the Greek version), while Eve, Seth and the other children of Adam mourn for him. Then Michael appears and orders Seth to stand up. Seth sees Adam's body being carried on hands by God. God then hands Adam into Michael's hands until Judgment Day, when Adam is to sit on the tempter's former throne. They cover Adam with linen and Abel with other linen and bury both in the paradise area. Only Eva and Seth are witnesses. They are ordered to bury all dead like this from now on. (Chapters 45–48)
  • Six days after Adam's death, Eve realizes that she will also die and gathers all the children again. It heralds two judgments of God against humanity: the first will take place with water, the second with fire. She commands the children to write Adam and their story on tablets made of stone and clay. In the water court, the clay tablets would die, but the stone tablets would be preserved. Conversely, the fire court would destroy the stone tablets, but the clay tablets would burn. Then she passed away and was buried. (Chapters 49-50)
  • After four days of mourning Michael appears and ends the mourning, since the mourning should not continue until the Sabbath . Seth makes the tablets. (Chapter 51)

expenditure

  • Martin Meiser, Otto Merk (translator): The life of Adam and Eve. In: Werner Georg Kümmel: Jüdische Schriften aus Hellenistic-Roman Zeit Vol. 2, Lfg. 5. Mohn, Gütersloh 1998, ISBN 3-579-03920-2 , pp. 739–870.
  • Paul Rießler: Old Jewish writings outside the Bible. 6th edition. FH Kerle, Freiburg & Heidelberg 1988, ISBN 3-600-30046-6 , pp. 668-681.
  • MD Johnson: Life of Adam and Eve, a new translation and introduction. In: James H. Charlesworth: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. Doubleday, New York 1985, ISBN 0385188137 , pp. 249-295.
  • JH Mozley: The Vita Adae. In: Journal of Theological Studies 30 (1929), pp. 121-149.
  • Wilhelm Meyer: Vita Adae et Evae. Treatises of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Philological Class 14.3, Munich 1878.

Armenian version (Penance of Adam)

Tradition and content

The version known as the Armenian Penance of Adam was first published by Stone in 1981. The text is based on three 17th century manuscripts. It was probably translated from Greek and contains elements from both the Greek version (e.g. Eve's account of the fall of man) and the Latin version (e.g. the repentance in Jordan and Tigris).

The Armenian Penance of Adam should not be confused with an Armenian Adam book, which largely corresponds to the Greek version and is cited as the Armenian Vita Adae et Evae . This text was published by the Mechitaristic Community of San Lazzaro near Venice and is based on three manuscripts from the library of Etchmiadzin . A translation by FC Conybeare appeared in 1895. Erwin Preuschen suspected in his work on the Armenian Adam book a Gnostic background to all of Adam’s literature. This thesis was not approved by experts.

expenditure

Slavic version

North door of an iconostasis : Fall and Expulsion from Paradise (16th century; Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod )

Tradition and content

The Slavic version was published by Jagic in 1893 on the basis of three manuscripts available to him (the oldest from the 14th century at the latest) together with a German and a Latin translation. This text represents a shorter and a longer version of a work, which is probably a Slavic translation of the same due to the extensive correspondence with the content of the Greek version.

However, there are some deviations:

  • In chap. 3 of the Latin version, Eve offers Adam to kill her. In the Slavonic version, chap. 29 Adam ponders about killing Eve, but shrinks from the act, since Eve shows herself to be repentant and is also an image of God.
  • Cape. 35–40 contains the account of repentance in the water, which, with some differences, corresponds to the content of chap. 1–12 corresponds to the Latin version. In the Slavic version, however, Eva does not allow herself to be seduced, but persists. In addition, she does not repent for 37, but for 44 days, i.e. 4 days longer than Adam.
  • The devil's account of his fall (chapters 12-18 of the Latin version) is missing; 33–34 the devil as lord of the earth. If Adam wants to cultivate the earth as a farmer, he should be of service to him, otherwise he should return to paradise.

A few misunderstandings reveal the greater distance to the Jewish environment of the origin of the Adam literature. Instead of the divine name “Jah-El”, an otherwise unknown archangel named “Joel” appears. The ending, at which the mourning ends because of the Sabbath (Chapter 51 in the Latin version), was apparently no longer understood.

expenditure

  • Vatroslav Jagić : Slavic Contributions to the Biblical Apocrypha. I: The Old Church Slavonic texts of the Adam book. In: Memoranda of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class. Vol. 42. Vienna 1893, pp. 1–104.

