NOTES. 221
birth to a son called Abel,and to a daughter called Awain, but in Greek, Laphura. (Nazam al-j., p. 14.)
43. Or, grudged it. He, says Philo on this, who slays a victim [or,
sacrifice], after dividing it, pours out the blood about the altar, and takes home the meat. But he who brings an offering, gives it whole, as we see, to him who takes [or, receives] it. Thus he who is selfish [a lover of self] like Cain, parts or divides [his offering]; but he, who like Abel, is a lover of God, devotes [to Him] his gift.(Qucest.
in Gen., Armen. Ixii.)
44. According to Said Ibn-Batrik (Eutychus) when the sons were grown
up, Adam said to Eve: Let Cain take Owain, that was born with Abel, and let Abel take Azrun who was born with Cain. Then, said Cain to Eve his mother, I will take my sister, and
Abel shall take his sister; because Azrun was fairer than Owain. But when Adam heard these words, he was greatly perplexed, and said to Cain: It is
against the commandment that thou shouldest marry the sister that was born with thee.(Nazam al-j., pp.
14-17.)
According to S. Epiphanius, Hceres.xl,5, the Archontici, heretics in Palestine, held that and that the two brothers did not fall out on account of God's preference for Abel, but because they both wished to have the same sister in marriage. Therefore did Cain kill Abel.
For a Gnostic account of this, see S.Irenaeus, Hceres, lib. i, p. 110 (ed.Grabe) ; concerning which statements Theodoritus says (Hceres, lib. i, 11), were I to repeat them.
45. Why then did Cain and Abel quarrel together? Because, answers
R. Arona, the fairest twin sister was born with Abel. Cain, then said, I
shall take her to wife because I am the
eldest. But Abel said: But I will have her because she was born with me.(Beresh.
Eabbah, sect, xxii, fol. 26.) Said Ibn-Batrik relates that Adam
then said to Cain and to Abel, Take ye of the fruits of the earth, and of the young of your flock, and go to the top of that holy mountain, and make an offering there; and then take your wives to
yourselves. Cain offered of the
best fruits of the earth; and Abel of the best of his flock. Meanwhile, as they were going up the mountain, Satan entered(the heart) of Cain to kill his brother
because of Azrun his sister. Therefore God did not accept Cain's offering.(Nazam al-j., p. 17.) This is contrary to Scripture. Targum
Onkelos, renders the Hebrew ; but Targum Jonathan says, that Cain
and Abel made their offering on the fourteenth of Nisan,and that Cain's offering was Cain's offering was, his thoughts dwelling on covering his nakedness from before the Lord. Josephus (Antiq.i,c. 2) says, Abel offered milk, and the firstlings of his flock.
46. God said to Cain, Why is thy countenance sad ? If thou doest well, shall not thy guilt be forgiven thee ? But if thou doest evil in this life, thy sin shall be reserved unto the great day of Judgment,and thy sin shall lie at the door of thy heart. Behold, I have made over to thee power (or, authority) over [thy] evil nature; the desire of it will be unto thee [it will solicit thee to evil];
but thou shalt rule over it, whether for good [purity] or for sin between.
222 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
purity (or, holiness) and between sin].(Targ. Jonathan in Gen. iv.)
47. Then Cain said to Abel, Let us
go down into the rale. Hence we see either that they were living on the slope of the mountain of Paradise, whence Cain led his brother into the plain below, or that Abel was tending his sheep on the hill, whence Cain brought him down into the vale, suited to him by reason of the standing corn and
mud; among which Cain could easily hide and bury his brother.
(S. Ephrem,in Gen., vol. i, p. 41.)
(S. Ephrem,in Gen., vol. i, p. 41.)
48. Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. When there Cain said, There is no judgment; there
is no Judge; there is no world to come, and there is neither reward for the righteous nor retribution to the
wicked. But Abel replied, There is a Judgment
and there is a Judge; there is a world to come,and there is both a reward to the righteous,and a punishment to the wicked. And as they were disputing about this in the field, Cain rose against his brother, stuck a stone into his forehead and killed him.
(Targ. Jonath. and Jer., in Gen. iv.)
(Targ. Jonath. and Jer., in Gen. iv.)
49. Josephus (Antiq. i, c. 2) says, that Cain and S.Ephrem as
stated above, says that as Abel tended his sheep on a hill, Cain allured him into the plain, where he might easily hide his body among the tall ears of corn,and bmedro thamre hwo,and cover it with mud. But in the Coran(sur. v, 37) we read: faba ath allahu ghurdban yabhathu fi-llardh, that God sent a raven that scratched the earth to show Cain how to hide his brother's corpse. Jelal, however (Maracci, p. 229) says that this raven had a dead one in its beak, which it hid in the earth after having dug it with its beak and claws. But Masudi (ch. iii, p. 64) says that God sent forth two ravens, one of which killed and buried the other. Seeing this, Cain repeated the words of the Coran, sur. v, 34: Wretched man that I am, why cannot I be like this raven and hide my [shame or] guilt against
my brother ? He then buried him. Midrash TanJchuma (p. 6, ed. Amst.)
however, says that they were two clean birds, one of which killed its fellow, then dug the earth with its feet and buried it, in the
presence of Cain,and in order to show him how to bury his brother, and to hide his blood. R. Eliezer (Pirke, etc.), however, as quoted in Yalkut Shimoni, fol. ii, says that, the dog who kept Abel's
sheep, watched by his corpse to ward off beasts and birds of prey from it. And that as Adam and his help-meet sat by the corpse, wailing aloud over their son who lay dead, not knowing what to
do, a raven that had killed its fellow said to them, I will show you what
to do. It then began to dig in the
earth,and buried the bird. Then Adam said to Eve, Let us do the same;and they dug the earth, and buried
Abel. I, Enoch, came to a place where I saw the spirits of the departed;and I asked Raphael who was with me, What spirit is it whose voice reaches me and accuses? And Raphael answered: It is the spirit of Abel, whom Cain his brother killed;and who will accuse him until his seed is destroyed from off the face of the earth,and from the race of men his seed defiles. I then asked Raphael about him and about the day of judgment,and why he was separated from the rest [or one from another]. Then he answered: These three
separations, by chasm, water and light above, have been made between the spirits of righteous men, from sinners when they are buried in the earth;and great is the suffering of sinful spirits, until.
NOTES.
223
great Day of Judgment, etc. (Book of Enoch, c. xxii, p. 14, 15.)
Before Cain had killed his brother, the land yielded fruit like the Garden of Eden ; but after that murder, the land turned to yield only thorns and thistles.(Targ. Hieros. in Gen. iv.)
50. Targum Jonathan, however, says this sign was NEED of the great and precious Name. (In Gen. iv.)
NOTES TO BOOK II.
1 Masudi (i, ch. iii, p. 65), gives a popular ditty said to have been composed by Adam, while mourning for Abel. How changed is the land and those who dwell in it ! The face of the earth is now but hideous dust; Everything has lost both flavour and colour; Mirth and gladsome faces are gone;And our family has taken the tama risk and other weeds, for the sweet and lovely plants of Paradise. Around us
[watches] a relentless foe, accursed, at whose death we should breathe freely. Cain has slain Abel cruelly [or with violence]; Oh, sorrow over that beautiful countenance 1 How should I not shed floods of tears, while the grave embraces Abel ? There is now for me
but a life-long sorrow; for what relief could I find from it ? To which Eblis, who was at hand, though unseen replied: Go from this land,and from its inhabitants, for the earth is now too narrow for thee. Thou, Adam wast in it with thy wife Eve, happy at being safe from the woes of this world; But my wiles and my craft rested not, until thou wast deprived of those goods. And unless the mercy of the Most High protected thee, the wind alone would carry.thee far from the everlasting
Paradise.See Fabricius Cod. Apoc. V. T., vol. i,
p. 21, sq., for The Psalms of Adam and Eve.
2 R. Abarbanel, Comm. in Pent. p. 30, says that Eve conceived twins in the Garden of Eden;and that what is told in the Midrash is true, that she must have brought forth twins [though not so stated in Scripture], otherwise Cain could not have taken a wife,and have had children by her, whose name was Ana.
2 R. Abarbanel, Comm. in Pent. p. 30, says that Eve conceived twins in the Garden of Eden;and that what is told in the Midrash is true, that she must have brought forth twins [though not so stated in Scripture], otherwise Cain could not have taken a wife,and have had children by her, whose name was Ana.
3 When Eve conceived Seth, her forehead shone, light brightened up her features,and her eyes flashed rays of light;and when the time came that she should be delivered, she brought forth Sheit [Seth] an eagle among men, who excelled them in grace, beauty of form, perfection of gifts, nobleness of disposition;and resplendent of light which, passing from Eve into him, shone on his forehead, and enhanced his beauty ; so that Adam called him Hibbet Allah, Gift of God. When Seth
was grown up, Adam taught him his high calling as depository of God s will concerning his race, Masudii, ch. iii, pp.
67, 68. In the two hundredth year of Adam, says Syncellus, Seth was taken up by angels and taught the falling away of.
224 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
the Watchers, the destruction of the earth by the Flood, and the coming of the Saviour. When after forty days absence he returned among men, he then declared to Adain and Eve what he had seen and heard, Seth was then forty years old; he was beautifully formed, as all his children were after him. They dwelt in a high land not far
from Eden, (Chron. p. 16, 17; and Cedren. Hist., Comp. i, p. 16.)
Adam when two hundred and thirty years old, begat a son whom he called Seth, of a beautiful countenance, tall,and
of a perfect stature like his father Adam. (Said Ibn-Bat. Nazam al-j.,p. 17.) The Archontici say (S. Epiph. Hcsres.xl, 7)
4. Adam knowing in his own wisdom that this son would not, like Abel, seek after glory and kingdom,and that he would not be like Cain, eager after possessions,and a tiller of the ground but that he would give himself to spiritual and intellectual pursuits called him HE ?, Seth, because he saw that the world would be founded on him.
(K. Abarbanel, Comm. in Pent, fol. 31.) Seth was weaned when twelve years old, says Cedrenus (Hist. Comp. i, p.16); and his face shone so brightly that they called him a god !
