THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF THE EAST

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THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY 
LITERATURE OF THE EAST 



VOLUME XIV 

THE GREAT REJECTED BOOKS 

OF THE BIBLICAL APOCRYPHA 



In Translations by 



Rev, R. H. Charles, D.D., Fellow of the British Academy; Rev. 
F. C. Conybeare, D.D., Officier de 1'Academie Francaise; B. Harris 
Cow'per, editor of the " Journal of Sacred Literature"; J. Rendel 
Harris, LL.D.; L. S. A. Wells, M.A., of Ripon Theological Col- 
lege; Rev. H. Maldwyn Hughes, D.D., and other authorities. 

With a Brief Bibliography by 
Prof. Edward H. Johns, Ph.D. 



With an Historical Survey and Descriptions by 

Prof. CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. 



PARKE, AUSTIN, AND LIPSCOMB, Inc. 

NEW YORK LONDON 

Copyright, 1917, 
Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb, Inc. 



r 






OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 



THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE 



" And I, Eve, cried with a loud voice : ' Pity me, Lord, my 
creator! For my sake Adam suffer "eth thus/ " 

— THE BOOK OF EVE. 

"And Michael himself worshiped first; then he called me 
[the devil] and said: ' Worship the image of God the Lord/ 
And I answered* ' I have no need to worship Adam/ " 

— THE LIVES OF AH AM AND EVE. 









THE BOOKS OF ADAM AND EVE 

(INTRODUCTION) 

THE books of Adam and Eve belong to the third class 
of apocrypha described in the general introduction 
That is, they must originally have been Jewish works, and 
were told probably with no intention to deceive Jewish 
legends about Adam were numerous and very old, and the 
Jewish literary custom was well established of writing 
ethical works in the form of a survey of history which was 
presented as the prophecy of some early patriarch, lhen 
during the Christian ages these old legends and prophecies 
of Adam were gathered into one book, a Latin Lives ol 
Adam and Eve." During the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies this was translated into almost every European tongue, 
and was immensely popular. The Jewish originals of this 
work are no longer known, but the date of their composi ion 
must have been somewhere during the very earliest Christian 
Tnturies, for the tone of the "Lives" echoes the Jewish 
religious views of that date, with occasional Christian 

additions. „ ,_ . -_:i„ w 

Our second book, the Apocalypse of Moses, is a similar 
medieval work, which in many places parallels the Lives 
so closely, that both must have a common source, lne 
name is, however, a medieval blunder. An apocalypse of 
Moses would mean Moses's vision of the ^/J^S 
whereas the vision here is only of the past and of : the glory 
of God, and is in no way definitely connected with Moses 
These two books, then, are really the final top»tc«ytf all the 
oldest legends of Adam and Eve, combined with the visions 
of some religious enthnsiast who rises to a true poetic 
rapture in his thoughts of God. 

It is to be noticed that the Apocalypse of Moses consists 

O 



10 THE SACRED BOOKS 

largely of Eve's own narrative of what she had seen and done. 
This is still further expanded in our third brief book, which 
is really but a fragment drawn from a Slavonic version of the 
story. This Slavonic tale touches chiefly on the human and 
tragic side of the events and brings us keenly into touch with 
the sorrow of earth's first "mother thoughts" for the 
protection of men. 



OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 



THE LIVES OF ADAM AND EVE * 

CHAPTER, I 

When they were driven out from paradise, they made 
themselves a booth, and spent seven days mourning and 
lamenting in great grief. 

CHAPTER II 

But after seven days, they began to be hungry and started 
to look for victual to eat, and they found it not. Then Eve 
said to Adam: "My lord, I am hungry. Go, look for 
something for us to eat. Perchance the Lord God will look 
back and pity us and recall us to the place in which we were 
before." 

chapter in 

And Adam arose and walked seven days over all that land, 
and found no victual such as they used to have in paradise. 
And Eve said to Adam : " Wilt thou slay me I that I may 
die, and perchance God the Lord will bring thee into para- 
dise, for on my account hast thou been driven thence." 
Adam answered: "Forbear, Eve, from such words, that 
peradventure God bring not some other curse upon us. 
How is it possible that I should stretch forth my hand against 
my own flesh ? Nay, let us arise and look for something for 
us to live on, that we fail not/' 

CHAPTER IV 

And they walked about and searched for nine days, and 
they found none such as they were used to have in paradise, 

i The best and most recent translations of most of the Old Testament 
apocrypha are those in the great scholarly work of Rev. E. H, Charles, 
"Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament," published in 
England by Oxford University. The translations of Old Testament 
apocrypha in the present volume are largely from the work of Dr. 
Charles and his fellow laborers, simplified for public use. 

11 



mm*mmm 



ia THE SACRED BOOKS 

but found only animals' food. And Adam said to Eve: 
" This hath the Lord provided for animals and brutes to eat ; 
but we used to have angels' food. But it is just and right 
that we lament before the sight of God who made us. Let 
us repent with a great penitence: perchance the Lord will be 
gracious to us and will pity us and give us a share oi 
something for our living." 

chapter v 
And Eve said to Adam : " What is penitence 3 Tell me, 
what sort of penitence am I to do % Let us not put too great 
a labor on ourselves, which we can not endure, so that the 
Lord will not harken to our prayers: and will turn away 
His countenance from us, because we have not fulfilled what 
we promised. My lord, how much penitence hast thou 
thought to do, for I have brought trouble and anguish upon 
thee?" 

CHAPTER VI 

And Adam said to Eve : " Thou canst not do so much as 
I but do only so much as thou hast strength for. For I will 
spend forty days fasting, but do thou arise and go to the 
Eiver Tigris and lift up a stone and stand on it m the water 
up to thy neck in the deep of the river. And let no speech 
proceed out of thy mouth, since we are unworthy to address 
the Lord, for our lips are unclean from the unlawful and 
forbidden tree. And do thou stand in the water of the river 
thirty-seven days. But I will spend forty days in the water 
of Jordan, 2 perchance the Lord God will take pity upon us. 

CHAPTER VII 

And Eve walked to the Kiver Tigris and did as Adam had 
told her. Likewise, Adam walked to the River Jordan and 
stood on a stone up to his neck in water. 

2 "Jordan." Probably changed by Christian editor from " Gihon," 
where Jews placed Adam's penitence, for we expect another river of 
Paradise. 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 13 



CHAPTEB VIII 

And Adam said: "I tell thee, water of Jordan, grieve 
with me, and assemble to me all swimming creatures, which 
are in thee, and let them surround me and mourn in com- 
pany with me. Not for themselves let them lament, but for 
me ; for it is not they that have sinned, but I." 

Forthwith, all living things came and surrounded him, and, 
from that hour the water of the Jordan stood still and its 
current was stayed." 

