Chapter XXVI A Beautiful Prophecy of Eternal Life and Joy (V. 15). The Fall of Night
1 Then Adam took Eve, and they began to return to the Cave of Treasures where they lived. But when they got closer to it and saw it from a distance, heavy sorrow fell on Adam and Eve when they looked at it.
2 Then Adam said to Eve, “When we were on the mountain we were comforted by the Word of God that conversed with us; and the light that came from the east shown over us.
3 But now the Word of God is hidden from us; and the light that shown over us is so changed as to disappear, and let darkness and sorrow come over us.
4 And we are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison, in which darkness covers us, so that we are separated from each other; and you can not see me, neither can I see you.”
5 When Adam had said these words, they cried and spread their hands before God; for they were full of sorrow.
6 And they prayed to God to bring the sun to them, to shine on them, so that darkness would not return to them, and that they wouldn’t have to go under this covering of rock. And they wished to die rather than see the darkness.
7 Then God looked at Adam and Eve and at their great sorrow, and at all they had done with a fervent heart, on account of all the trouble they were in, instead of their former well-being, and on account of all the misery that came over them in a strange land.
8 Therefore God was not angry with them; nor impatient with them; but he was patient and forbearing towards them, as towards the children He had created.
9 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, “Adam, as for the sun, if I were to take it and bring it to you, days, hours, years and months would all stop, and the covenant I have made with you, would never be fulfilled.
10 But then you would be deserted and stuck in a perpetual plague, and you would never be saved.
11 Yes, rather, bear long and calm your soul while you live night and day; until the fulfillment of the days, and the time of My covenant is come.
12 Then shall I come and save you, O Adam, for I do not wish that you be afflicted.
13 And when I look at all the good things in which you lived, and why you came out of them, then would I willingly show you mercy.
14 But I cannot alter the covenant that has gone out of My mouth; otherwise I would have brought you back into the garden.
15 When, however, the covenant is fulfilled, then shall I show you and your descendants mercy, and bring you into a land of gladness, where there is neither sorrow nor suffering; but abiding joy and gladness, and light that never fails, and praises that never cease; and a beautiful garden that shall never pass away.”
16 And God said again to Adam, “Be patient and enter the cave, for the darkness, of which you were afraid, shall only be twelve hours long; and when ended, light shall come up.”
17 Then when Adam heard these words from God, he and Eve worshipped before Him, and their hearts were comforted. They returned into the cave after their custom, while tears flowed from their eyes, sorrow and wailing came from their hearts, and they wished their soul would leave their body.
18 And Adam and Eve stood praying until the darkness of night came over them, and Adam was hid from Eve, and she from him.
19 And they remained standing in prayer.
Chapter XXVII - The second tempting of Adam and Eve. The devil takes on the form of a beguiling light.
1 When Satan, the hater of all good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering—Satan made an apparition.
2 He began with transforming his hosts; in his hands was a flashing fire, and they were in a great light.
3 He then placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter into it by reason of their prayers. And he shed light into the cave, until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve; while his hosts began to sing praises.
4 And Satan did this, in order that when Adam saw the light, he should think within himself that it was a heavenly light, and that Satan’s hosts were angels; and that God had sent them to watch at the cave, and to give him light in the darkness.
5 So that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam thereby, and a second time humble him before God.
6 When, therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, fancying it was real, they strengthened their hearts; yet, as they were trembling, Adam said to Eve:—
7 “Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at that host standing outside who won’t come into our cave. Why don’t they tell us what they want, where they are from, what the meaning of this light is, what those praises are, why they have been sent to this place, and why they won’t come in?
8 If they were from God, they would come into the cave with us, and would tell us why they were sent.”
9 Then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart, and said:—
10 “O Lord, is there in the world another god besides You, who created angels and filled them with light, and sent them to keep us, who would come with them?
11 But, look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave; they are in a great light; they sing loud praises. If they are of some other god than You, tell me; and if they are sent by you, inform me of the reason for which You have sent them.”