5. This chapter looks like a Christian version of the story of Lilith a night owl, but also lamia, a shedevil, often mentioned in Rabbinical writings. Elias Levita (Tishbi, ed. Isn.,su. 6, v), says, one finds written
that during the one hundred and thirty years Adam was separated from Eve, demons visited him, conceived and bare him demons, unclean spirits and wicked sprites And R. Eliezer adds, When God
created the first man alone, He said, It is not good for man to be alone. He created for him a woman out of the earth whom He called Lilith, who bare him everyday a hundred children, that were dispersed abroad among the lands, seas, mountains,(Ben Syra in Buxtorf,Lex. v, p. 114,s. 1.) And elsewhere we are told in agreement with such stories, that Adam was driven from Paradise on the Sabbath-eve, down into the lowest of the seven earths where he spent the whole Sabbath in
terror and in utter darkness. But when he had repented of his sin God brought him up to(PIDTM) the ground above that, where a light lighted the firmament of heaven, As regards the inhabitants of that earth (Adamah) they are all Anakim of immense size, which the first man begat together with demons, spirits and
Liliths which Lilith bare unto him, when she overcame him against
his will, during the one hundred and thirty years he was separated from
Eve,(JEmeq hammelek, fol. 179, quoted in Eisenmeng., vol. i, p. 459.)
NOTES. 225
7. When Adam's death, says Eutychus, drew near, he called his son
Seth, Enos, the son of Seth, Cainan, the son of Enos, and Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, and commanded them saying, Let this commandment be to your children. When I am dead embalm my body with myrrh, incense and cassia [or,cinnamon] and lay me in the Cave of Treasures. And whichever of your sons is living at the time of your leaving the borders of the garden (Paradise), let him take my
body with him,and place it in the middle of the earth; for from thence will come my salvation and that of all my children.(Nazam al-j., p. 18.) Adam, the first man created, having heard John discoursing of Christ in the region of darkness, said to Seth his
son, O my son, I desire thee to
tell the ancestors of our race and the prophets, whither I send thee, when I fell sick unto death. Then Seth said, Patriarchs and prophets hearken. My father Adam when he fell sick unto death, sent me to make a request unto God, close to the gates of Paradise, that He would guide me through the leading of an angel, to the Tree of Mercy (that is,of the oil of mercy) that I take some of the oil,and anoint my father, and raise him from his sickness. That, I have done. Then, after my prayer, the angel
of
the Lord coming to me, said, What is thy request, O Seth ? Thou askest for the oil that raises the sick, or for the tree whence that oil flows, for thy father's sickness. Thou canst not find it now. Go thy way, and tell thy father, that when five thousand five hundred
years from the creation shall be fulfilled, the Only Begotten Son of God, shall come upon earth in a human body,and that He will anoint him with that oil and that He will wash him and his children with water and with the Holy Ghost;and that thy father will then be cured of every disease. For the present, this is impossible. The patriarchs and prophets hearing this, rejoiced greatly.(Evangel Nicodemi GreecS, c. xix, ed. Thilo.) The Latin copy, as given by Fabricius, Cod. Apocr.V. T., vol. i, p. 278, which is followed
by the A.-Saxon version (ed. Thwaites,Oxon, 1698) differs from the Greek in some respects. See also Cotel. Pat Apost., vol. i, p. 497, note.
8. Adam having in the six hundredth year, repented of his transgression, received by revelation through Uriel , who is set over those who repent, a knowledge of the Watchers, of the Flood,
and of other things to come.(Sync.Chron., p. 1 8.) He died aged nine hundred and thirty, on the same day as that on which he had transgressed. Inasmuch as one thousand years are as one day
among heavenly witnesses, as it was written on the Tree of Knowledge that he should die on the day he ate of its fruit, Adam did not complete the day of one thousand years, by seventy years, but died on that same day. Kufale,is.
226 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
p. 19.) Adam also learnt of Uriel about the prayers sent up on high, day and night, by the whole creation, through Uriel who presides over repentance. At the first hour of the day prayer in heaven; second hour prayer of angels; third hour of birds; fourth hour of
cattle; fifth hour of wild beasts; sixth hour angels attend,and set in order the whole creation; seventh hour angels go into the presence of God,and come out thence; eighth hour praises and offerings of angels; ninth hour prayers and supplications of men;
tenth hour prayers of heavenly and earthly beings; eleventh hour confession and rejoicings of all; twelfth hour men s intercessions accepted by God.(Cedren.ffist.Cowp.,p.18; and M. Glycas, Annal., p. 228; also Fabric.,Cod. Apoc. V. T., vol. i, p. 14, sq.)
9. After Seth, Adam begat nine more children. (Kufale, p. 16.) And
when
he died he left thirty-three sons and twenty-six daughters; having been
chief of his kindred all the days of his life.(Syncell. Chron., p. 19.)
10. All the time Adam lived, says Said Ibn-Batrik (Eutychus), was nine hundred and thirty years. He died on a Friday, in the fourteenth night from the new moon, being the sixth of Nisan,
which is Barmudeh, at the ninth hour of that Friday. That is the hour at which he was driven from Paradise. When Adam was dead, his son Seth embalmed him, as he had commanded him. And Seth took his body up the mountain, and buried it in the Cave of Treasures. And they mourned over him forty days.(Nazam al-j., p. 18.)
11. The Life [He who is Life eternal life, also called Supreme Life, as distinguished from the second or lesser life that of mortals], the Supreme Life having taken counsel, sent deliverance to Adam, from his body,and from this world of sorrow. Then his soul was severed from the body, to which it said, Why do we tarry, in this foul body ? The Deliverer will come and set us free. Then the Deliverer
came touched Adam, and said to him: Arise, O Adam, shake off thy foul body, house of clay, which the seven
star-angels made for thee; the Life sends me to fetch thee back to the place whence thou earnest, where thy parents live. Hearing this, Adam began to weep,and said: My father, if I go with thee, who will take care of this world of Eve my wife of the crops I have sown of this house which I occupied of the fruits of my garden ? Who will draw water from the Euphrates and from the Tigris to water my plants? Who will bind the ox to the plough put the seed in the earth
and gather in the harvest ? Who will befriend the orphan and the widow, clothe the naked,and set free the captive ? Come,
come, said the Deliverer to Adam, come,and put on thy
garment of light, where the sun never sets; wear on thy brow the crown of glory ; gird thyself with water wherein is no pain,and sit on the throne, made ready for thee by the Eternal Life, But Father, said Adam, if I
go with Thee who will take care of my body wake.
NOTES.
227
it up where it lies,and give it food to eat, or shelter it from the storm or keep the beasts of the field from devouring it, or the birds of the air from nestling themselves in the hair of my head,(Cod. Nasar., pp. 140-142.)
12. Then the Messenger of Life came, took Eve away from an evil crowd,and put an end to her sorrow. She then fell upon her face before him and said, Welcome art thou, O Lord; take me
to Thy company above,and bring my soul oat of this body. I am come, said
the Messenger of Life, to fetch thee thou shalt rest in light,and thy countenance shall shine for ever(Cod.Nazar., iii, p. 166, sq.)
13. After the death of Adam, the family of Seth severed itself from the family of Cain the accursed. Tor Seth, taking with him his firstborn son Enos, with Cainan the son of Enos, and Mahalaleel
the son of Cainan, with their wives and children, led them up the mountain to the top, where he buried Adam. But Cain and all his children abode in the vale, where he had slain Abel.(Eutychus,
Nazam al-j., pp. 20, 21.) But Cain, after many wanderings came to a certain place called Cainan, where he committed all manner
of crimes, laying wait for way-faring men and putting them to death, and heaping up wealth untold from his spoils of them.(S. Eustath. Antioch, in Hexaemeron, fol. 749, ed. M.)
14. The children of Seth lived on that mountain in the practice of purity [or,of innocence],and were in the habit of hearing the voices of angels, from whom they were not far apart,and with whom they joined in worshipping and praising God;and they, with their wives and children were called Sons of
God. They did no work, neither sowed nor reaped; but their food was fruits of trees. There was among them neither envy, injustice, nor lying;and then bond (pledge or faith imarihum) was, No, by the blood of Abel. They went up to the top of the Holy mountain every day, and worshipped before God,
and blessed themselves in the body of Adeun.(SsiidIbn-Ba,L,Nazamal-j.,p.2l.)
15. Then when the death of Seth drew near, he adjured his children by the blood of Abel, that not one of them should go down from this holy mountain,and not to let one of their children go down to the children of Cain the accursed. All the time Seth lived was nine hundred and twelve years.(Said Ibn-B., Nazam al-j., p. 21.)
16. R. Maimonides is not of the same.
228 TEE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
opinion; for he says not only that in the days of Enos men went far astray and the mind of thought of wise men became stupified, but that Enos himself was among those who erred.[This, too, is
far from Philo's distinction between Adam and Enos. Qucest. Armen. in Gen.] And the error, says Maimonides, was this, that they worshipped and honoured the heavenly bodies and built temples to them on high places,[R. Maimonides seems to take Gen. iv, 26, as
other Hebrews do, to mean then was the calling on the name of God profaned and Targ. two men fell away from praying in the name of the Lord. Targ. Jonathan, That was the age in whose days,
men began to go astray, who made to themselves idols,and called them by the
name of the Lord.(R. Maimonides, Halekot Avod. TcoTcav,Opp., vol. i, fol. ed. Amst.)R. Abarbanel, however, Comm. in Pent.,fol. 31, understands it to mean that in the days of Enos they began to pray
in the name of God in all their works, because until then, Adam, Abel,and Set lived in intercourse with God who was present among them.
17. Cain, says Geo. Syncellus ( Chron.,p. 19), died the same year as Adam(A.M. 930), killed by the stones of his bouse that fell upon him, for himself had killed Abel with stones. The Kufale, whence this account is taken, adds: that he was thus killed by righteous judgment; for it is decreed on the tables of heaven, that with what
weapon a man slays another, with such also shall he be slain.(Kufale, p.
19,20.) Cedrenus quotes this legend from the same source, at p. 16 of his Hist. Compendium, where he also says, that
Abel having been righteous, his body disappeared [from the sight of man] in order to give those who came after him a good hope [of
everlasting life].
18. Here follows in the Ethiopic text: Then Lamech stood [or, remained] grieved for what he had done; the cattle went away from him into the open country,and he knew not what to do. But the narrative would be long[or,tedious].Yet the Arabic
original
gives even a longer account, says Dr.Trumpp in his note that Lamech lay there a long time, hungry and thirsty, not knowing whither to go, blind as he was. Then all his people turned out to look for him over hill and down dale;and at last found him lying on the ground, by the side of the two corpses; himself half-dead from hunger
and thirst. So they brought him home; gathered the cattle together, and having covered Cain and the young shepherd in gay apparel, they buried them in the neighbourhood, as being the first of the Cainites that had died, and they mourned over them forty days and forty
nights. Here, however, the Arabic adds also,But the story would be [too] long. In the three hundredth year
of Enos, Cain the accursed, Adam s son, who had slain his brother Abel, was himself slain. For a seventh descendant from Cain, called Lamech who was a shepherd, shooting an arrow in play, hit his ancestor Cain through the heart
and killed him. For Cain was bewildered and wandering in the open country, not being able to rest in any one place.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p. 22.)R. S. Jarchi, in his Comm. on Gen. iv, 23, relates this story thus: Lamech s wives had separated themselves from him, for his having slain.