CHAPTER IX 

And eighteen days passed by; then Satan was wroth and 
transformed himself into the brightness of angels, and went 
away to the River Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and 
the devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began 
to weep and said to her : " Come out of the river and lament 
no more. Cease now from sorrow and moans. Why art 
thou anxious and thy husband Adam ? The Lord God hath 
heard your groaning and hath accepted your penitence, and 
all we angels have entreated on your behalf, and made sup- 
plication to the Lord ; and he hath sent me to bring you out 
of the water and give you the nourishment which you had in 
paradise, and for which you are crying out. Now come out 
of the water and I will conduct you to the place where your 
victual hath been made ready." 

chapter x 

But Eve heard and believed and went out of the water 
of the river, and her flesh was trembling like grass, from the 
chill of the water. And when she had gone out, she fell on 
the earth and the devil raised her up and led her to Adam, 
But when Adam had seen her and the devil with her, he 
wept and cried aloud and said : " O Eve, Eve, where is the 
labor of thy penitence ? How hast thou been again ensnared 
by our adversary, by whose means we have been estranged 
from our abode in paradise and spiritual joy ? " 



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CHAPTER SI 

And when she heard this, Eve understood that it was the 
devil who had persuaded her to go out of the river; and she 
fell on her face on the earth, and her sorrow and groaning 
and wailing were redoubled. And she cried out and said: 
" Woe unto thee, thou devil. Why dost thou attack us for 
no cause % What hast thou to do with us % What have we 
done to thee f for thou pursuest us with craft. Or why doth 
thy malice assail us? Have we taken away thy glory and 
caused thee to be without honor ? Why dost thou harry us, 
thou enemy, and persecute us to the death in wickedness and 
envy ? " 



The Fall of the Devil 

CHAPTER XII 

And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: " Adam! all 
my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee 
that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed 
in the heavens in the midst of the angels, and for thee was 
I cast out in the earth." Adam answered, " What dost thou 
tell me? What have I done to thee or what is my fault 
against thee? Seeing that thou hast received no harm or 
injury from us, why dost thou pursue us t " 

CHAPTER XIII 

The devil replied, " Adam, what dost thou tell me ? It is 
for thy sake that I have been hurled from that place. When 
thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God 
and banished from the company of the angels. When God 
blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness 
was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and 
made us worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord 

i spake : Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and 
likeness." 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 15 

CHAPTER XIV 

And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: 
"Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath com- 

TT19LI1Q.GCL 

And Michael himself worshiped first; then he called me 
and said: " Worship the image of God the Lord." And I 
answered, "I have no need to worship Adam." And since 
Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, " Why 
dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and 
vounger being than I. I am his senior in the Creation, 
before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to 
worship me." 

CHAPTER xv 

When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they 
refused to worship him. And Michael saith, " Worship the 
image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him the Lord God 
will be wroth with thee." And I said, " If He be wroth with 
me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be 
like the Highest." 

CHAPTER XVI 

" And God the Lord was wroth with me and banished me 
and my angels from our glory; and on thy account were we 
expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the 
earth. And straightway we were overcome with grief, since 
we had been spoiled of so great glory. And we were grieved 
when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. And with guile 
I cheated thy wife and caused thee to be expelled through 
her doing from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven out 
of my glory." 

chapter xvn 

When Adam heard the devil say this, he cried out and 
wept, and spake : " O Lord my God, my life is in thy hands. 
Banish this Adversary far from me, who seeketh to destroy 
my soul, and give me his glory which he himself hath lost." 
And at that moment the devil vanished before him. But 



"■ ■ ■ '■ " ■ ■ ' " ■ '"" ' ■ Ill ll lllllH II I I .IIWIIf l ll ■! 

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Adam endured in his penance, standing for forty days on 
end in the water of Jordan. 

Cain and Abel 

CHAPTEE XVIII 

And Eve said to Adam: "Live thou, my lord to thee 
life ^ranted^since thon hast committed neither the first nor 
the econ Terror. But I have erred and heen led astray, for 
fhave not kept the commandment of God; and now banish 
me from the Ught of thy life and I will go to the sunsetting 
Z there will'l he, until I die." And ^^J 
toward the western parts and to mourn and to we p bitterly 
and groan aloud. And she made there a booth, while she had 
in her womb offspring of three months old. 

CHAPTER XIX 

And when the time of her bearing approached, she began 
to t distressed with pains, and she cried a -d to the Xord 
„„d said- "Pity me, O Lord; assist me." And she was 
not heard and the mercy of God did not encircle her. And 
Xesltd to herself: "Who shall tell my ted Adam? I 
implore you, ye luminaries of heaven what time ye return to 
the east, bear a message to my lord Adam. 

CHAPTEE XX 

But in that hour Adam said: "The complaint of Eve 
hath come to me. Perchance, once more hath the serpent 

^nd t wenfand found her in great distress And Eve 
said - "Prom the moment I saw thee, my lord, my gnef- 
aaen soul was refreshed. And now entreat the Lord God 
on "half to barken unto thee and look upon me and free 
me from my awful pains." And Adam entreated the Lord 
for Eve. 

CHAPTEE XXI 

And behold, there came twelve angels and two " virtues ," 
ataXgtn the right and on the left of Eve; and Michael 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST W 

w as standing on the right; and £ |^£^K£ . 
far as to the breast and said to Jw ■• ;nterces8ioM 

Eve, for Adam's sake. Siwe. his P iay ^ ^ 

are great, I have been sent that tnou _ j _ ^ a 

Kis e°up now, and prepare thee to bea .A ^ ^ 

son and he was shining ; and at one >*"£>» / u t0 bi9 

and bore a blade of grass in his hands, ana g 

mother, and his name was caUed Cam. 

CHAPTEB XXII 

And Adam carried Eve ***£*££ S £ 

East. And the Lord God sent ^ ^ J how to wo rk 

archangel and gave to Adam^nd ^show L^ ^ ^ 

and till the gronnd, that they _ nug 

and all their generations might live. namfJ 

Eor thereafter Eve conceive da* i b a e a , 
was Abel ; and Cair i and ^^ f slept , j s aw a 
And Eve said to Adam. my > h h d f 

vision, as it were the blood ^o„r son AW- ^ , 
Cain, who was gulpmg it aowu 

have sorrow." p . , Abe i. Yet let ua 

And Adam said, " Alas if Cam dew ^ ^ 

separate them from each ^J™ 
each of them separate dwellings. 

CHAPTER XXIII 

And t he y ^ d c^jsrs^^^^ 

a shepherd; m order that in *» * ^ but Adam was 
separated And th *« ate Dam d ew ^ ^ ^ ^ 
the n ne hnndred and thirty T"> 
^^XK^ * wife and he begat a son 
and called his name Seth. 

CHAPTER XXIV 

m ^ TTvp " Behold, I have begotten a son. 
And Adam said to Eve, ueno , had 

& VOL. XIV.— 2 






I ' I — — I ■ I ■ I H I 

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sons and thirty daughters ; in all sixty-three children. And 
they were increased over the face of the earth in their nations. 

The Vision of Adam 

CHAPTER XXV 

And Adam said to Seth, " Hear, my son, Seth, that I may 
relate to thee what I heard and saw after your mother and I 
had been driven out of paradise. When we were at prayer, 
there came to me Michael the archangel, a messenger of God. 
And I saw a chariot like the wind, and its wheels were fiery, 
and I was caught up into the paradise of righteousness, and I 
saw the Lord sitting and his face was flaming fire that could 
not be endured. And many thousands of angels were on the 
right and left of that chariot. 

CHAPTER XXVI 

When I saw this I was confounded, and terror seized me, 
and I bowed myself down before God with my face to the 
earth. And God said to me, " Behold thou diest, since thou 
hast transgressed the commandment of God, for thou didst 
barken rather to the voice of thy wife, whom I gave into thy 
power, that thou mightest hold her to thy will. Yet thou 
didst listen to her and didst pass by My words." 

CHAPTER XXVII 

And when I heard these words of God, I fell prone on the 
earth and worshiped the Lord and said, " My Lord, All pow- 
erful and merciful God, Holy and Righteous One, let not the 
name that is mindful of Thy majesty be blotted out, but 
convert my soul, for I die and my breath will go out of my 
mouth. Cast me not out from Thy presence, me whom Thou 
didst form of the clay of the earth. Do not banish from Thy 
favor him whom Thou didst nourish/' 

And lo! a word concerning thee came upon me, and the 
Lord said to me, " Since thy days were fashioned, thou hast 
been created with a love of knowledge ; therefore there shall 
not be taken from thy seed forever the right to serve Me." 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 19 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

And when I heard these words, I threw myself on the 
earth and adored the Lord God, and said, " Thou art the 
eternal and supreme God ; and all creatures give Thee honor 
and praise. 