Georgian version

Lore

The Georgian version has survived in five manuscripts, four of which (three from the 17th and one from the 15th or 16th century) represent one version, another from the 17th century represents a different version. The Georgian text was published by K'urc'ikidze in 1964. A French translation of Mahé appeared in 1981. Mahé follows the first version with additions from the second version, where the first version has gaps. In terms of content, the Georgian version largely corresponds to Adam's Armenian penance .

expenditure

  • C'iala K'urc'ikidze: Adamis apokrip'uli C'xovrebis K'art'uli Versia. 2nd edition Tbilisi 2003, ISBN 9992805404 . Pp. 97-136. Georgian text.
  • J.-P. Mahé: Le livre d'Adam Georgia. In: R. van den Broek, MJ Vermaseren (Ed.): Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions. Brill, Leiden 1981, ISBN 90-04-06376-5 . Pp. 226-260. French translation. ( online )

literature

Editions (compilations)

  • Gary A. Anderson, Michael E. Stone: A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve. Society of Biblical Literature: Early Judaim and its Literature 5th Scholar Press, Atlanta 1994, ISBN 1555409636 .
  • Robert Henry Charles (Ed.): The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English. Volume 2: Pseudepigrapha. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1913. pp. 123-154. Synoptic compilation of the various versions in English translation with commentary. Online: [2] .
  • Hedley FD Sparks: The Apocryphal Old Testament. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1984, ISBN 0198261772 .

Secondary literature

  • Gary A. Anderson, Michael E. Stone, Johannes Tromp: Literature on Adam and Eve: Collected Essays. Brill, Leiden u. a. 2000, ISBN 9004116001
  • Michael E. Stone: A history of the literature of Adam and Eve. Scholar Press, Atlanta 1992, ISBN 1555407153
  • ST Salmon: Some Textual Observations on the Apocalypsis Mosis and the Vita Adae et Evae. In: Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period. Vol. 13 (1982), No. 1-2, pp. 172-176

See also

Web links

Wikisource: The Apocalypse of Moses in the translation by Paul Rießler  - sources and full texts
Wikisource: The life of Adam and Eve in a translation by Paul Rießler  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ginzberg: Book of Adam. In: Jewish Encyclopedia 1901ff [1]
  2. ^ Salmon Textual Observations 1982. pp. 172ff
  3. ↑ Unclear point. The Armenian version speaks of the “mystery of the vision” and it says “what I (God) will do”.
  4. ↑ In the Latin version (chap. 6) it is the oil of life from the tree of grace.
  5. ↑ The serpent is male in Greek and Hebrew, and the serpent's abode appears to have been in the part of Adam, although then it is said that the serpent has already been driven out.
  6. ↑ Also in Bereschit Rabba 15, the treasure cave and the testament of Adam the tree in question is a fig tree. In the Apocalypse of Abraham , the fruit is a grape .
  7. ^ 1 Mos 3 : 16-19  EU
  8. ↑ According to Jewish tradition ( Pirke Eliezer 20) it was not the Jordan, but the Gihon , a paradise river like the Tigris. The Jordan is probably a Christian interpolation to make Adam appear here as the Typos of Christ ( immersion in the Jordan, 40-day penance).
  9. ↑ A play on words with the Hebrew קי K ("Cain") and קנה ( kaneh "reed"). According to tradition, Cain killed his brother with a reed ( Bereschit Rabba 22.8).
  10. ↑ In the text: not beyond the sixth day (Friday) which is occasionally translated as not longer than six days .
  11. ↑ Jerusalem , Armenisches Patriarchat , No. 1458, pp. 380-431 and No. 1370, pp. 127-150; Yerevan , Matenadaran , No. 3461 Bl. 66r-87v
  12. ↑ Fred. C. Conybeare: On the Apocalypse of Moses. The Jewish Quarterly Review Vol. 7, No. 2 (1895). Pp. 216-235.
  13. ↑ Erwin Preuschen: The apocryphal gnostic Adamschriften. Ricker, Gießen 1900. The text contains a translation of the Armenian Adam book.