NOTES.
229
Cain, and Tubal-Cain his son. For Lamech was blind,and was led about
by Tubal-Cain, who seeing Cain coming and looking like a wild beast, told Lamech his father, to bend his bow, wherewith he killed Cain. When Lamech found that it was Cain his ancestor, he struck his hands together; but Tubal-Cain s head happening to be between them, he also was killed by Lamech. On this account did Lamech's wives leave him. But he quieted them, saying, Hear ye my voice,(Comm. ad I, fol. 7, ed.
Buxtf.)[The same story is also told in Sepher See Kisenm. J Cedrenus and S. Ephrem (in Gen.,vol. i, pp. 45 and 143) relate two
traditions, in substance like the above account. It is also given in the Armenian Survey of the histories of the books of Holy Scripture,vol. i, c. 2, p. 13, Cedrenus, however, gives another version of the story,and says that Lamech
committed two murders of a man and of a child, both of whom were brothers of Enoch, who earnestly prayed God not to let him see such slaughter,and for that, was taken up into heaven.(II. Cowp.,p.
15.) Midrash Tankhuma (fol. 6) tells the story pretty much as it is in the Ethiopic; but adds that the little boy said to Lamech, I see something like a wild beast. Lamech shot an arrow and killed it. Then the boy seeing Cain with a horn on his forehead, lying
dead, said, " O father, this beast is
like a man with a horn on the forehead
! Then Lamech clapped his hands together,and so doing, killed the boy. He then went home and said to his wives, I
have slain a man to my wounding,and a young man to my hurt ! Adah and Zillah then said, they would no longer live with him; so that Lamech had to go with them to Adam for judgment.
19. Joseph B. Gorion, being in a certain island in the neighbourhood of India, found there men like women, who
lived on live fish,and who told him they had in their island the sepulchre of a very ancient king, called Kainan, son of Enos, who lived before the Flood,and
ruled the whole world, spirits, demons, In his wisdom he knew that God would bring a flood [and overwhelm the earth] in the days of Noah. Wherefore he wrote what was to happen after him on tables of stone;and lo they are there; by the writing is in Hebrew. And he also wrote therein that in his days the ocean overwhelmed a third part of the world;and so it happened in the days of Enos, the son of Seth, son of Adam the first man.(Jos. B. Gorion,
lib.ii, c. 18.) There seems to be some confusion between this legend and the
one told in a note on Cainan, son of
Arphaxad, to which the reader may refer.
20. When the death of Cainan drew near, he called Mahalaleel and adjured him by the blood of Abel, not to let one of his children go down from the mountain to the children of Cain the accursed. All the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten.(Eutych.,Nazam al-j. p. 22.)
21. This word is of Arabic origin,and is either for the collect, a demon, devil; or, it may stand for junnun, folly, Any how, the being pronounced and transcribed by the Ethiopic translator, shows that the work was done not far from Egypt, where is pronounced hard. According to Targ. Jonathan, in Gen. v, Lamech had three sons, Jabel and Tubal, sons of Adah; and Tubal-Cain and his sister Naamah, children of Zillah. One account says that the young shepherd slain by Lamech, was.
21. This word is of Arabic origin,and is either for the collect, a demon, devil; or, it may stand for junnun, folly, Any how, the being pronounced and transcribed by the Ethiopic translator, shows that the work was done not far from Egypt, where is pronounced hard. According to Targ. Jonathan, in Gen. v, Lamech had three sons, Jabel and Tubal, sons of Adah; and Tubal-Cain and his sister Naamah, children of Zillah. One account says that the young shepherd slain by Lamech, was.
230 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
Zillah's son; and that for that reason she and Adah would no longer live with him. Jenun or Genun, might then befor Tubal-Cain.
22. Abulpharaj, however (Dyn. Arab.,pp. 8, 9) says that, the daughters of Cain were reported to have first made instruments of music and sung to them: wherefore a song is called quinto in
Syriac,and in Arabic qua/inoJh means a singing girl.
Cain, says S. Eustath. Antioch (in Hexdemeron,) invented teal opove, measures, weights and the division of land, and the building of cities.
23. Meanwhile the children of Cain played on instruments of music, until the sound and clamour of them, reached unto the top of the Holy mountain. Then a hundred men of the children of Seth gathered together to go down to the children of Cain the accursed. Jared then adjured them by the blood of Abel, not to go down from the Holy
mountain; but they would not hearken to him,and went down. And when
they were come down and saw the daughters of Cain the accursed, those sons of Seth committed adultery with them,and perished in consequence. Of these adulteries giants were born.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., pp. 25, 26.)
24. Then Enoch the scribe said to the Watchers, who had left heaven, and had defiled themselves with women, after the manner of men: I have written your petition [to the Most High], but in my vision I have seen that it will not be granted you; judgment has been passed on you,and ye shall not be. And from henceforth, ye shall not go up into heaven, so long as the world endures; for it has been decreed that ye shall be bound in the earth, all the days of the world.
Put before this, ye shall behold the destruction of your beloved children; ye shall not possess them, but they shall fall before you by the sword. And ye shall pray for them, but your prayer shall not be heard,(Boole of
Enoch,c. xii xiv, pp. 7, 8, 9.) It was in the four hundredth year of Jared, that the Watchers went down the Holy mountain and begat giants of the daughters of Cain. These giants not only were of immense size and awful to look at,and given to all manner of wickedness, but they also invented weapons of war, magic, dyeing stuffs, musical instruments, as taught by Azrael, one of their chiefs. But some say they were dragons(or, serpents) with feet; because in waging war against the children of Seth who were above on the mountain, they had to creep on their hands and feet, lying flat on the ground,(Cedren. Hist. Comp., p. 18.)
25. But when the sons of Seth who had gone down to the daughters of
Cain the accursed, wished to ascend the Holy mountain, the stones of the mountain were made fire, so that they could find no means of again going up the mountain. Then after these, companies after companies went down from the Holy mountain to the daughters of Cain the accursed. (Eutych. Nazamal-j., p. 26.)
26. R. Abarbanel (Quaest. vi, Comm.in Pent., fol. 31) says that sons
of God,is explained to mean, kings, princes or judges, skilled in knowledge and endued with power or men possessed of divine knowledge;and that the Nephilim [said by some to be the same as the Anakim] were so called from their fall from heaven into sin, on earth.
27. And it happened in a certain year of this Jumlee (twenty-fifth) that angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair,and took them.
NOTES. 231
to wives who bare them giants,(Kufale, c. v, p. 20.) After the death of Adam, Seth ruled the race of men then living. Then two hundred of his children called Watchers, in the one thousandth year of the world, four hundredth of Jared,and seven hundred and seventieth of Seth, having gone astray went down from the mountain,and took to themselves wives, who bare them giants, as Scripture says. As some doubt this, adds Syncellus, I will bring proofs of it from the Book of Enoch, Moses and S. Peter the chief of the Apostles.(CTiron., p. 19 ; Bar. Hebr,, pp. 4, 5 ; Abulphar. Dyn. Arab., pp. 8.)
Concerning the Watchers (from the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, sect, ii, c. 7). And it happened when the children of men multiplied in those days, that daughters were born unto them fair and beautiful. And angels, sons of heaven saw them,and desiring them, said among themselves: Come let us choose for us wives from among the
daughters of men, and beget children for ourselves. Then Samyaza, chief among them, said: I fear lest ye will not do this thing, so that the whole retribution of this sin fall upon me. And they all answered: We will swear with an oath and bind one another with
curses, that we will not turn from this deed, but do it amain. They then swore and bound themselves together with curses, for this thing. And they were two hundred. Then they came down to Ardis, which is on the top of Mount Hermon, and called it Hermon by reason of the oaths and curses wherewith they had bound themselves And these are the names of their chiefs :
1. Samyaza, chief 4. Thamiel.
of all. 5. Ramuel.
2. Urakibarameel. 6. Dan el.
3. Akibeel. 7. Ezekeel.
8. SarakuyaL 14. Samsaweel.
9. Asael. 15. Sartael.
10. Armars. 16. Thurael.
11. Bathraal. 17. Yumyael.
12. Anani. 18. Arazyal.
13. Zakebe.
These were the captains of the two hundred,and the rest were with them. Every one chose a wife for himself, who taught him sorcery, divination,and they brought forth giants, whose stature was three hundred cubits,and who injured all creatures, devoured men and committed such sins as reached unto heaven. Then Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Suryal,and Uriel looking down upon the blood shed on
the earth, addressed the Most High, on behalf of men, These angels of God, with whom He was angry, for their having thus fallen,
did the Lord command us, says the Angel of the Face, to bind into the depths of the earth until the Day of Judgment.(Kufale, c. v, p. 21.) And Syncellus adds from Zosimus of Panopolis, in his book Imuth that these fallen angels taught secret arts,and that the first book on the subject was called whence the art is called chemistry. (Chron., p. 24.)
28. But when the death of Jared drew near, he called unto him his son Enoch and Methuselah the son of Enoch,and Lamech the son of Methuselah, and Noah the son of Lamech,and said unto them: See that not one of you go
down from this Holy mountain; for your sons have erred and have perished. And I know that God, powerful and glorious, will not leave you on this Holy mountain. Therefore whosoever of you shall go out of this place, let him take with him the body of Adam, and these gifts,and place them wherever God shall tell him. And all the clays Jared lived was 962 years. He died when Noah.
232 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
was 206 years old, on a Friday about sunset, the third day of Adar, which is Barmahat. Then his son Methuselah, Lamech and Noah embalmed him and laid him in the Cave of Treasures,and mourned for him forty days.(Eutych. Nazam. al-j., pp. 29-32.)
29. Then the Most High spake and sent Arsyalalyur to the son of Lamech,and said unto him: Tell (him) in
My Name: hide thyself. And reveal unto him the destruction of all flesh by the waters of the Flood, that will come over all the earth, and destroy all that is in
it. And teach him how he may save himself and establish his seed in the whole earth. Then He sent Raphael to bind Azazeel in the lowest pit, until the Day of Judgment; Gabriel and Michael to punish the wicked inhabitants of the earth. Let all flesh perish. Then after
it has been cleansed, vines shall be planted and bear fruit. Peace and righteousness shall reign therein,and all the sons of men shall be righteous,and all nations shall bless Me and do Me service, (Book of Enoch, c. x,p. 5,6, 7.) These are the names of the holy
angels who watch. Uriel, one of the holy angels over thunder and terror. Raphael, one of the holy angels over the spirits of men.