" Thou art the true Light gleaming above all lights, the 
Living Life, infinite mighty Power. To Thee, the spiritual 
powers give honor and praise. Thou workest on the race of 
men the abundance of Thy mercy." 

After I had worshiped the Lord, straightway Michael, 
God's archangel, seized my hand and cast me out of the para- 
dise of " vision " and of God's command. And Michael held 
a rod in his hand, and he touched the waters, which were 
round about paradise, and they froze hard. 

CHAPTER XXIX 

And I went across, and Michael the archangel went across 
with me, and he led me back to the place whence he had 
caught me up. Harken, my son Seth, even to the rest of the 
secrets and sacraments that shall be, which were revealed to 
me, when I had eaten of the tree of knowledge, and knew and 
perceived what will come to pass in this age; what God 
intends to do to His creation of the race of men. The Lord 
will appear in a flame of fire, and from the mouth of His 
majesty He will give commandments and statutes; from His 
mouth will proceed a two-edged sword ; and they will sanctify 
Him in the house of the habitation of His majesty. And 
He will show them the marvelous place of His majesty. 
And then they will build a house to the Lord their God in the 
land which He shall prepare for them, and there they will 
transgress His statutes and their sanctuary will be burnt up, 
and their land will be deserted, and they themselves will be 
dispersed ; because they have kindled the wrath of God. ^ And 
once more he will cause them to come back from their disper- 
sion ; and again they will build the house of God ; and in the 
last time the house of God will be exalted greater than of old. 
And once more iniquity will exceed righteousness. And 



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thereafter God will dwell with men on earth in visible form ; 
and then righteousness will begin to shine. And the house of 
God will be honored in the age, and their enemies will no 
more be able to hurt the men, who are believing in God ; and 
God will stir up for Himself a faithful people, whom He 
shall save for eternity, and the impious shall be punished by 
God their king, the men who refused to love His law. 
Heaven and earth, nights and days, and all creatures shall 
obey Him, and not overstep His commandment. Men shall 
not change their works, but they shall be changed from for- 
saking the law of the Lord. Therefore the Lord shall repel 
from Himself the wicked, and the just shall shine like the 
sun, in the sight of God. And in that time shall men be 
purified by water from their sins. But those who are unwill- 
ing to be purified by water shall be condemned. And happy 
shall the man be who hath ruled his soul, when the Judgment 
shall come to pass and the greatness of God be seen among 
men and their deeds be inquired into by God, the just judge. 

The Death of Adam 

CHAPTER XXX 

After Adam was nine hundred and thirty years old, since 
he knew that his days were coming to an end, he said : "Let 
all my sons assemble themselves to me, that I may bless them 
before I die, and speak with them." 

And they were assembled in three parts, before his sight, 
in the house of prayer, where they used to worship the Lord 
God. And they asked him, saying: " What concerns thee, 
father, that thou shouldst assemble us, and why dost thou 
lie on thy bed ? " Then Adam answered and said : " My 
sons, I am sick and in pain." And all his sons said to him: 
" What does it mean, father, this illness and pain ? " 

CHAPTER XXXI 

Then said Seth, his v son: "O my lord, perchance thou 
hast longed after the fruit of paradise, which thou wast wont 
to eat, and therefore thou liest in sadness ? Tell me and I 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 21 

will go to the nearest gates of paradise and put dust on my 
bead and throw myself down on the earth before the gates of 
paradise and lament and make entreaty to God with loud 
lamentation; perchance he will harken to me and send his 
angel to bring me the fruit, for which thou hast longed." 

Adam answered and said: " No, my son, I do not long 
for this, but I feel weakness and great pain in my body." 
Seth answered, " What is pain, my lord father? I am 
ignorant j but hide it not from us, but tell us about it." 

CHAPTER XXXII 

And Adam answered and said: "Hear me, my sons. 
When God made us, me and your mother, and placed us in 
paradise and gave us every tree bearing fruit to eat, he laid a 
prohibition on us concerning the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil, which is in the midst of paradise ; saying, ' Do 
not eat of it/ But God gave a part of paradise to me and a 
part to your mother: the trees of the eastern part and north, 
which is over against Aquilo, he gave to me, and to your 
mother he gave the part of the south and the western part, 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

Moreover God the Lord gave us two angels to guard us. 
The hour came when the angels had ascended to worship in 
the sight of God; forthwith the adversary (the devil) found 
an opportunity while the angels were absent and the devil led 
your mother astray to eat of the unlawful and forbidden tree. 
And she did eat and gave to me. 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

And immediately, the Lord God was wroth with us, and 
the Lord said to me: " In that thou hast left behind my 
commandment and hast not kept my word, which I confirmed 
to thee; behold, I will bring upon thy body seventy blows; 
with divers griefs shalt thou be tormented, beginning at thy 
head and thine eyes and thine ears down to thy nails on thy 
toes, and in every separate limb." These hath God appointed 
for chastisement. All these things hath the Lord sent to me 
and to all our race. 






g£ THE SACRED BOOKS 

CHAPTER XXXV 

Thus spake Adam to his sons, and he was seized with vio- 
lent pains, and he cried out with a loud voice, " What shall I 
do ? I am in distress. So cruel are the pains with which I 
am beset." And when Eve had seen him weeping, she also 
began to weep herself, and said: " O Lord my God, hand 
over to me his pain, for it is I who sinned." 

And Eve said to Adam: "My lord, give me apart of 
thy pains, for this hath come to thee from fault of mine." 

CHAPTER XXXVI 

And Adam said to Eve: " Rise up and go with my son 
Seth to the neighborhood of paradise, and put dust on your 
heads and throw yourselves on the ground and lament in the 
sight of God. Perchance He will have pity upon you and 
send His angel across to the tree of His mercy, whence 
floweth the oil of life, and will give you a drop of it, to anoint 
me with it, that I may have rest from these pains, by which I 
am being consumed." 

CHAPTER XXXVII 

Then Seth and his mother went off toward the gates of 
paradise. And while they were walking, lo! suddenly there 
came a beast (a serpent) 3 and attacked and bit Seth. And 
as soon as Eve saw it, she wept and said: " Alas, wretched 
woman that I am. I am accursed since I have not kept the 
commandment of God." And Eve said to the serpent m a 
loud voice: " Accursed beast! how is it that thou hast not 
feared to let thyself loose against the image of God, but hast 
dared to fight with it ? " 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 

The beast answered in the language of men: " Is it not 
against you, Eve, that our malice is directed? Are not ye 

' 3 The " serpent M is clearly a later interpolation to connect with the 
tale of the Fall. Originally this passage was to explain the beasts 
revolt. 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 



28 



the objects of our rage ? Tell me, Eve, how was thy mouth 
opened to eat of the fruit? But now if I shall begm to 
reprove thee thou canst not bear it" 

CHAFTER XXXIX 

Then said Seth to the beast : « God the Lord revile thee. 
Be silent, be dumb, shut thy mouth, accursed enemy ot 
Truth, confounder and destroyer. Avaunt from the image 
of God till the day when the Lord God shall order thee to be 
brought to the ordeal." And the beast said to Seth: ■ bee, 
I leave the presence of the image of God, as thou hast said. 
Forthwith he left Seth, wounded by his teeth. 