12 No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared to him in the cave, who said to him, “O Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his hosts; he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the first time, he was hidden in the serpent; but this time he is come to you in the likeness of an angel of light; in order that, when you worshipped him, he might enslave you, in the very presence of God.”
13 Then the angel went from Adam and seized Satan at the opening of the cave, and stripped him of the pretense he had assumed, and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve; who were afraid of him when they saw him.
14 And the angel said to Adam, “This hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you in it; he therefore transformed himself into an angel of light.”
15 Then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve, and said to them, “Fear not; God who created you, will strengthen you.”
16 And the angel left them.
17 But Adam and Eve remained standing in the cave; no consolation came to them; they divided in their thoughts.
18 And when it was morning they prayed; and then went out to seek the garden. For their hearts were towards it, and they could get no consolation for having left it.
Chapter XXVIII - The Devil pretends to lead Adam and Eve to the water to bathe.
1 But when the crafty Satan saw them, that they were going to the garden, he gathered together his host, and came in appearance on a cloud, intent on deceiving them.
2 But when Adam and Eve saw him thus in a vision, they thought they were angels of God come to comfort them about having left the garden, or to bring them back again into it.
3 And Adam spread his hands before God, beseeching Him to make him understand what they were.
4 Then Satan, the hater of all good, said to Adam, “O Adam, I am an angel of the great God; and, behold the hosts that surround me.
5 God has sent us to take you and bring you to the border of the garden northwards; to the shore of the clear sea, and bathe you and Eve in it, and raise you to your former gladness, that you return again to the garden.”
6 These words sank into the heart of Adam and Eve.
7 Yet God withheld His Word from Adam, and did not make him understand at once, but waited to see his strength; whether he would be overcome as Eve was when in the garden, or whether he would prevail.
8 Then Satan called to Adam and Eve, and said, “Behold, we go to the sea of water,” and they began to go.
9 And Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance.
10 But when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden, a very high mountain, without any steps to the top of it, the Devil drew near to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top in reality, and not in a vision; wishing, as he did, to throw them down and kill them, and to wipe off their name from the earth; so that this earth should remain to him and his hosts alone.
Chapter XXIX - God tells Adam of the Devil’s purpose. (v. 4).
1 But when the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his many tricks, and saw that Adam was meek and without guile, God spoke to Satan in a loud voice, and cursed him.
2 Then he and his hosts fled, and Adam and Eve remained standing on the top of the mountain, from there they saw below them the wide world, high above which they were. But they saw none of the host which time after time were by them.
3 They cried, both Adam and Eve, before God, and begged for forgiveness of Him.
4 Then came the Word from God to Adam, and said to him, “Know you and understand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive you and your descendants after you.”
5 And Adam cried before the Lord God, and begged and prayed to Him to give him something from the garden, as a token to him, wherein to be comforted.
6 And God considered Adam’s thought, and sent the angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches India, to take from there golden rods and bring them to Adam.
7 This did God in His wisdom in order that these golden rods, being with Adam in the cave, should shine forth with light in the night around him, and put an end to his fear of the darkness.
8 Then the angel Michael went down by God’s order, took golden rods, as God had commanded him, and brought them to God.
Chapter XXX - Adam receives the first worldly goods.
1 After these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden, and say to the cherub who kept it, “Behold, God has commanded me to come into the garden, and to take from it sweet smelling incense, and give it to Adam.”
2 Then the angel Gabriel went down by God’s order to the garden, and told the cherub as God had commanded him.
3 The cherub then said, “Well.” And Gabriel went in and took the incense.
4 Then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to the garden, and speak to the cherub about some myrrh, to give to Adam.
5 And the angel Raphael went down and told the cherub as God had commanded him, and the cherub said, “Well.” Then Raphael went in and took the myrrh.
6 The golden rods were from the Indian sea, where there are precious stones. The incense was from the eastern border of the garden; and the myrrh from the western border, from where bitterness came over Adam.
7 And the angels brought these things to God, by the Tree of Life, in the garden.
8 Then God said to the angels, “Dip them in the spring of water; then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve, that they be a little comforted in their sorrow, and give them to Adam and Eve.