Raguel, one of the holy angels over the punishment (restraint) of the world and luminaries. Michael, one of the holy angels over
the good done to men, gives orders to the nations. Sarakiel, one of the holy angels over the spirits of men, whose spirits have transgressed. Gabriel, one of the holy angels over Akist (?) Paradise and the Cherubim.(Book of Enoch, c. xx, p. 13.)
30. According to Midrash Tankhuma,fol. 6, ever since God s curse upon the earth, on account of Adam's transgression, the ground never yielded the seed sown ; but when they sowed wheat they reaped thorns and thistles. Therefore did Lamech say, Noah should comfort them concerning their
work; for after Noah s birth they reaped what
they sowed; wheat if they sowed wheat, barley if they sowed barley.
31. I Enoch, scribe of righteousness, alone of all the children of men, have seen a vision of the end of all things(Book of Enoch, c. xix, p. 13),and have received a portion of everlasting life. They were a hundred and three parables which I took up to tell those who
dwell on the earth, (c. vi, p. 20.) In the Coran, sur. xix, and elsewhere Enoch is praised as Edris, the name given him by Arabic writers. He is so called probably from on account of his skill in writing and of his learning.(See Hotting. Hist. Or.,p. 31, sq.; and Maracci., Alcor., p. 435.) Enoch was the first among men who taught writing, science and wisdom of all sorts. He wrote about the signs of heaven, years, months, and gave laws. He also received visions of all that is to happen until the Day of Judgment.(Kufale,c.iv, p.17.)
The ancient Greeks, says Abulpharaj (Dyn. Arab., p. 9), thought Enoch was Hermes Trismegistus, so called for the three great sciences he taught concerning the three qualities inherent in God:
(1) His existence;(2) His wisdom;and (3) His eternal life. The Arabs call him Edris. The Sabians say that he got his wisdom from Agathodemon, that is Seth, the son of Adam ;and others think also that Esculapius was a disciple of his, who grieved so much at
Enoch's departure from this world, that he raised a statue of him which was worshipped after the Flood !
NOTES.
233
As to the Book of Enoch, that contains Jude 14, 15, known to Syncellus who gives extracts from it,and to several of the Fathers, but lost sight of for centuries it was discovered in Abyssinia, written in Ethiopic, several copies of which he brought to Europe. It consists in visions of Paradise, of the coming of the Beloved, of the Flood,and of the end of the world. It is full of excellent sentiments and pious lore, dating probably from a little before the coming of Christ. Enoch received thirty leaves of writing from heaven, as Adam had received thirty-one and Seth twenty-nine. (Masutlii, c. iii, p. 73.)(Cedren. Hist.Comp., p. 17.) Adam is also said to have written a thousand leaves on the property of plants, climate,(See Quatremere s Agricultura Nabathceorum,quoted in Chwolson s Die Ssabier, i,pp. 706, 708.
32. I then inquired of the Angel of Peace who was going about with me: For whom are the instruments I see prepared? And he said: For the host of Azazeel, to be delivered to the [or, cast under] the lowest condemnation Michael, Gabriel, Raphael,and Phanuel shall be strengthened at that time when the Lord of Spirits sends forth chastisement then shall the stores of waters that are above the heavens burst open, on the fountains of water that are on the earth and under the earth. Those waters shall then mix together as it were in union,and shall blot out all that is in the earth, unto the borders of heaven. Thus shall they be made to know the iniquity
they have committed in the earth;and thus shall they be punished.(Book
of Enoch, c. lix., p. 30.) And now Methuselah my son, said
Enoch, I have made known unto thee all [that Uriel told me concerning the seasons, days, years and stars of heaven]. Keep, O Methuselah my son, the books of [me] thy father, that thou mayest
transmit them to generations in the world. I have given wisdom to thee and to thy children,and to the children thou shalt have, that they may give it to those that are to come for ever,(c. Ixxxii, p. 57.) I have made known to thee, Methuselah my son, all that I saw before thy birth; now listen to another vision I have had. As I was in the house of Mahalaleel, my father-in-law, I saw heaven fall upon the earth. And as it fell, the earth was suspended in a great
abyss, mountains upon mountains, hills upon hills, great trees were wrenched off their roots [trunks] and were thrown in a heap into the abyss. And I cried, The earth is destroyed ! Mahalaleel heard my cry. I told him the vision. My son, said he, the earth will be
destroyed, in a great overthrow because of the sins of men. Now then, arise,and pray the Lord that a remnant be left,(c. Ixxxiii, pp. 59,
60.)
33. And now, Methuselah my
son, said Enoch, call together all thy
brothers and all thy mother's sons for a voice calls me; and my spirit within me is troubled, to make known unto you all that shall ever happen to
you. Then Methuselah brought them to Enoch, who said to all his righteous children: Hear, O my children,
the words of your father my beloved: Love righteousness,and walk therein.
Approach not right [or, integrity] with a double heart,and make no fellowship with double-hearted men. But walk in righteousness, O my children; for it will lead you in good paths. And let righteousness be your companion. Hearken unto me, therefore, O my children: Walk in the ways of right.
234 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
eousness,and avoid those of violence; for those, who walk therein shall perish forever.(book of Enoch, xci, pp.
74,75.)
34. After thatI went up to heaven, says Enoch, and I saw the the sons of holy angels treading on flame of fire, whose garments were white and
34. After thatI went up to heaven, says Enoch, and I saw the the sons of holy angels treading on flame of fire, whose garments were white and
their faces brilliant like [hail] crystal. And I saw two rivers of fire, like unto hyacinth;and I then fell on my face before the Lord of Spirits. But Michael took me by the hand and raised me up. But I fell again on my face, my flesh was dissolved,and my spirit was
changed; and I cried with a loud voice and great spirit, I blessed, and praised,and extolled. And what I did was acceptable to the Ancient of Days who came with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel,and thousands of angels one of which came to me and said: Thou art the son of a man, born for righteousness; righteousness has
rested on thee,and the righteousness of the Ancient of Days shall not forsake thee. And the angel said to me: He will give thee peace in His name forever and it shall be so unto thee forever and ever. Thus shall be length of days with this son of sons of men,and
peace shall be to the righteous; His right path shall be to them [to follow] in the name of the Lord of Spirits, forever.(Book of Enoch, c. Ixxi, pp.
45,46.)
NOTES TO BOOK III.
1. After a time, said Enoch, my son Methuselah, took for his son Lamech, a wife who bare him a son, whose body was white like hoar-frost,and red like the blossom of a rose; the hair of his head was white as wool,and as long ; he had beautiful eyes, that shone like
the sun,and lighted up the whole house, when he opened them. No sooner did he leave the hands of the midwife, than he began to speak to the Lord in righteousness. Then Lamech his father was afraid
of him,and running, came to his father Methuselah,and said unto him: A
son is born unto me, strange and unlike other children of men, but like a child of angels of heaven; his nature [creation] is different,and is not like us. His eyes are like the rays [feet] of the sun; his countenance glorious; and, altogether, he looks as if not born of me, but rather of angels; and I am afraid some wonder will be wrought on the earth in his days. I beseech thee, go and inquire of Enoch, who is heaven, concerning him. Methuselah then came and found me at the end of the earth,and told me what had happened. Then I, Enoch, said to him, that in the days of that child a great flood would destroy the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof, except that one and his three sons, whose children should
beget giants, not spiritual, but carnal.
NOTES.
235
And tell Lamech that his son's name shall be Noah; because he shall
be the one of you that shall be left after you,(Book of Enoch, c. cv, p. 87,88.) [Eth. nuah, long. The Hebrew etymology is given further on.]
2. Noah was 600 years old, when Methuselah died aged 969 years on a
Friday, about mid-day, the twenty-first of Ilul, which is Thut. Then Noah and Shem embalmed him and laid him in the Cave of Treasures, and mourned for him forty days. There was now no one left on the Holy mountain, but only Noah with his wife, whose name was
Haikal, daughter of Namusa, Enoch's son, and his three sons, Shem, Ham,and Japhet, with their wives, who were of the daughters of Methuselah. Shem's wife was called Salit; Ham's wife, Nahlat ;and Japhet's wife, Arisisah. But when iniquity increased on the earth through the intercourse of the children of Seth with those of Cain the accursed,and they committed all manner of wickedness and took to all sorts of amusements, God made known to Noah, saying, I shall send the Flood over the earth and destroy everything in it. And He commanded Noah to come down the Holy mountain,and to build a ship, of square timber (some say of the wood of the Indian plane-tree),
three hundred yards long, fifty broad,and thirty high, lined with pitch and bitumen both in and out, with three stories; the lower for four-footed beasts, the middle for birds,and the upper for himself and his family, with a door [opening or window] on the eastern side, with cisterns for water,and places for food. (Eutych. Nazam
al-j., pp. 34, 37.)
3. Philo, Qucest., c. ii, p. 5, Armen. in Gen., compares the ark to the human body, after whose pattern he thinks it was made. It seems that both S. Augustine(Contra. Faust., 1. xii, c. 39) and S. Ambrose (Hexaemer. 1. vi. c. 9) were of the same opinion, which they borrowed from Philo.
4. And God commanded Noah to make a bell (nagus, a flat piece of wood, suspended and beaten with a wooden clapper, commonly used in the east, to call to prayer) three yards long, of the wood of the Indian plane (soy), a yard and a half broad, with a clapper of the
same wood. And that Noah should beat it three times a day; in the morning, to gather men to their work; again at noon at the hour of dinner; and again in the evening, at the time of parting. And when they hear thee, said God to Noah, beating the bell,and
they ask thee saying: What is it thou art doing ? Tell them, God is about to send
a flood.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p.
73.) It is evident that Eutychus borrowed his information from the Arabic copy of this book; for he mentions the Indian plane, or teak
tree; the wood of which Noah is said to have built the ark, because it does not rot [or, is not
attacked by worms], but is passed over by the Ethiopic translator, who probably did not understand the term, as suggested by Dr. Trumpp, for he hereby rendered it ebony. Dionysius Bar Salibi in his Pushoqo. asks whence comes noquslio, the wooden clapper or bell beaten to call people to church, or the small brass bell rung, during the service: We answer, says he, that it
is written in
many histories, that when God commanded Noah to build the ark, He also told him to make a bell ; which was beaten in the morning to gather work men to their work at the ark; then at noon, for them to enjoy their meal; and again in the evening, for them to
rest from their work. (Asseman,
Bibl.Or., vol. ii, p. 179.)