CHAPTER XL 

But Seth and his mother walked to the regions of paradise 
for the oil of mercy to anoint the sick Adam: and they arrived 
at the gates of paradise, and they took dust from the earth 
and placed it on their heads, and bowed themselves with 
their faces to the earth, and began to lament and make loud 
moaning, imploring the Lord God to pity Adam in his pains 
Td to stnd His angel to give them the oil from the « tree of 
His mercy." 

CHAPTER XLI 

But when they had been praying and imploring for many 
hours, behold, the angel Michael appeared to them and said: 
« I have been sent to you from the Lord - I am set by God 
over the bodies of men - 1 tell thee, Seth, thou man of God, 
weep not nor pray and entreat on account of the oil at the 
tree of mercy to anoint thy father Adam for the pams of his 
body. 

CHAPTER XEII 

"For I tell thee that in no wise wilt thou be able to 
receive thereof save in the last days." 

[When five thousand five hundred years have been f ulniled, 
then will come upon earth the most beloved king Christ, the 
son of God, to revive the body of Adam and with him to revive 
the bodies of the dead. He Himself, the Son of God, 



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1 



when He comes will be baptized in the river of Jordan, and 
when He hath come out of the water of Jordan, then He will 
anoint from the oil of mercy all that believe in Him. And 
the oil of mercy shall be for generation to generation for 
those who are ready to be born again of water and the Holy 
Spirit to life eternal. Then the most beloved Son of God, 
Christ, descending on earth, shall lead thy father Adam to 
Paradise to the tree of mercy.] 4 

CHAPTER 2XIII 

"But do thou, Seth, go to thy father Adam, since the time 
of his life is fulfilled. Six days hence his soul shall go off 
his body, and when it shall have gone out thou shalt see great 
marvels in the heaven and in the earth and the luminaries of 
heaven." With these words, straightway Michael departed 
from Seth. 

And Eve and Seth returned bearing with them herbs of 
fragrance, i.e., nard and crocus and calamus and cinnamon. 

CHAPTER SLIV 

And when Seth and his mother had reached Adam, they 
told him, how the beast (the serpent) bit Seth. And Adam 
said to Eve : « What hast thou done ? A great plague hast 
thou brought upon us, transgression and sin for all our gen- 
erations: and this which thou hast done, tell thy children 
after my death, for those who arise from us shall toil and 
fail but they shall be wanting and curse us and say, All evils 
have our parents brought upon us, who were at the 
beginning." When Eve heard these words, she began to 
weep and moan. 

CHAPTER XLV 

And just as Michael the archangel had foretold, after six 
days came Adam's death. When Adam perceived that the 
hour of his death was at hand, he said to all his sons: " Be- 
hold, I am nine hundred and thirty years old, and if I die, 

4 This whole passage in brackets is a Christian interpolation from the 
Gospel of Nicodemus. 






■ 1 

LITERATURE OF THE EAST 25 

bury me toward the sunrising in the field of yonder dwelling." 
And it came to pass that when he had finished all his 
discourse, he gave up the ghost. 

CHAPTER XLVI 

Then was the sun darkened and the moon and the stars for 
seven days, and Seth in his mourning embraced from above 
the body of his father, and Eve was looking on the ground 
with hands folded over her head, and all her children wept 
most bitterly. And behold, there appeared Michael the 
angel and stood at the head of Adam, and said to Seth: 
■ Rise up from the body of thy father and come to me and see 
what is the doom of the Lord God concerning him. His 
creature is he, and God hath pitied him." 

CHAPTER XL VII 

And all the angels blew their trumpets, and cried: 
" Blessed art thou, O Lord, for thou hast had pity on Thy 
creature." 

CHAPTER XLVIII 

Then Seth saw the hand of God stretched out holding 
Adam, and he handed him over to Michael, saying : " Let 
him be in thy charge till the day of Judgment in punishment, 
till the last years when I will convert his sorrow into joy. 
Then shall he sit on the throne of him who hath been his 
supplanter." 

And the Lord said again to the angels Michael and Uriel: 
" Bring me three linen clothes of byssus, and spread them out 
over Adam, and other linen clothes over Abel his son, and 
bury Adam and Abel his son." 

And all the " powers " of angels marched before Adam, 
and the sleep of the dead was consecrated. And the angels 
Michael and Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the parts of 
paradise, before the eyes of Seth and his mother and no one 
else, and Michael and Uriel said : " Just as ye have seen, in 
like manner, bury your dead." 



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CHAPTER XLIX 

Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she 
would die, so she assembled all her sons and daughters, Seth 
with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all: 
« Hear me, my children, and I will tell yon what the arch- 
angel Michael said to ns when I and your father trans- 
gressed the command of God. _ 
' " On account of your transgression, our Lord will bring 
upon your race the anger of his judgment, first by water, 
the second time by fire ; by these two, will the Lord judge the 

whole human race. 

chapter t. 

" But harken unto me, my children. Make ye then tables 
of stone and others of clay, and write on them all my life 
and your father's, all that ye have heard and seen from us. 
If by water the Lord judge our race, the tables of clay will 
be dissolved and the tables of stone will remain; but ri by 
fire, the tables of stone will be broken up and the tables 01 
clay will be baked hard." 5 

When Eve had said all this to her children, she spread out 
her hands to heaven in prayer, and bent her knees to the 
earth, and while she worshiped the Lord and gave him thanks 
she gave up the ghost. ^ Thereafter, all her children buried 
her with loud lamentation. 

CHAPTER LI 

When they had been mourning four days, then Michael 
the archangel appeared and said to Seth: "Man of God, 
mourn not for thy dead more than six days, for on the sev- 
enth day is the sign of the resurrection and the rest of the 
age to come; on the seventh day the Lord rested from all His 

works." 

Thereupon Seth made the tables. 

5 In some MSS. is added the story of Solomon finding "the tables," 
with a conclusion announcing the coming of Christ to judge the world. 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 27 



THE APOCALYPSE OF MOSES » 

CHAPTER I 

This is the story of Adam and Eve after they had gone 
out of paradise. And Adam knew his wife Eve, and 
went upward to the sunrising and abode there eighteen 
years and two months. And Eve conceived and bare two 
sons; Adiaphotos, who is called Cain, and Amilabes, who is 
called Abel. 2 

CHAPTER II 

And after this, Adam and Eve were with one another, 
and while they were sleeping Eve said to Adam, her lord: 
" My lord, Adam, behold, I have seen in a dream this night 
the blood of my son Amilabes, who is styled Abel, being 
poured into the mouth of Cain, his brother, and he went on 
drinking it without pity. But he begged him to leave him 
a little of it. Yet he harkened not to him, but gulped down 
the whole ; nor did it stay in his stomach, but came out of his 
mouth." And Adam said, " Let us arise and go and see what 
has happened to them. I fear lest the adversary may be 
assailing them somewhere." 

CHAPTER III 

And they both went and found Abel murdered by the hand 
of Cain his brother. And God saith to Michael the arch- 
angel : " Say to Adam : ' Reveal not the secret that thou 
knowest to Cain thy son, for he is a son of wrath. Put grieve 
not, for I will give thee another son in his stead; he shall 
show to thee all that thou shalt do. Do thou tell him noth- 

i All MSS. give preface describing book as taught to Moses by 
Michael the archangel. Like the title, this is a later addition. 

2 The translator in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xvi, 1870, sug- 
gests " a planter," for Adiaphotos, and " a keeper of sheep " for Ami- 
labes, 



21 
in 



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I 



ing.' ' Thus spake the archangel to Adam. But he kept 
the word in his heart, and with him also Eve, though they 
grieved concerning Abel and their son. 