9 And the angels did as God had commanded them, and they gave all those things to Adam and Eve on the top of the mountain on which Satan had placed them, when he sought to make an end of them.
10 And when Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he was rejoiced and cried because he thought that the gold was a token of the kingdom from where he had come, that the incense was a token of the bright light which had been taken from him, and that the myrrh was a token of the sorrow in which he was.
Chapter XXXI - They make themselves more comfortable in the Cave of Treasures on the third day.
1 After these things God said to Adam, “You asked Me for something from the garden, to be comforted therewith, and I have given you these three tokens as a consolation to you; that you trust in Me and in My covenant with you.
2 For I will come and save you; and kings shall bring me when in the flesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death.
3 But, O Adam, put these by you in the cave; the gold that it may shed light over you by night; the incense, that you smell its sweet savor; and the myrrh, to comfort you in your sorrow.”
4 When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped before Him. He and Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks, because He had dealt mercifully with them.
5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one.
6 And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up Adam and Eve, and bring them down from the top of the high mountain, and to take them to the Cave of Treasures.
7 There they laid the gold on the south side of the cave, the incense on the eastern side, and the myrrh on the western side. For the mouth of the cave was on the north side.
8 The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed.
9 The gold was seventy rods*; the incense, twelve pounds; and the myrrh, three pounds.
10 These remained by Adam in the Cave of Treasures**.
11 God gave these three things to Adam on the third day after he had come out of the garden, in token of the three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth.
12 And these three things, as they continued with Adam in the cave, gave him light by night; and by day they gave him a little relief from his sorrow.
Chapter XXXII - Adam and Eve go into the water to pray.
1 And Adam and Eve remained in the Cave of Treasures until the seventh day; they neither ate of the fruit the earth, nor drank water.
2 And when it dawned on the eighth day, Adam said to Eve, “O Eve, we prayed God to give us something from the garden, and He sent his angels who brought us what we had desired.
3 But now, get up, let us go to the sea of water we saw at first, and let us stand in it, praying that God will again be favorable to us and take us back to the garden; or give us something; or that He will give us comfort in some other land than this in which we are.”
4 Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave, went and stood on the border of the sea in which they had before thrown themselves, and Adam said to Eve:—
5 Come, go down into this place, and come not out of it until the end of thirty days, when I shall come to you. And pray to God with burning heart and a sweet voice, to forgive us.
6 And I will go to another place, and go down into it, and do like you.”
7 Then Eve went down into the water, as Adam had commanded her. Adam also went down into the water; and they stood praying; and besought the Lord to forgive them their offense, and to restore them to their former state.
8 And they stood like that praying, until the end of the thirty-five days.
Chapter XXXIII - Satan falsely promises the “bright light.”
1 But Satan, the hater of all good, sought them in the cave, but found them not, although he searched diligently for them.
2 But he found them standing in the water praying and thought within himself, “Adam and Eve are standing like that in that water praying to God to forgive them their transgression, and to restore them to their former state, and to take them from under my hand.
3 But I will deceive them so that they shall come out of the water, and not fulfil their vow.”
4 Then the hater of all good, went not to Adam, but he went to Eve, and took the form of an angel of God, praising and rejoicing, and said to her:—
5 “Peace be to you! Be glad and rejoice! God is favorable to you, and He sent me to Adam. I have brought him the glad tidings of salvation, and of his being filled with bright light as he was at first.
6 And Adam, in his joy for his restoration, has sent me to you, that you come to me, in order that I crown you with light like him.
7 And he said to me, ‘Speak to Eve; if she does not come with you, tell her of the sign when we were on the top of the mountain; how God sent his angels who took us and brought us to the Cave of Treasures; and laid the gold on the southern side; incense, on the eastern side; and myrrh on the western side.’ Now come to him.”
8 When Eve hear these words from him, she rejoiced greatly. And thinking Satan’s appearance was real, she came out of the sea.
9 He went before, and she followed him until they came to Adam. Then Satan hid himself from her, and she saw him no more.
10 She then came and stood before Adam, who was standing by the water and rejoicing in God’s forgiveness.
11 And as she called to him, he turned around, found her there and cried when he saw her, and beat his chest; and from the bitterness of his grief, he sank into the water.