236 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
5. God raised Noah a preacher of righteousness in those days; whose words were hard (i.e., as clear) as torches. He said to them: Repent, or the Flood will overwhelm you. But they laughed at him That old man of the ark ! and said: A flood I whence will
it come ? If it is of fire, we have a thing called Alitha, that will
save us from it. If it is a flood of waters, from the earth, we have iron plates [or, hoes] wherewith to dig; and if it comes from the heaven, we have a thing called Dpi?, a sponge, to souk it up. Then he said to them: It will come from between the soles of your
feet.[With a play on Sp37 or mp2 a sponge, and 2p3? sole or heel, of the foot, etc.] Talmud Bab., Sanhedr., p.216.6 According to the Talmud and to Jewish Rabbis, Og, king of Bashan, was one of these giants who had escaped drowning in the Flood, by being shut up in a box with a unicorn, or by sitting on the top of the ark, and fed by Noah.(Targ. Jonathan in Gen. xiv.) Others say he was the same Eliezer, Abraham's servant, whom he used to cover with the palm of his hand. But in the Targum of Jonathan B. Uzziel, on Numb, xxi, 36, we read that: Og seeing the camp of the Israelites three miles
long, went and fetched a mountain of that size, to throw it upon the camp. Upon which the Word of God. prepared at once a snail [or, worm] that ate a hole through the mountain; so that Og's head passed
through it [the mountain resting on his shoulders]. He then tried to get it out: but his teeth having grown on each side of his mouth, he could not do so. Moses then took a hatchet ten cubits long,and smote him in the heel.
7. It is said in the Law that Sons of God (called Beni Elohim), when
they looked upon the beautiful daughters of Cain, came down to them;
whence giants were born. But he errs,and knows not what he is saying, who tells us that angels came down to daughters of men (lit. of the flesh). But they were the sons of Seth who came down from the Holy mountain to the daughters of Cain the accursed, for the sons of Seth were called Beni Elohim, or sons of God, by reason of their purity,and so long as they dwelt on the Holy mountain. They err then, who say that angels came down to the daughters of men (lit. of the flesh); for the essence of angels is simple [or, single] and their nature is in no need of marriage. Man, however, is composite
in his nature, who requires marriage, like other animals. If angels had intercourse with daughters of men, not one of them would remain a virgin.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p. 26.)
8. God commanded Noah to make a ship,and when it was finished, Gabriel brought the coffin containing the bones of Adam, which was laid in the ark.(Masudi i, ch. iii, p. 74.) Eutychus puts the following words in the mouth of Lamech, who, when dying, in the five hundred and fiftyninth year of Noah, said unto him: God, the mighty and glorious, will not leave thee on this mountain. When, therefore, thou shalt go down, take with thee the body of Adam, and bring with thee the three offerings, namely, the gold, the myrrh,and the incense. Then command thy son that after thy death he take the body of our father Adam,and lay it in the middle of the earth. Then appoint from among thy sons one man to minister there; a man
devoted to God all the days of his life; without a wife; who shall shed no blood,and bring no offering, neither bird nor beast, but only bread and.
NOTES.
237
wine; for from thence shall come the salvation of Adam [or, of man]. His raiment shall be of the skin of wild beasts; he shall not shave his hair, neither pare his nails; but remain alone; for he shall be called priest of God, that is, Melchizedec. After giving these commandments to his son Noah, Lamech died on a Sunday, at sunset, the nineteenth of Adar, which is Barmahat; Noah then embalmed
him. and laid him in the Cave of Treasures,and they mourned for him
forty days. (Eutych. Nazam al-j., p.33.)
9. The apocryphal history of Melchizedec found among the writings of
9. The apocryphal history of Melchizedec found among the writings of
S. Athanasius (vol. ii, p. 7, sq.) tells us that; there was a queen of Salem
whose son was called Salaad. This Salaad
had a son called Melchi,and Melchi having married a wife called Salem, had by her
two sons, Melchi and Melchizedec. Melchizedec, who was an idolater,
was brought to the knowledge of the true God, by beholding the starry heavens and the works of nature. He then renounced his idols; and, leaving his home to avoid the sacrifice of his brother to the seven planets, went up Mount Tabor, where he prayed God to destroy all those who had slain and sacrificed his brother to idols. Upon
this the earth suddenly opened, and swallowed up the whole of Melchizedec's family. Therefore is he said to be. He then continued seven years to live in a thick forest on Mount Tabor, almost
naked, until his back became wcrft dtpfict, like the back of a tortoise. Then Abraham went to fetch him; pared his nails, and clothed him in pontifical vestments. Melchizedec then blessed Abraham,and gave him a cup of pure wine and a morsel of bread, to him and to the three hundred and eighteen men who were with him. This is the figure of the holy Eucharist,and of the three
hundred and eighteen fathers assembled at the Council of Nicaea. Melchizedec also is taken for the Son of God, but not tig ri] as to
spiritual gifts. Gregory of Dathev, a celebrated Armenian divine of the fourteenth century, seems to liave known this tradition. In his book (Kirk hartsmants,c. xvii, p. 300, ed. Const.) he says:
Melchizedec's father was called Melchi, and his mother, Sala; and they dwelt at Salem. From his birth he was consecrated to idols; but he was carried away by an angel to Mount Tabor,and fed there, until he was grown up. One day a cloud descended upon the mountain, and a hand stretched out of the cloud, ordained him priest saying: Melchizedec, without
father, mother or kindred,and like unto the
Son of God; because having been taken from his parents when quite a
child, he had grown unlike them, not knowing them, and unknown to them. His dwelling was on Mount Golgotha where he sowed wheat with his own hands and made his own wine. So that when Abraham met him, he brought out to him some unleavened bread still warm,and some wine; a figure of the Lord's Supper. But why does S. Ephrem in his
writings, say that Melchizedec was Shem ? asks Gregory. And he answers: He had not two names neither is he
a different person. But Irinos (Irenaeus ?) gives the reason which is difficult to understand. Noah blessed Shem, but Shem had no son like himself to
bless. Abraham, however, was of the family of Shem, and worthy of a
blessing. But Shem was not then living, to bless him;and Terah could not bless. So Melchizedec took Shem's
238 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
place and did what Shem would have done, he blessed Abraham,and was
called Shem. The passage in S.Ephrem (Opp.Syr., vol.i,c. xiii p. 60) runs thus: Melchizedec was Shem. He was king by reason of his power as the head of fourteen tribes. He was also priest, having received the priesthood in due order [or, course Vyuvolo] from Noah. Not only was he living in the days of Abraham, but he also saw Jacob and
Esau,and was consulted by Rebecca, as to the children she was then bearing. To this S. Chrysostom (Horn, xxxv in Gen.) says that Melchizedec was lab)\Gav Tore oi hptic;, perhaps self-ordained as
priests were in those days; or by reason of his old age ; or, may be, he had practised the offering of sacrifices like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Marcus Eremita (Opusc. x, de Melchizedec), borrows from S. Athanasius,and agrees with his account, of the three hundred and eighteen men who were with Abraham, that they were a figure of the three hundred and eighteen patriarchs, who on Christ s side,and in
apostolic armour, put to flight heresies, when assembled at Nicaea. And so also wrote S. Ambrose. (Comp.de Fide lib. i, prolog. and de Pair. Abrahamo,lib. i, c. 3.)
10. R. Meir O. Gabbai, in Avod. haqqodesli iii, fol. 80 (quoted in Eisenm.vol. i, p. 318) found in the Midrash that R. Jukhanan taught, that God took Shem the son of Noah,and It rob set him apart for Priest of the Most High, to minister before His Shekinah;and then changed his name to Melchizedec;and that his brother Japhet had learnt the law in his school. And R, Bekhai (Bmr. fol.24) says of Melchizedec, king of Salem, he is Shem, the son
of Noah. for an account of a monk of the desert who believed Melchizedec to have been the Son of God. The matter was referred to S. Cyril of Alex, who rebuked him for it. Meanwhile the monk had a revelation
of all the patriarchs from Adam; when he saw that Melchizedec was indeed a man.(For the sect of the Melchizedekians, see S. Epiph. Hceres. xxxv, vol. i;and J. Damascen, Hceres. Iv. in Cotel.
Eccl. Grose. M.on. vol. i, p. 295.)
11. Then Noah went into the Cave of Treasures and embraced the body of Seth,of Enos,of Caiuan, of Mahalaleel, of Jared, of Methuselah and of Lamech. Then he took the body of Adam,and also the offerings: Shem carried the gold, Ham the myrrh, and Japhet the incense.(Eutych. Nazamal-j., p. 37.)
12. And as they came down the Holy mountain, they lifted up their eyes and wept, saying: Farewell (lit. peace on thee) O thou sacred Paradise ! Then they kissed the stones and embraced the trees of the Holy mountain and came down. (Eutych. Nazamal-j., p. 37.)
13. Then Noah went into the ark, he, his wife, his sons and their wives,and Noah carried the body of Adam and laid it in the middle of the ark, and the.
NOTES.
239
offerings (of gold, incense and myrrh) upon it. Then he and his sons occupied the eastern side of the ark,and his wife and his sons wives, the western side; lest they should come together.(Eutych.
Nazam al j., p. 38.)
14. And God said unto Noah: Fasten into the ark precious
stones and pearls, to lighten you up as in mid-day.(Talmud Bab. Sanhedr.,p.176.) And God said to Noah: Go to Phison, and choose from
thence a precious stone [a gem, also a pearl] and fix it in the ark, in order to give you
light.(Targ. Jonathan in Gen. vii.)
15. In Bereshith Kabbah (ad loc. ) we are told that Mount Gerizim was not covered with the waters of the Flood; because it is but a small mountain; and only the highest mountains are said to have been
covered 1 S. Eustathius Antiochenus, however, mentions in his Hexaemeron (col. 752, ed. M.) that petrified shells and fishes were found on the top of Mount Lebanon, in proof that the waters of the flood had reached and covered the highest summits of that chain.