CHAPTER IV 

And after this, Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived 
and bare Seth. 

And Adam said to Eve: " See! we have begotten a son 
in place of Abel, whom Cain slew, let us give glory and 
sacrifice to God." 

chapteb v 

And Adam begat thirty sons and thirty daughters, and 
Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years ; and he fell sick, 
and cried with a loud voice and said : " Let all my sons come 
to me that I may see them before I die." 

And all assembled, for the earth was divided into three 
parts. And Seth, his son, said to him : « Father Adam, what 
is thy complaint ? " 

And he saith, " My children, I am crushed by the burden 
of trouble." And they say to him, « What is trouble ? " 

CHAPTER VI 

And Seth answered and said to him: "Hast thou called 
to mind, father, the fruit of paradise of which thou usedst 
to eat, and hast been grieved in yearning for it ? " 

"If this be so, tell me, and I will go and bring thee 
fruit from paradise. Eor I will set dung upon my head 
and will weep and pray that the Lord will harken to me and 
send his angel and bring me a plant from paradise, and I 
will bring it thee that thy trouble may cease from thee." 

Adam saith to him: " Nay, my son Seth, but I have much 
sickness and trouble ! " Seth saith to him: " And how hath 
this come upon thee ? " 

OHAPTEE VII 

And Adam said to him : " When God made us, me and 
your mother, through whom also I die, He gave ua power to 
eat of every tree which is in paradise, but, concerning that 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 29 

one only, he charged ua not to eat of it, and through this one 
we are to die. And the hour drew nigh for the angels who 
were guarding your mother to go up and worship the Lord, 
and I was far from her, and the enemy knew that she was 
alone and gave to her, and she ate of the tree of which she 
had been told not to eat. Then she gave also to me to eat. 

CHAPTER VIII 

" And God was wroth with us, and the Lord came into 
paradise and called me in a terrible voice and said : ' Adam, 
where art thou ? And why hidest thou from my face ? Shall 
the house be able to hide itself from its builder ? ' And he 
saith to me: 'Since thou hast abandoned my covenant, I 
have brought upon thy body seventy-two strokes ; the trouble 
of the first stroke is a pain of the eyes, the second stroke an 
affection of the hearing, and likewise in turn all the strokes 
shall befall thee. 



; » 



CHAPTER IX 

As he said this to his sons, Adam groaned sore and said: 
" What shall I do ? I am in great distress." 

And Eve wept and said : " My lord Adam, rise up and give 
me half of thy trouble and I will endure it ; for it is on my 
account that this hath happened to thee, on my account thou 
art beset with toils and troubles." But Adam said to Eve, 
" Arise and go with my son Seth near to paradise, and put 
earth upon your heads and weep and pray God to have mercy 
upon me and send his angel to paradise, and give me of the 
tree out of which the oil floweth, and bring it me, and I shall 
anoint myself and shall have rest from my complaint." 

CHAPTER X 

Then Seth and Eve went toward paradise, and Eve saw 
her son, and a wild beast assailing him, and Eve wept and 
said: " Woe is me; if I come to the day of the Resurrection, 
all those who have sinned will curse me, saying: Eve hath 
not kept the commandment of God." And she spake to the 
beast : " Thou wicked beast, fearest thou not to fight with 



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30 THE SACRED BOOKS 

the image of God 1 How was thy mouth opened ? How were 
thy teeth made strong? How didst thou not call to mind 
thy subjection ? For long ago wast thou made subject to the 
image of God." Then the beast cried out and said: 

CHAPTER SI 

" It is not our concern, Eve, thy greed and thy wailing, but 
thine own ; for it is from thee that the rule of the beasts hath 
arisen. How was thy mouth opened to eat of the tree con- 
cerning which God enjoined thee not to eat of it? On this 
account, our nature also hath been transformed. Now there- 
fore thou canst not endure it, if I begin to reprove thee." 

CHAPTER XII 

Then Seth speaketh to the beast, " Close thy mouth and 
be silent, and stand off from the image of God until the day 
of Judgment." Then saith the beast to Seth: "Behold,! 
stand off from the image of God." And he went to his lair. 



CHAPTER XIII 



And Seth went with Eve near paradise, and they wept 
there, and prayed God to send his angel and give them the 
oil of mercy. 

And God sent the archangel Michael and he spoke to Seth : 
" Seth, man of God, weary not thyself with prayers and 
entreaties concerning the tree which tloweth with oil to anoint 
thy father Adam. Eor it shall not be thine now, but in the 
end of the times. Then shall all flesh be raised up from 
Adam till that great day — ail that shall be of the holy peo- 
ple. Then shall the delights of paradise be given to them, 
and God shall be in their midst. And they shall no longer 
sin before his face, for the evil heart shall be taken from 
them, and there shall be given them a heart understanding 
the good and to serve God only. 

But do thou go back to thy father. For the term of his 
life hath been fulfilled, and he will live three clays from to-day 
and will die. But when his soul is departing, thou shalt 
behold the awful scene of his passing." 






LITERATURE OF THE EAST 31 

CHAPTEB 21 V 

Thus spake the angel and departed from them. And Seth 
and Eve came to the hut where Adam was laid. And Adam 
saith to Eve: " Eve, what hast thou wrought in us? Thou 
hast brought upon us great wrath which is death, lording it 
over all our race." And he saith to her, " Call all our chil- 
dren and our children's children and tell them the manner of 
our transgression." 

Eve's Account of her Fall 

CHAPTER XV 

Then saith' Eve to them : " Hear, all my children and chil- 
dren's children, and I will relate to you how the enemy de- 
ceived us. It befell that we were guarding paradise, each of 
us the portion allotted to us from God. Now I guarded in 
my lot the west and the south. But the devil went to Adam's 
lot, where the male creatures were. Eor God divided the 
creatures ; all the males he gave to your father, and all the 
females he gave to me. 

CHAPTEB 2 VI 

"And the devil spake to the serpent, saying, 'Rise up, 
come to me and I will tell thee a word whereby thou mayst 
have profit.' And he rose and came to him. And the devil 
saith to him : ' I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, 
and I have come to counsel thee. Why dost thou eat of 
Adam's tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will 
cause him to be cast out of paradise, even as we were cast 
out through him.' The serpent saith to him, ' I fear lest 
the Lord be wroth with me.' The devil saith to him : ' Fear 
not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth 
words to deceive him.' 

CHAPTEE XVII 

" And instantly he hung himself from the wall of paradise, 
and when the angels ascended to worship God, then Satan 



3 <g THE SACRED BOOKS 

appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the 
angels. And I bent over the wall and saw him, like an 
angel. But he saith to me; * Art thou Eve? ' And I said 
to him, ' I am.' ' What art thou doing in paradise % ' And 
I said 'to him, ' God set us to guard and to eat of it.' The 
devil answered through the mouth of the serpent: 'Ye do 
well but ye do not eat of every plant.' And I said: ' Yea, 
we eat of all, save one only, which is in the midst of para- 
dise, concerning which, God charged us not to eat of it : for, 
He said to us, on the day on which ye eat of it, ye shall die 
the death.' 