12 But God looked at him and at his misery, and at his being about to breathe his last. And the Word of God came from heaven, raised him out of the water, and said to him, “Go up the high bank to Eve.” And when he came up to Eve he said to her, “Who told you to come here?”
13 Then she told him the discourse of the angel who had appeared to her and had given her a sign.
14 But Adam grieved, and gave her to know it was Satan. He then took her and they both returned to the cave.
15 These things happened to them the second time they went down to the water, seven days after their coming out of the garden.
16 They fasted in the water thirty-five days; altogether forty-two days since they had left the garden.
Chapter XXXIV - Adam recalls the creation of Eve. He eloquently appeals for food and drink.
1 And on the morning of the forty-third day, they came out of the cave, sorrowful and crying. Their bodies were lean, and they were parched from hunger and thirst, from fasting and praying, and from their heavy sorrow on account of their transgression.
2 And when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to the west of the garden.
3 There they stood and prayed and besought God to grant them forgiveness of their sins.
4 And after their prayers Adam began to beg God, saying, “O my Lord, my God, and my Creator, You commanded the four elements* to be gathered together, and they were gathered together by Thine order.
5 Then You spread Your hand and created me out of one element, that of dust of the earth; and You brought me into the garden at the third hour, on a Friday, and informed me of it in the cave.
6 Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, for I had a bright nature; neither did the light in which I lived ever leave me to know night or day.
7 Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which You created me, You brought to me all beasts, and lions, and ostriches, and fowls of the air, and all things that move in the earth, which You had created at the first hour before me of the Friday.
8 And Your will was that I should name them all, one by one, with a suitable name. But You gave me understanding and knowledge, and a pure heart and a right mind from you, that I should name them after Thine own mind regarding the naming of them.
9 O God, You made them obedient to me, and ordered that not one of them break from my sway, according to Your commandment, and to the dominion which You had given me over them. But now they are all estranged from me.
10 Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which You created me, and commanded me concerning the tree, to which I was neither to go near, nor to eat thereof; for You said to me in the garden, ‘When you eat of it, of death you shall die.’
11 And if You had punished me as You said, with death, I should have died that very moment.
12 Moreover, when You commanded me regarding the tree, I was neither to approach nor to eat thereof, Eve was not with me; You had not yet created her, neither had You yet taken her out of my side; nor had she yet heard this order from you.
13 Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday, O Lord, You caused a slumber and a sleep to come over me, and I slept, and was overwhelmed in sleep.
14 Then You drew a rib out of my side, and created it after my own likeness and image. Then I awoke; and when I saw her and knew who she was, I said, ‘This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; from now on she shall be called woman.’
15 It was of Your good will, O God, that You brought a slumber in a sleep over me, and that You immediately brought Eve out of my side, until she was out, so that I did not see how she was made; neither could I witness, O my Lord, how awful and great are Your goodness and glory.
16 And of Your goodwill, O Lord, You made us both with bodies of a bright nature, and You made us two, one; and You gave us Your grace, and filled us with praises of the Holy Spirit; that we should be neither hungry nor thirsty, nor know what sorrow is, nor yet faintness of heart; neither suffering, fasting nor weariness.
17 But now, O God, since we transgressed Your commandment and broke Your law, You have brought us out into a strange land, and have caused suffering, and faintness, hunger and thirst to come over us.
18 Now, therefore, O God, we pray you, give us something to eat from the garden, to satisfy our hunger with it; and something wherewith to quench our thirst.
19 For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted nothing and drunk nothing, and our flesh is dried up, and our strength is wasted, and sleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and crying.
20 Then, O God, we dare not gather anything from the fruit of trees, from fear of you. For when we transgress at first You spared us and did not make us die.
21 But now, we thought in our hearts, if we eat of the fruit of the trees, without God’s order, He will destroy us this time, and will wipe us off from the face of the earth.
22 And if we drink of this water, without God’s order, He will make an end of us and root us up at once.
23 Now, therefore, O God, that I am come to this place with Eve, we beg You to give us some fruit from the garden, that we may be satisfied with it.