16 On the seventeenth day of Ilul, which is Thut, the seventh month
(according to the reckoning of the Christians of Egypt), the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, that is Djebel el-Djudi, near Mosul, in the country of Diarabia, near a town called
Korda; but it is now called the land of Thamanim and Djezire Ben Omar.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p. 41.) Quotations from the Assyrian accounts of the Flood, as well as from the Pehlevi Bundehesh [or, Creation] would be out of place here. But they are well worth
the study of all who take interest in these matters. The mountain on which the ark rested, is generally called Mount Ararat. But Ararat is the name
of one of the provinces of Armenia,and is the Hebrew term for Armenia. The Armenians themselves, call that mountain
Mount Masis. (See for a learned treatise on this subject,and for the
many names of the mountain, Injidjean, Armen. Qeogr., vol. i, p. 54, sq.)
17 From the day this world was destroyed by fire, to the day it was
destroyed by water, 100,000 years elapsed. Then 8000 years later, a
voice came to me: Build an
ark. He then got builders, and cut cedars in Haran and in Lebanon,and was three hundred years building the ark, three hundred yards long, fifty broad,and thirty in height; wherein he gathered animals of all kinds, male and female.
Then the fountains of heaven and earth broke forth and the ark after floating on the waters eleven months,rested on the mountains of Kardun.[Kardu,Targ.Onfc. Carducei M. in Ararat.] Then Noah sent forth a raven, saying to it: Go and see if the flood has
abated.
The raven went, found a carcase on which it began to feed,and forgot
Noah's order. Then Noah sent forth a dove, saying to it: Go and see
if the flood is assuaged,and where the raven is I sent forth before thee. The dove went forth, found the raven feeding on a carcase; and then brought back a branch of olive to Noah, who then knew that the flood had abated. Then Noah cursed the raven, but blessed the dove. Thus was the race of his son Shem and of his wife Nuraito preserved; and by them was the earth peopled,(Cod.]Vasar.iii,p.72.)
Bar. Hebrseus Syr. (p. 7) says that the ark rested at Apamsea, chief city of Pisidia [of which there exists coins with the ark and the dove. Bryant. Anc. Myth., vol. iii, p. 47, sq.]; but Bar. Hebrseus Arab., says, with the Targum, Cod. Nasar., and the Goran, that it rested on Mount Kardu, or Juda [now called Dshudi] of Ararat or
240 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
Armenia.[This agrees with Scripture;and seems most likely, from the situation of those mountains as regards the plain at Shinar Sinjar where the first families settled after the Flood. The Kufale calls Lubar the mountain on which the ark rested; and the Samaritan Pentateuch (Gen. viii, 4) says it rested in Serandib, or Ceylon.]
18 The dove is a figure of the Holy Ghost, says S.Ephrem (vol. i, p. 149.) Her finding no resting place for her foot, the first time, represents the wickedness of men's manners among which the Holy Ghost finds no resting place. The second time the dove went
forth, figures the coming of Christ,and the shedding forth of the Holy Ghost; while the olive branch is an emblem of our reconciliation with God the Father. The raven is of the devil. [See the original for a very fair explanation of the rainbow.]
19 Cedrenus alluding to the floods of Ogyges in Attica and of Deucalion in Thessaly says, that the Egyptians made mention of the flood of Deucalion, declaring that it had not reached them; and rightly too, says Cedrenus for that flood was local; and they could have no knowledge of the universal deluge, for their ancestor was not yet born. For Ham, son of Noah, was father of Mitsraim, whence are the Egyptians.(Hist. Comp., p. 26.) One shows still on Mount Djudi the spot on which the ark rested, says Masudi [but so do Armenians the same, on Mount Masis, or Ararat]. Then the earth was commanded to absorb the waters; some portions of the earth were
slow at obeying God, other portions did so at once. Those that obeyed, yield fresh water when dug ; the disobedient, were punished by God, by remaining salt. So that the seas are the remnant of the waters in which the families [of the earth] perished. (Masudi i, c. iii,p. 75.) And on the seventh month, Nisan, the ark rested on the mountains of Kadron ; the name of one mountain is Kardania, and of the other, Armenia ; and there was the city of Armenia built, in the land of the east so says Targ.Jonathan in Gen. viii. So says also Abulfeda Geogr. Arab.,p. 69, and El-kaswini, Ajaib, vol. i, p.156, that remnants of the ark were still to be seen on Mount Djudi,
whither people went on pilgrimage,and whence they brought wood of the ark.
20 S.Ephrem (vol. i, p. 54, 150) repeats this, which he rests on Gen. vii,7, literally taken. But R.Jochanan says that three disobeyed Noah's order in this respect: the dog, the raven,and Ham, all of which were punished. The dog, by the leash; the raven, by contempt ; and Ham, in his skin. (Talm.Bab. Sanhedrin, p. 216.)
21 And when they were come out of the ark, they built themselves a city and called it Thamanin, according to their number, for (said they) we are
eight. And the sons of Noah planted a vine, and gave of the wine to their father,(Eutych. Nazam aZ-j., p. 43.)
22(Cedrenus,Hist. Comp.,p. 21, A.M. 2251.) [Ararat, the name of a province of Armenia,and the Hebrew name for Armeniabounded in the south by the Mountains Kardu, on which the ark most probably
rested. They form the chain of mountains, north of the Plain of Shinar.] (See Inj idjean Geogr. of Armenia, in Armenian, vol. i, p. 54.)
23 There are three, says Midr. Tankhuma,fol. 12, who, by their connection with the land, made it common [or, unclean] Cain, Noah and Uzziah.
NOTES.
241
When Noah was planting the vine, Satan stood by him, and asked him
what he was doing. Planting the vine, answered Noah. What is the
good of it ? asked Satan. The fruit thereof is soft and sweet, whether fresh or dry, and they make of it wine, that maketh glad the heart of man as it is written. Let me
have a hand in it, and let us do it together, said Satan. And by and by, he brought a lamb under the vine and slew it there; likewise a lion,and also a swine. Thereby meaning that a man who was as meek as a lamb, is made furious by wine, or that he who drinks in moderation (as it becometh him) is made strong thereby, and he that drinks too much revels in filth like a swine. In the third year after coming out of the ark, says S. Ephrem, did Noah sow vine, men kamshune daphkoshtd, with stones of raisins [or, dried grapes] which he had stored up as provisions with him in the ark It would then take the vine three or four years to bear fruit; so that Noah drank of the wine thereof, probably in the sixth or seventh year after the waters of the Flood were assuaged.(I&tcZ. vol. i, p. 56.) According to the Kufale (c. vii, pp.29,30) Noah planted the vine first on Mount Lubar, on which the ark rested, one of the mountains of Ararat. Then Ham, after Noah s curse on him, severed himself from the rest and built a city,
called after his wife, Nehelata-mek. Japhet, jealous of him, also built a city, called after his wife, Adatenases; and Shem did the same, and, built a city which he called Sedukatelbab, also after
his wife. These three cities are all near Mount Lubar, east, west and south.[Noah s city, Semanan is Shamanin, eight.It is mentioned
by Abulfeda Geogr. Arab., p.69.] Josephus (Ant. Jud., lib. i, c. iii, p.5) says, that the place where the ark rested,and whence Noah descended, and is shown by the inhabitants. And Mich. Tchamich in his History of Armenia, vol. i, p. 56, says, that the ark having
rested on a mountain of Ararat [a province of Armenia,, so called],
that is on Mount Masis (TO Mdtrtov, Strab. Geogr., lib. xii, c. ii), Noah made ilr.istchevan his descent near it; there he settled his sons,and called the name of the city Nakh-istchevan, the first descent, or
according to others, Nakh-tchwan, first departure,or migration.(See also Idjidjean, Geogr.. of Armenia, vol. i,p.54, sq.) And Epiphan. Hceres, lib. i, c.
1, p. 4, speaking of the ark, says, it rested and that the settlement was there,(Orac. Sibyll, p. 152.) And Berosus (ed. Richter, p. 56, sq.) telling how Xisuthrus having, been divinely warned to build himself a ship
length five stadia breadth two stadia wherein to escape the Flood, lie, his wife, children and all animals, adds that the ship stood fast iv in Armenia, a portion of the ship still remained on the Cordysean Mountains, whence people brought away some of the asphalte, or bitumen wherewith the ship was lined, See also Josephus (Ant. Jud., lib. i, c.iii, p. 6) who quotes a passage from
Nicholas Bamascenup, concerning Mount Baris [i.e., /Saptj, an ark or boat] in Armenia, whither many fled for safety at the time of the Flood, and 16
242 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
where one landed in a ship, the wood of which remained there a long time. Perhaps it is the one mentioned by Moses.(See also Nicolas Dam. Historiarum fragtn., ed. Jo. Conradus Orellius, Lips., p. 123.)
We know, says Cedrenus
(Hist.Comp., p. 20), "that Mount Ararat Iv Ty
HapQiy, Tijc Apufvictf tlvcrt, is in the Parthian province of Armenia;
some say in the Celsense of Phrygia.[Legend of Apamaea Kibotos.]
24 According to the Kufale (c. vii,p. 31), in the twenty-eighth Jubilee, Noah began to give his laws and precepts to his children s children, with right and judgment,and adjured them to practise righteousness, to cover the shame of their bodies, to bless their
Creator, to honour their father and mother, to love their neighbour, and to keep themselves from all adultery, defilement, and violence. For it was on account of this that God had overwhelmed the earth with the Flood.[These are the precepts which alone were binding on the proselytes of the Gate, or sojourners, among the Israelites.
Maimonides, Melakim, c. xiv, vol. iv,p. 300, ed. fol. Amst.]
According to Avodath haqqodesh iii,fol. 80 (quoted in Eisenmenger, vol. i,p. 318), albeit the law was created before the world, yet it had so far been forgotten, and was likely to be forgotten still so much more through the wickedness and troubles that were before the Flood, that God decreed to give as few and as short commandments as possible; so as to be easily remembered. Noah had learnt these
commandments at school under Seth,and handed them down to his sons.
25 When the death of Noah drew near he called secretly his son Shem
and commanded him saying: Take out of the ark, unknown to
any one, the body of Adam; and take with thee bread and wine as provision by the way; then take with thee Melchizedec the son of Phalek,and go and lay the body of Adam where the angel of God shall show you. Then command Mel chizedec to settle in that place; not to take him a wife; but to devote himself to the service of God all the days of his life; for God has chosen him to minister before Him. He shall not build for himself a house, neither shall he shed the blood of either beast, bird, or other living thing; neither shall he bring
there any other offering to God than bread and wine. His raiment shall be skins of wild beasts [or, of a lion]; he shall not shave his hair, nor pare his nails; but he shall remain alone [or,single] as priest of the Most High. And the angel of God will go with
you two (lit. between you two) until ye come to the place where ye shall bury the body of Adam. And know thou that that place is the middle of the earth. (Eutych, Nazam al-j., p. 45.)