CHAPTEB XVHI 

" Then the serpent saith to me, * May God live ! but I am 
grieved on your account, for I would not have you ignorant. 
But arise, come hither, barken to me and eat and mind 
the value of that tree.' But I said to him, ' I fear lest God 
be wroth with me as he told us.' And he saith tome:' Fear 
not, for as soon as thou eatest of it ye too shall be as God, 
in that ye shall know good and evil. But God perceived 
this that ye would be like Him, so he envied you and said, 
Ye shall not eat of it. Kay, do thou give heed to the plant 
and thou wilt see its great glory.' Yet I feared to take of 
the fruit. And he saith to me: « Come hither, and I will 
give it thee. Follow me.' 

chapter six 
" And I opened to him and he walked a little way, then 
turned and said to me: 'I have changed my mind, and I 
will not give thee to eat until thou swear to me to give also 
to thy husband.' And I said, ' What sort of oath shall I 
swear to thee? Yet what I know, I say to thee: By the 
throne of the Master, and by the Cherubim and the Tree of 
Life I will give also to my husband to eat.' And when he 
had 'received the oath from me, he went and poured upon 
the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust, the root 
and beginning of every sin, and he bent the branch on the 
earth and I took of the fruit and I ate. 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 



CHAPTER XX 

"And in that very hour my eyes were opened, and forth- 
with I knew that I was bare of the righteousness with which 
I had been clothed upon, and I wept and said to him; ' Why 
hast thou done this to me in that thou hast deprived me of the 
glory with which I was clothed ? ' But I wept also about the 
oath, which I had sworn. But he descended from the tree 
and vanished. And I began to seek, in my nakedness, in 
my part for leaves to hide my shame, but I found none, for 
as soon as I had eaten, the leaves showered down from all the 
trees in my part, except the fig-tree only. But I took leaves 
from it and made for myself a girdle and it was from the 
very same plant of which I had eaten. 

CHAPTER XXI 

" And I cried out in that very hour, ' Adam, Adam, where 
art thou ? Rise up, come to me and I will show thee a great 
secret.' But when your father came, I spake to him words 
of transgression which have brought us down from our great 
glory. For, when he came, I opened my mouth and the devil 
was speaking, and I began to exhort him and said, ' Come 
hither, my lord Adam, harken to me and eat of the fruit 
of the tree of which God told us not to eat of it, and thou shalt 
be as a God.' And your father answered and said, ' I fear 
lest God be wroth with me.' And I said to him, ' Fear not, 
for as soon as thou hast eaten thou shalt know good and evil.' 
And speedily I persuaded him, and he ate, and straightway 
his eyes were opened and he, too, knew his nakedness. And 
to me he saith, < O wicked woman ! what have I done to thee 
that thou hast deprived me of the glory of God ? ' 

OHAPTEE XXII 

" And in that same hour, we heard the archangel Michael 
blowing his trumpet and calling to the angels and saying: 
' Thus saith the Lord, Come with me to paradise and hear 
the judgment with which I shall judge Adam.' 

"And when God appeared in paradise, mounted on the 

VOL. XIV.— 3. 



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chariot of his cherubim with the angels proceeding before 
him and singing hymns of praises, all the plants of paradise, 
both of your father's lot and mine, broke out into flowers. 
And the throne of God was fixed where the Tree of Life was, 

CHAPTEB, XXIII 

" And God called Adam saying, ' Adam, where art thou ? 
Can the house be hidden from the presence of its builder ? ' 
Then your father answered : ' It is not because we think not 
to be found by thee, Lord, that we hide, but I was afraid, 
because I am naked, and I was ashamed before thy might, 
my Master.' God saith to him, ' who showed thee that thou 
art naked, unless thou hast forsaken my commandment, 
which I delivered thee to keep it ? ' Then Adam called to 
mind the word which I spake to him, saying, ' I will make 
thee secure before God ' ; and he turned and said to me : 
' Why hast thou done this ? * And I said, ' The serpent 
deceived me.' 

CHAPTER XXIV 

" God saith to Adam : ' Since thou hast disregarded my 
commandment and hast harkened to thy wife, cursed is the 
earth in thy labors. 

" : Thou shalt work it and it shall not give its strength : 
thorns and thistles shall spring up for thee, and in the sweat 
of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. Thou shalt be in 
manifold toils; thou shalt be crushed by bitterness, but of 
sweetness shalt thou not taste. 

" ' Weary shalt thou be and shalt not rest ; by heat shalt 
thou be tired, by cold shalt thou be straitened: abundantly 
shalt thou busy thyself, but thou shalt not be rich; and 
thou shalt grow fat, but come to no end. 

" ' The beasts, over whom thou didst rule, shall rise 
up in rebellion against thee, for thou hast not kept my 
commandment.' 

ciiaptee xxv 

" And the Lord turned to me and said : ' Since thou hast 
harkened to the serpent, and turned a deaf ear to my com- 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 35 

nundment, thou shalt be in throes of travail and intolerable 
agonies ; thou shalt bear children in much trembling, and in 
one hour thou shalt come to the birth, and lose thy life, from 
thy sore trouble and anguish. But thou shalt confess and 
say: " Lord, Lord, save me, and I will turn no more to the 
sin of the flesh." And on this account, from thine own 
words I will judge thee, by reason of the enmity which the 
enemy has planted in thee.' 

CHAPTEB XXVI 

, " But he tnrned to the serpent in great wrath and said: 
Since thou hast done this, and heeome a thankless vessel 
until thou hast deceived the innocent hearts, accursed art 
thou among all beasts. Thou shalt be deprived of the victual 
of which thou didst eat, and shalt feed on dust all the days 
of thy life; on thy breast and thy belly shalt thou walk, and 
be robbed of hands and feet. There shall not be left thee 
ear nor wing, nor one limb of all that which thou didst 
ensnare them in thy malice and causedst them to be cast out 
of paradise; and I will put enmity between thee and his 
seed; he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel 
until the day of Judgment.' 

CHAPTER XXVII 

" Thus he spake and bade the angels have us cast out of 
Paradise: and as we were being driven out amid our loud 
lamentations, your Father Adam besought the angels and 
said: 'Leave me a little space that I may entreat the Lord 
that he have compassion on me and pity me, for I only have 
sinned,' And they left off driving him, and Adam cried 
aloud and wept, saying: 'Pardon me, O Lord, my deed.' 
Then the Lord saith to the angels, < Why have ye ceased from 
driving Adam from paradise ? Why do ye not cast him out ? 
Is it I who have done wrong? Or is my judgment badly 
judged?' Then the angels fell down on the ground and 
worshiped the Lord, saying, « Thou art just, Lord, and thou 
judgest righteous judgment' 



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CHAPTER XXVIII 

"But the Lord turned to Adam and said: 'I will not 
suffer thee henceforward to be in paradise/ And Adam an- 
swered and said, < Grant me, O Lord, of the Tree of Life that 
I may eat of it, before I be cast out.' Then the Lord spake 
to Adam, < Thou shalt not take of it now, for I have com- 
manded the cherubim with the flaming sword that turneth 
every way to guard it from thee that thou taste not of it; but 
thou hast the war which the adversary hath put into thee; 
yet when thou art gone out of paradise, if thou shouldst 
keep thyself from all evil, as one about to die, when again the 
Resurrection hath come to pass, I will raise thee up and then 
there shall be given to thee the Tree of Life. 

CHAPTER XXIX 

« Thus spake the Lord, and ordered us to be cast out of 
paradise. But your father Adam wept before the angels 
opposite paradise and the angels said to him: What 
wouldst thou have us to do, Adam ? » And your father sai h 
to them, < Behold, ye cast me out. I pray you, allow me to 
take away fragrant herbs from paradise, so that I may otter 
an offering to God after I have gone out of paradise that 
be hear me.' And the angels approached God and sa!d: 
<Jael Eternal King, command, my Lord, that there be 
given to Adam incense of sweet odor from paradise and seeds 
for his food.' And God bade Adam go in and take sweet 
spices and fragrant herbs from paradise and seeds for his 
food. And the angels let him go in, and he took four kinds : 
crocus and nard and calamus and cinnamon and the other 
aeeds for his food: and, after taking these, he went out ol 
paradise. And we were on the earth. 