24 For we desire the fruit that is on the earth, and all else that we lack in it.”
* The medieval belief that there were only four elements—fire, earth, air, and water—was widely accepted until about 1500 AD when the current atomic theory was in its infancy.
1 Then God looked again at Adam and his crying and groaning, and the Word of God came to him, and said to him:—
2 “O Adam, when you were in My garden, you knew neither eating nor drinking; neither faintness nor suffering; neither leanness of flesh, nor change; neither did sleep depart from thine eyes. But since you transgressed, and came into this strange land, all these trials are come over you.”
1 Then God commanded the cherub, who kept the gate of the garden with a sword of fire in his hand, to take some of the fruit of the fig-tree, and to give it to Adam.
2 The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God, and went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs, each fig hanging to its leaf; they were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when God went to walk in the garden, and the Word of God came to Adam and Eve and said to them, “Adam, Adam, where are you?”
3 And Adam answered, “O God, here I am. When I heard the sound of You and Your voice, I hid myself, because I am naked.”
4 Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve. But he threw them to them from a distance; for they might not come near the cherub by reason of their flesh, that could not come near the fire.
5 At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of him. But now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them.
6 Then Adam came closer and took one fig, and Eve also came in turn and took the other.
7 And as they took them up in their hands, they looked at them, and knew they were from the trees among which they had hidden themselves.
Chapter XXXVII - Forty-three days of penance do not redeem one hour of sin (v. 6).
1 Then Adam said to Eve, “Do you not see these figs and their leaves, with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright nature? But now, we do not know what misery and suffering may come over us from eating them.
2 Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them, you and I; and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life.”
3 Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did not eat of these figs.
4 But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: “O God, when we transgressed Your commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our transgression, more than three hours.
5 But in the evening You made us come out of it. O God, we transgressed against You one hour, and all these trials and sorrows have come over us until this day.
6 And those days together with this the forty-third day, do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed!
7 O God, look at us with an eye of pity, and do not avenge us according to our transgression of Your commandment, in Your presence.
8 O God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life, that we may eat of it, and live, and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble, in this earth; for You are God.
9 When we transgressed Your commandment, You made us come out of the garden, and sent a cherub to keep the Tree of Life, lest we should eat thereof, and live; and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed.
10 But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days, and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed.”
Chapter XXXVIII - “When 5500 years are fulfilled.…”
1 After these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him:—
2 “O Adam, as to the fruit on the Tree of Life that you have asked for, I will not give it to you now, but only when the 5500 years are fulfilled. At that time I will give you fruit from the Tree of Life, and you will eat, and live forever, you, and Eve, and your righteous descendants.
3 But these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which you transgressed My commandment.
4 O Adam, I gave you the fruit of the fig-tree to eat in which you hid yourself. Go and eat of it, you and Eve.
5 I will not deny your request, neither will I disappoint your hope; therefore, endure until the fulfillment of the covenant I made with you.”
6 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
Chapter XXXIX - Adam is cautious—but too late.
1 Then Adam returned to Eve, and said to her, “Get up, and take a fig for yourself, and I will take another; and let us go to our cave.”
2 Then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards the cave; the time was about the setting of the sun; and their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit.
3 But Adam said to Eve, “I am afraid to eat of this fig. I know not what may come over me from it.”
4 So Adam cried, and stood praying before God, saying, “Satisfy my hunger, without my having to eat this fig; for after I have eaten it, what will it profit me? And what shall I desire and ask of you, O God, when it is gone?”
5 And he said again, “I am afraid to eat of it; for I know not what will befall me through it.”
Notes
* A rod is a unit of linear measure equivalent to 5.5 yards and also a unit of area measure equivalent to 30.25 square yards. In this case, the word rod simply means a kind of long, thin piece of gold of unspecified size and weight.
** This is the original text which appears to contain embedded editorial content: “These remained by Adam in the House of Treasures; therefore was it called ‘of concealment.’ But other interpreters say it was called the ‘Cave of Treasures,’ by reason of the bodies of righteous men that were in it.