26 The Kufale makes Noah divide the earth by lot, among his sons. He
rejoiced over the lot fallen to Shem, in fulfilment of his blessing on him, because his possession which was to be for ever, reached unto the River Gihon and the Garden of Eden, taking in the most
holy places on earth, Mount Zion, Mount Sinai, and the Garden of Eden, where the Lord dwelt. (Ibid. c. viii,pp. 36, 73.) And the three sons of Noah,
divided the lot of their inheritance, among their children, in presence of Noah their father, who adjured them with a curse, not to seek another inheritance than that which had fallen by lot to them,and they all said, laikun walaikun, So be it, and so be it 1 (Ibid. c. ix, p. 40.)Soon after wicked spirits, or devils, began to lead astray the children of Noah, that were born in the earth. He
NOTES.
243
then prayed to God, who commanded us, said the Angel of the Face, to bind them for ever. But the Prince of the Spirits, Mastema, stood before the Lord,and prayed that He would leave him some spirits of his race whereby to deceive and harass the children of men. So the Lord granted him one-tenth part of his spirits; and the rest he sent to the place of judgment. Then we taught Noah the use of remedies and the art of healing;and he gave all his writings to his sou Shem, whom he loved most.(Kufale, c. x, pp.41, 42.) But whereas Ham, Gush and Mitsraim, took possession of the land fallen to them by lot, Canaan took with violence possession of the land he coveted, along the sea-shore. His brothers remonstrated with him,and told him he would be accursed for having taken a lot that belonged to Shem and had not fallen to him. But he would not hearken to them; and dwelt in the land from Hamath to Egypt. (Ibid. pp. 44, 45.) Bar. Hebr. Syr., p. 9, attributes this to all the sons of Ham.
27 Noah died nine hundred and fifty years old. According to the reckoning of the LXX, there are two thousand two hundred and forty-two years from the Creation to the Flood; according to the Jews, sixteen hundred and six;and according to the Samaritans, thirteen
hundred and seven, which reckoning is entirely wrong; in that it makes Noah to have lived two hundred and twentythree years with Adam, whereof nothing is said, either by God or by His prophets. According to the reckoning of Abinanus [Anianus ?] of Alexandria,
however, from the creation of Adam and the night of the Friday on which the Flood began, there were two thousand two hundred and twenty-six years, one month, twenty-three days,and four hours. (Abulpharaj, Dyn. Arab., p. 14.)
28 It is commonly reported, says Abulpharaj (Dyn, Arab., p. 15), that Noah just before his death gave Shem a commandment saying: When I am dead, bring the coffin of our father Adam out of the ark, and take with thee of thy children, Melchizedec, for he is priest of the Most High God,and go with him and the coffin to the place, whither the angel of the Lord will lead you. Those two did according to
this commandment; and the angel brought them to the hill of Beth-el-
Maqdes [or, Muqaddas] and Melchizedec laid the coffin on the hill, and settled there; but Shem went back to his people. Melchizedec, however, did not go back, but built there the city of Jerusalem, which means the City of Peace (whence himself is also called,
Melek Salem, that is King of Peace);and he spent the rest of his days in devotion to the service of God ; he never drew near a woman ; never shed blood; and his offering [qorban] was of bread and wine only. But as Holy Scripture, speaking of his exalted state, mentions neither his birth nor his death, the holy Apostle Paul says of
him that he had neither beginning
of days, nor end of life. He was made a type of Christ in David s prophecy, Thou art a priest for ever, after
the order of Melchizedec. On the very same hill on which our father Adam was buried, was Christ also crucified. Melchizedec is called Lamech, Noah's grandson, by Masudi, who adds that those who believe the Scripture, think Lamech is still living; because God
said to Shem that he to whom He should entrust the body of Adam,
would live for ever. And Shem, after having laid Adam s body in the
centre of the earth, left it in charge of Lamech. (Masudi i, ch. iii, pp,80,81.)
244 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
29 And Phalek begat Melchizedec the priest. Then Shorn did according
to what Noah had commanded him; he went into the ark hy night,and
brought out the body of Adam; no one being aware of it. He then called his brothers and said to them: My father, indeed, did command me before his death, that I go forth until I arrive at the sea,and see how the land lies and the rivers and valleys thereof; then
that I return to you. I will, therefore, leave with you my wife and children ;and take care of them until my
return. Then Shem said to Phalek: Give me thy son Melchizedec, to be
a help to me on my journey. Then Shem took with him the body of Adam and Melchizedec, and departed. And the angel of God met them, and did not depart
from between them until he had led them to the middle of the earth, and showed them the spot. When they alighted the body of Adam upon it, the earth opened itself; Shem and Melchizedec laid the body into the place that had thus opened itself; and it closed itself again. And the name of that is El-jaljala, that is, Cranium (Golgotha). (Eutych. Nazam al-j., p.49.)
30 On this day third of Epagumenje we commemorate the death of Melchizedec. This Melchizedec was the son of Cainan, son of Shem. And when he was fifteen years old, God commanded Noah to send Shem his son, with the body of our father Adam,and to lay it in the middle of the earth, which is Cranin [Cranium, Golgotha];and told him how the Saviour of the world should come, be sacrificed there,
30 On this day third of Epagumenje we commemorate the death of Melchizedec. This Melchizedec was the son of Cainan, son of Shem. And when he was fifteen years old, God commanded Noah to send Shem his son, with the body of our father Adam,and to lay it in the middle of the earth, which is Cranin [Cranium, Golgotha];and told him how the Saviour of the world should come, be sacrificed there,
and redeem Adam with His blood. Then Shem took Melchizedec from
his father s house,and hid (him),and brought him hither, whither the Angel of the Lord brought them; and Melchizedec was consecrated priest,and took twelve stones,and offered on them a sacrifice of bread and wine, that came down to him from heaven in his sight
(lit. he seeing), the mystery of a new(covenant) law. Angels also brought him food; and his raiment was of skins with a leathern girdle. And he continued to minister before the body of our father Adam. And when Abraham returned from his victory over the kings, Melchizedec offered him bread and wine; and Abraham also gave
him tithe of all. And he was called priest and king of Salem. (Melchizedec,in Dillmann s Chrestom. JEthiop., p. 16.)
31 Our Rabbis of blessed memory, says R. Abarbanel(Cow. inPent.,fol. 46)and R. Abendana (in Leqet Shecha, fol.6) are of opinion that Melchizedec is Shem, the son of Noah. He is called, Melchizedec, that is king of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is Zedec (righteousness),
because it makes righteous its inhabitants. Beresh. Rdbbah, fol. 47, and Yedei Hoshe, ad 1. add that Melchizedec was born already circumcised. See S. Epiphanius (Adv. J/cer., vol. i,p. 468, sq.) for his refutation of the sect of Melchizedechians, who worshipped
Melchizedec instead of Christ. S.Epiphanius says he has crushed them
like a young shrewmouse struck
with a stone.(p. 476.)
32 Then Shem gave Melchizedec the commandment he had received from
Noah,and said unto him: Abide here,and be priest of God: for God has
chosen thee to minister before Him. And His angel shall come down to thee at all times. Then Shem went back to his brothers; and when Phalek asked him what had become of the youth Melchizedec, Shem answered, that he was dead, and that he had buried him. And they were much grieved at it.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p. 50.)
34 Arphaxad took to wife Rasuya,
NOTES.
245
daughter of Susan, daughter of Elam, who bare him a son, Cainan. This Cainan, taught letters by his father, while looking for a place where to build a city [Haran], found an inscription on stone, the work of the Watchers, wherein was recorded the course of heavenly
bodies, but he hid the discovery from Noah. (Kufale, c. viii, p. 34.) Abulpharaj (Dyn. Syn., p. 7, 8 ; Arab.,p. 15) remarks that Cainan, who lived four hundred and thirty years, is not reckoned in the Hebrew, Samaritan,and Syriac texts. But he is reckoned [in the LXX,and also] by S.Luke [c.iii]. He is said to have invented astro
logy; and that his children raised a statue to him,and worshipped him as a god. That inscription of the Watchers, or children of Seth, and discovered by Cainan, is alluded to by Josephus (Ant.Jwd,lib. i, c. ii, p.3) when he says that: the children of Seth, like their
father, excellent men given to virtue and to the study of the heavenly bodies and not wishing that their discoveries should
perish altogether, with the world that was to be destroyed by fire and water set up two pillars, one of brick and the other of stone, on which they wrote their astronomical observations. So that if the pillar of brick was destroyed by the waters, the one of stone should
remain. And it subsists to this day somewhere in the Sirian land.
36 After they had worked at it forty years, God sent a strong wind, that threw down the tower. (Bar. Hebr. Syr.,p.9; and Arab., p. 18.) The languages were then seventy-two and one(S. Epiph.Hceres., lib. i, c. i, p. 5.)
37 S. Basil and Mar Ephrem say that the original tongue was Syriac;
but S. James and John of Medin say it was Hebrew, spoken by Eber, who would not consent to the building of the tower of Babel; whose tongue, therefore, was not altered (Abulpharaj, Syr.,p.9 ; Arab., pp. 16, 18 ; Cedren, Hist.Comp., p. 22), who thinks it is a proof
that Hebrew was the primitive tongue spoken by Adam. In those days the language
and speech of men were one and the same. Some say it was the Syriac tongue; others say it was the Hebrew; others again say, that the tongue was Greek;and this approves itself to me. For the Greek language is wiser, clearer and broader than either the Hebrew or the Syriac. Then seventy-two men from among the people gathered together and said: Let us build a city,and fortify
it with
a wall; and let us build a tower that shall reach unto heaven; that if a flood betake us hereafter we may be saved
yards long, ten yards broad,and five yards thick,and they were forty
years building the city. Then an angel came down, and confounded
their languages, so that one could not understand another; and the name of that city was called Babel, because the languages were confused there,and the people were dispersed. Of these
seventy-two men, twenty-five were of the
246 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
children of Shem, thirty-two of those of Ham, and fifteen of the children of Japhet. Every one of these spake a different tongue, that spread over the face of the earth with their families.
(Eutych. Nazam al-j., pp. 53, 54.)
38 Bar Hebrseus relates a similar legend,and says that Nimrnd's royal crown was made of woven material [zaqlro filagree?] (Dyn.Syr., p. 9), but the Arabic copy adds that some said the crown had been let down from heaven, (p. 18). In the days of Ragu the queen of
Saba reigned many years. She built the city of Saba; and after her queens reigned over that country until the days of Solomon son of David. In those days also reigned Karon,and they say that he melted gold, and built the city of Ukinin with bricks made of gold. (Eutych. Nazam al-j., p. 61.)