CHAPTER. XXX 

"Now then, my children, I have shown you the way 
in which we were deceived ; and do ye guard yourselves from 
transgressing against the good." 






LITERATURE OP THE EAST 37 

CHAPTER XXXI 

And when Eve had said this in the midst of her sons, 
while Adam was lying ill and bound to die after a single day 
from the sickness which had fastened upon him, she sa ith 
to him: « How is it that thou diest and I live, or how long 
have I to live after thou art dead ? Tell me." And Adam 
saith to her: « Reck not of this, for thou tarriest not after 
me, hut even both of us are to die together. And she shall 
he m my place. But when I die, anoint me and let no man 
touch me till the angel of the Lord shall speak somewhat con- 
cerning me. For God will not forget me, but will seek His 
own creature; and now arise rather and pray to God till I 
give up my spirit into His hands who gave it to me. For 
we know not how we are to meet our Maker, whether He be 
wroth with us, or be merciful and intend to pity and receive 
us. 

The Vision of Eve 

CHAPTEB XXXII 

And Eve rose up and went outside and fell on the ground, 
ana! began to say: « I have sinned, O God, I have sinned, O 
God of All, I have sinned against Thee. I have sinned 
against the elect angels. I have sinned against the Cheru- 
bim. I have sinned against Thy fearful and unshakable 
Throne. I have sinned before Thee, and all sin hath begun 
through my doing in the creation." Even thus prayed Eve 
on her knees; and behold, the angel of humanity came to 
her, and raised her up and said: "Rise up, Eve, from thy 
penitence, for behold, Adam thy husband hath gone out of 
his body. Rise up and behold his spirit borne aloft to his 
Maker." 

CHAPTEB XXXIII 

And Eve rose up and wiped off her tears with her hand, 
and the angel saith to her, « Lift up thyself from the earth." 
And she gazed steadfastly into heaven, and beheld a chariot 
of light, borne by four bright eagles, and it were impossible 



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38 THE SACRED BOOKS 

for any man born of woman to tell the glory of them or 
behold their face — and angels going before the chariot — 
and when they came to the place where your father Adam 
was, the chariot halted and the Seraphim. And I beheld 
golden censers, between your father and the chariot, and 
all the angels with censers and frankincense came in haste 
to the incense-offering and blew upon it and the smoke of 
the incense veiled the firmaments. And the angels fell 
down and worshiped God, crying aloud and saying, " Jael, 
Holy One, have pardon, for he is Thy image, and the work 
of Thy holy hands." 

CHAPTER XXXIV 

" And I, Eve, beheld two great and fearful wonders stand- 
ing in the presence of God and I wept for fear, and I cried 
aloud to my son Seth and said, ' Eise up, Seth, from the 
body of thy father Adam, and come to me, and thou shalt 
see a spectacle which no man's eye hath yet beheld.' " 

CHAPTER XXXV 

Then Seth arose and came to his mother and to her he 
saith : " What is thy trouble ? Why weepest thou ? M 
And she saith to him : " Look up and see with thine eyes 
the seven heavens opened, and see how the soul of thy 
father lies on its face and all the holy angels are praying 
on his behalf and saying : * Pardon him, Father of All, for 
he is Thine image.' Pray, my child Seth, what shall this 
mean ? And will he one day be delivered into the hands of 
the Invisible Father, even our God ? But who are the two 
negroes who stand by at the prayers for thy father Adam ? " 

CHAPTER XXXVI 

And Seth telleth his mother, that they are the sun and 
moon and themselves fall down and pray on behalf of my 
father Adam. Eve saith to him : " And where is their 
light and why have they taken on such a black appearance I " 
And Seth answereth her, " The light hath not left them, but 
they can not shine before the Light of the Universe, the 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 39 



Father of Light ; and on thi's account their light hath heen 
hidden from them." 









The Burial Services 



CHAPTER XXXVII 



"Now while Seth was saying this to his mother, lo, an angel 
blew the trumpet, and there stood up all the angels and they 
were lying on their faces, and they cried aloud in an awful 
voice and said : " Blessed be the glory of the Lord from the 
works of His making, for He hath pitied Adam the creature 
of His hands." But when the angels had said these words, 
lo, there came one of the seraphim with six wings and 
snatched up Adam and carried him off to the Acherusian 
lake, and washed him thrice, in the presence of God. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 

And God saith to him: "Adam, what hast thou done? 
If thou hadst kept my commandment, there would now be 
no rejoicing among those who are bringing thee down to this 
place. Yet, I tell thee that I will turn their joy to grief 
and thy grief will I turn to joy, and I will transform thee 
to thy former glory, and set thee on the throne of thy de- 
ceiver. But he shall be cast into this place to see thee sit- 
ting above him, then he shall be condemned and they that 
heard him, and he shall be grieved sore when he seeth thee 
sitting on his honorable throne." 

CHAPTER XXXIX 

And he stayed there three hours, lying down, and there- 
after the Father of all, sitting on his holy throne, stretched 
out his hand, and took Adam and handed him over to the 
archangel Michael, saying: "Lift him up into paradise 
unto the third Heaven, and leave him there until that fear- 
ful day of my reckoning, which I will make in the world." 
Then Michael took Adam and left him where God told 
him. 



40 THE SACRED BOOKS 



CHAPTER XL 



But after all this, the archangel asked concerning the lay- 
ing out of the remains. And God commanded that all the 
angels should assemble in His presence, each in his order, 
and all the angels assembled, some having censers in their 
hands, and others trumpets. And lo! the "Lord of 
Hosts " came on, and four winds drew Him, and cherubim 
mounted on the winds and the angels from heaven escorting 
Him, and they came on the earth, where was the body of 
Adam. And they came to paradise, and all the leaves of 
paradise were stirred so that all men begotten of Adam, 
slept from the fragrance save Seth alone, because he was 
born " according to the appointment of God." Then 
Adam's body lay there in paradise on the earth, and Seth 
grieved exceedingly over him, 

CHAPTER XLI 

Then God spake to the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, 
and Haphael : " Go away to paradise in the third heaven, 
and strew linen clothes, and cover the body of Adam, and 
bring oil of the * oil of fragrance' and pour it over him." 
And they acted thus, did the three great angels, and they 
prepared him for burial. And God said : " Let the body 
of Abel also be brought." And they brought other linen 
clothes and prepared his body also, For he was unburied 
since the day when Cain his brother slew him; for wicked 
Cain took great pains to conceal him, but could not, for the 
earth would not receive him, for the body sprang up from 
the earth, and a voice went out of the earth, saying : " I 
will not receive a companion body till the earth which was 
taken and fashioned in me cometh to me." At that time 
the angels took it and placed it on a rock till Adam his 
father was buried. And both were buried, according to the 
commandment of God, in the spot where God found the dust, 
and He caused the place to be dug for two. And God sent 
seven angels to paradise and they brought many fragrant 
spices and placed them in the earth, and they took the two 



LITERATURE OF THE EAST 41 

bodies and placed them in the spot which they had digged 
and huilded. 

CHAPTER XLII 

And God called and said, "Adam, Adam." And the 
body answered from the earth and said: "Here am I, 
Lord." And God saith to him ; " I told thee that earth 
thou art and to earth shalt thou return. Again I promise to 
thee the Resurrection; I will raise thee up in the 
Resurrection with every man, who is of thy seed." 

CHAPTER XIJTI 

After these words, God made a seal and sealed the tomb, 
that no one might do anything to him for six days till his 
rib should return to him. Then the Lord and his angels 
went to their place. And Eve also, when the six days were 
fulfilled, fell asleep. But while she was living, she wept bit- 
terly about Adam's falling on sleep, for she knew not where 
he was laid. For when the Lord came to paradise to bury 
Adam she was asleep, and her sons too, except Seth, till He 
bade Adam be prepared for burial; and no man knew on 
earth, except her son Seth. And Eve prayed (in the hour 
of her death) that she might be buried in the place where 
her husband Adam was. And after she had finished her 
prayer, she saith : " Lord, Master, God of all rule, estrange 
not me thy handmaid from the body of Adam, for from his 
members didst thou make me. But deem me worthy, even 
me unworthy that I am and a sinner, to enter into his 
tabernacle, even as I was with him in paradise, both with- 
out separation from each other; just as in our transgres- 
sions we were both led astray and transgressed thy com- 
mand, but were not separated. Even so, Lord, do not 
separate us now." 

But after she had prayed she gazed heavenward and 
groaned aloud and smote her breast and said : " God of All, 
receive my spirit," and straightway she delivered up her 
spirit to God. 



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4S 



THE SACRED BOOKS 



CHAPTEE XLIV 

And Michael came and taught Seth how to prepare Eve 
for burial. And there came three angels and they buried 
her body where Adam's body was and Abel's. And there- 
after Michael spake to Seth and saith : « Lay out in this 
wise every man that dieth till the day of Kesurrection." 
And after giving him this rule; he saith to him: " Mourn 
not beyond six days, but on the seventh day rest and rejoice 
on it, because on that very day God rejoiceth, yea, and we 
angels too with the righteous soul, who hath passed away 
from the earth." Even thus spake the angel, and ascended 
into heaven, glorifying God and saying: "Allelujah." 

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, in the glory of God the 
Father, for to Him it is meet to give glory, honor, and wor- 
ship, with the eternal life-giving spirit now and always and 
forever. Amen. 

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. To whom be glory 
and power forever and forever. Amen. 

Then the archangel Joel glorified God; saying, "Holy, 
Holy, Holy Lord, heaven and earth are full of thy glory." 



LITERATURE OP THE EAST 43 



THE SLAVONIC BOOK OF EVE 

[The opening is like the opening of the Apocalypse of 
Moses, so is omitted here.] 

And we sat together before the gate of paradise, Adam 
weeping with his face bent down to the earth, lay on the 
ground lamenting. And seven days passed by and we had 
nothing to eat and were consumed with great hunger, and I, 
Eve, cried with a loud voice: "Pity me, O Lord, my 
Creator ! For my sake Adam suffereth thus ! " 

And I said to Adam : " Pise up ! my lord, that we may 
seek us food; for now my spirit faileth me and my heart 
within me is brought low." Then Adam spake to me: "I 
have thoughts of killing thee, but I fear since God created 
thine image and thou showest penitence and eriest to God; 
hence my heart hath not departed from thee." 

And Adam arose and we roamed through all lands and 
found nothing to eat save nettles and grass of the field. 
And we returned again to the gates of paradise and cried 
aloud and entreated : " Have compassion on thy creature. 
O Lord Creator, allow us food." 

And for fifteen days continuously we entreated. Then 
we heard Michael the archangel and Joel * praying for us, 
and Joel the archangel was commanded by the Lord, and 
he took a seventh part of paradise and gave it to us. Then 
the Lord said : " Thorns and thistles shall spring up from 
under thy hands ; and from thy sweat shalt thou eat bread, 
and thy wife shall tremble when she looketh upon thee." 

The archangel Joel said to Adam : " Thus saith the 
Lord; I did not create thy wife to command thee, but to 
obey ; why art thou obedient to thy wife % " Again Joel the 
archangel bade Adam separate the cattle and all kinds of 
flying and creeping things and animals, both wild and tame ; 
i"Joel." Confusion with Jab-El. 






44 THE SACRED BOOKS 

and to give names to all things. Then indeed he took the 
oxen and began to plow, 2 

Then the devil approached and stood before the oxen, and 
hindered Adam in tilling the field, and said to Adam: 
"Mine are the things of earth, the things of Heaven are 
God's; bnt if thou wilt be mine, thou shalt labor on the 
earth; but if thou wilt be God's, pray go away to paradise." 
Adam said: "The things of Heaven are the Lord's, and 
the things of earth and paradise 3 and the whole universe." 

The devil said: "I do not suffer thee to till the field, 
except thou write the bond that thou art mine." Adam 
replied : « Whosoever is lord of the earth, to the same do I 
belong and my children." Then the devil was overcome 
with joy. But Adam was not ignorant that the Lord would 
descend on earth and tread the devil under foot. The devil 
said: " Write me thy bond." And Adam wrote: "Who 
is lord of the earth, to the same do I belong and my 
children." & J 

Eve said to Adam, " Rise up, my lord, let us pray to God 
m this cause that He set us free from that devil, for thou 
art in this strait on my account." 

But Adam said: « Eve, since thou repentest of thy mis- 
deed, my heart will harken to thee, for the Lord created thee 
out of my ribs. Let us fast forty days ; perchance the Lord 
wiU have pity on us and will leave us understanding and 
life." I, for my part, said: « Do thou, my lord, fast forty 
days, but I will fast forty-four." 

And Adam said to me: « Haste thee to the river named 
Tigris, and take a great stone and place it under thy feet, 
and enter into the stream and clothe thyself with water as 
with a cloak, up to the neck, and pray to God in thy heart 
and let no word proceed out of thy mouth." And I said: 

iuli'I^'L ^° eX i- reme ascetici ^-corn regarded as a blessing - 
just as there is no disparagement of marriage 

a Heretical interpolation by Bogomilian dualist ( Jagic). " Paradise " 
here is the heavenly one, widely separated from the earth For this 
whole section compare Pauline phrase - bond servants of sin."' It occurs 
mall Slavome MSS. of " Solf emus - and Polish and BoLmian ISm 




LITERATURE OF THE EAST 45 

" my lord, with my whole heart will I call upon God." 
And Adam said to me : " Take great care of thyself. Ex- 
cept thou seest me and all my tokens, depart not out of the 
water, nor trust in the words, which are said to thee, lest 
thou fall again into the snare." And Adam came to Jordan 
and he entered into the water and he plunged himself alto- 
gether into the flood, even to the hairs of his head, while he 
made supplication to God and sent up prayers to Him. 

And there, the angels came together and all living 
creatures, wild and tame, and all hirds that fly, and they 
surrounded Adam, like a wall, praying to God for Adam. 

The devil came to me, wearing the form and brightness 
of an angel, and shedding big tear-drops, and said to me: 
" Come out of the water, Eve ; God hath heard thy prayers 
and heard us angels. God hath f infilled the prayers of those 
who intercede on thy behalf. God hath sent me to thee, that 
thou mayst come out of the water." 

But I perceived that he was the devil and answered him 
nothing. But Adam, when he returned from Jordan, saw 
the devil's footprints, and feared lest perchance he had 
deceived me ; but when he had remarked me standing in the 
water he was overcome with joy and he took me and led me 
out of the water. 

Then Adam cried out with a loud voice : " Be silent, 
Eve, for already is my spirit straitened in my body; arise, 
go forth, utter prayers to God, till I deliver up my spirit to 
God." 

[From here the book parallels the Apocalypse of Moses, 
chapter sxxii, and is like it almost to the end.] 



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