39 In the beginning of the thirtyfifth Jubilee, Ragu took Ara, the
daughter of Kesed s son, who bare him Serug, so called [miP] because in his day men increased greatly in wickedness fought one against another, took captives, made idols and defiled the earth with blood, etc. Ur, the son of Kesed, built a city which he called Ara, where
he set up the worship of the host of heaven and idols,and taught men to worship them. Then did prince Mastemaexert himself to further all manner of idolatry and wickedness among men. Serug dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, where his wife Melka brought forth Nahor, who in time took lyosaka daughter of Kheber the Chaldee, to wife, who
bare him Terah, Abraham's father.(Kufale, c. xi, pp. 45, 46.)
Abulpharaj (Syn., p. 10 ; and Arab.,p. 18,19) relates -that Serug invented the coining of money; and that the art of spinning silk and of dyeing, was introduced in his day, by Samirus, king of Babylon. In the days of Serug idolatry
began. And Gentile worship and superstitions. For not until then, were there statues carved in wood, stone, gold or silver; before that man's imagination represented wickedness only in colours. Serug begat Nahor,and Nahor
Terah, who was the first to make idols of clay; and for his sin in thus setting himself as rival against God! orc rip, diet by his making idols of clay, he was punished by seeing the death of his
son.(S.Epiphan. Hceres., lib. i, c. i, p.
6.) Masudi (vol. i, p. 82, sq.) repeats the same thing, partly borrowed from the Coran, sur. c. vi, p. 75, sq. etc.; c. xix,p. 38, sq. Arad the Canaanite, says Abul
pharaj (Dyn. Syr., p. 10), affirms that at this time the conflict of Job with Satan took place. He fought him seven times,and defeated him in every temptation. And the Coptic calendar says that on
the first day of the year, Job took a warm bath, that cured him of his leprosy.
40 In those days giants multiplied in the earth. Then was Ad born, son of Aram, son of Shem, son of Noah, in whose time measures and weights were invented. In his days there was also a great and violent earthquake, such as there had never been before;and this
40 In those days giants multiplied in the earth. Then was Ad born, son of Aram, son of Shem, son of Noah, in whose time measures and weights were invented. In his days there was also a great and violent earthquake, such as there had never been before;and this
was, because the worship of idols had increased,and men sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils; therefore did God send upon them a tempestuous wind,and a hurricane that broke down
all the idols,and demolished their shrines; until the dust of them became heaps and mounds that subsist unto this day.(Eutych. Nazam al-j., p.61.)
41 After the Flood, in the days of Eber and Phaleg, when the first city and the lower were built, Nembroth
NOTES.
247
[Nimrud] was the first to gather people together and to exercise dominion over them.(S. Epiphan. Hceres., lib.i, c, i, p. 6.)
NOTES TO BOOK IV.
1 Things, says R.
Maimonides, went on from bad to worse,and
the knowledge of God continued only among a few, such as Shem, Methuselah, Enoch, Noah and Eber, until the pillar of the world, our father Abraham, was born. No sooner was that valiant one weaned, than he began to wonder, or doubt, in his own mind,and small
as he was, he began to think day and night, how it could be that this round world could go on so continually without a Ruler; or who
makes it go round, since it could not go round of itself. And so he went on doubting, until he came to the knowledge of the only true God, at forty-eight years of age,(Halakotavoda kok., Opp. vol. i, fol. p. 26.)
2 Astrologers [men of the stars] observed the rising of the year in which Abraham was born;and they sent word to Nimrud that a child should be born who would set at naught their dreams and overturn their worship. Then Nimrud ordered all children to be put to death. But Abraham was hidden in a cave [shown as his birth-place at Ur, or Urfah],(Masudii, c. iii,p. 83.)
3 It is well known, says R. M.Maimonides, that our father Abraham,
3 It is well known, says R. M.Maimonides, that our father Abraham,
on whom be peace, was brought up in the faith of the Sabzeans,and
in their teaching [or, knowledge, doctrine]
that there was no other God than the stars. When Abraham objected to this,and opposed their worship, we read in the Book of the Agriculture of the Nabathaeans, that the king of the place where Abraham lived, shut him up in prison; but fearing lest his people should be turned from their faith, he confiscated all his property and banished him to the extreme east.(More Nevukim, iii, c. 29.) In those days prince Mastema [Satan] sent ravens in great numbers, that devoured the seed sown,and the crops that were raised; so that men gathered in the fruits of the earth with great difficulty. And about that time Terah
took Edna, daughter of Abram, to wife, who bare him a son whom he
called Abram, after his wife s father. This Abram, when fourteen years old, began to pray his Creator to save him from the wickedness around him,and to give him an inheritance with the righteous. Then came sowing time;and Abram went with others to watch the fields sown with seed. A flight of ravens then came down,and when about to alight, Abram ran, and bade them go back to whence they came.
He did so seven times that day. And all people came to entreat him to go.
248 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
with them when they sowed their seed, to keep off the ravens. He then contrived a plough whereby the seed fell into the earth and got covered at
This legend is variously told by eastern writers. Bar. Hebraeus (Chron.Syr. Arab., p. 11) simply says Abram drove away ravens, when fourteen years old; but (in his Hist. Dyn. Arab., p. 19,20) he adds, God heard Abram
sprayers when fifteen years old, about magpies
that laid waste the land of Chaldaea. S. Ephrem (vol. i, p. 156) says, that Abram when a child, having been sent by Terah to drive away ravens [wrongly rendered locusts by the translator] sent to destroy the crops, as a punishment for the idolatry of the land,
Abram unable to drive them away by a sudden impulse called upon God to order them off, who answered: Here am I, and ordered the ravens away from Terah s field.[For the story
of Abraham being cast into a burning furnace by the inhabitants of Ur, see Goran, sur. xxi; and Kufale, c. xii.] Targ. Jonathan, in Gen. xii. says: Abram was cast into the fiery
furnace by order of Nimrud; because he would not worship the idol Nimrud had set up.
4 Terah was a worshipper
of idols. But Abraham turned him from them,and talked to him, and taught him Hebrew, his native tongue [lit. of his Creation]; and showed him how God had commanded him to go out of Haran unto the land of Canaan, to look at it,and come back. To which Terah said: Go in peace. God of the
worlds prosper thy way,and the Lord kerp thee safe from all evil,and show thee
kindness and mercy,and give thee favour in the eyes of all those who see thee; that no man do thee harm. Go in peace. And if thou seest the land is pleasant in thine eyes, to dwell there, then come and take me to be with thee. Take with thee Lot, the son of Haran thy brother, to be a son unto thee. But leave thy brother Nabor with me, until thy return in peace; when all of us shall go together with thee.(Kufale,c. xii, pp. 51, 52.)
5 In those days appeared
Melchizedec, an unmarried priest, son of king Sidus. son of Egyptus, who founded the town of Sidon. He is
said to be without father and mother,and without kindred, Sid from his not being of the Jewish race,and because his parents being wicked, they were not reckoned among the good,and because being ruler or prince among the Canaanites, he reigned at Jerusalem.
He met Abraham,and as priest, figuring with bread and wine, the
bloodless sacrifice of Christ our God.(Cedrenus, Hist. Comp., p.49.)
Melchizedec, king of Jerusalem,and king of righteousness, he is
Shem, Noah's son, priest of the Most High.(Targ. Jonathan and Hieros, in Gen. xiv.)
6 When Abraham came to Egypt, he shut up Sarah in a box. But at the
6 When Abraham came to Egypt, he shut up Sarah in a box. But at the
custom-house the officers asked him to pay duty on his luggage. What is it, wares? asked they. I
will pay duty on them, answered Abraham.
Is it gold ? Also on gold, said he. Is it pearls, then ? I will pay duty also on
pearls, answered Abraham. This will never
do, said
the officers, Open thy trunk
! As Abraham opened it the whole land of Egypt was lighted up with Sarah's brilliancy.(Bcreshith Rabbah, sect, xl, fol. 44.)
NOTES.
249
7 About the rising of the moon [new moon] of the fourth month, We, says the Angel of the Face, appeared
unto Abraham, by the oak of Mamrim, and we conversed with him, and gave him to understand that a son would be given him of Sarah his wife. But Sarah laughed, when she heard us say these words to Abraham; and we rebuked her; but she was afraid and lied about having laughed at these [our]
words.
(Kufale, c. xvi, pp. 61, 62.) About this time as our father Abraham sat at the door of his tent, three ministering angels were sent to him, on three errands: (1) to tell him of the birth of his son (2) to deliver Lot (3) to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah; for it cannot be that a ministering angel be sent with more than one message at a time. (Targ.Jonathan and Hieros, in Gen. xvii.)
8 Isaac was thirty-seven years old, born when Sarah was ninety years of age. Hearing of God s order to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, she sickened, from grief,and died of that sickness that same year, aged one hundred and twenty-seven. (Eutych. Nazam al j.,P-77.) For the conversation that took place between Abraham and Isaac on this
occasion, see S.Eustathius Antioch. in Hexaemeron, col.764,ed. M.
9 And it happened about this time that words were spoken in heaven about Abraham, how faithful he was in all that the Lord told him, and how true in all temptations. Then prince Mastema came forward and said to God: Behold, Abraham loves his son
Isaac best of all, tell him to offer him in sacrifice upon an altar; then shalt thou
see if he will do it,and be true and faithful in all that Thou commandest him. Then follows the Scripture account, as far as Abraham took a knife, when I, the Angel of
the Face, stood before God and Prince Mastema. And God said to me: Go and tell him not to lay his
hand on the child, and not to hurt him; for I know
now that he fears God, Then Mastema felt ashamed of himself.
(Kufale, c. xvii, xviii, pp. 67, 68, 69.)Cedrenus(Hist. Comp., p.53) repeats this legend, but calls Mastema, borrowed probably from the Greek original of the Ethiopic Kufale. It is well known, says
R. M. Maimonides, that the worshippers of idols always chose high places and mountains whereon to build their temples. Therefore did Abraham choose Mount Moriah, on which he proclaimed the unity of God,a being one of the highest hills in that neighbourhood. But he consecrated
the western side of it for the sanctuary; so as to turn his back on the idolaters
10 After Abraham had done blessing all his children and grandchildren, he and Jacob, lay together on the same bed. Then Abraham in his anxiety [or care] embraced Jacob seven times,and
rejoiced over him,and added yet more to all the blessings he had given him. He then lay two of Jacob's fingers on his own eyes; he blessed the God of gods, covered his face, stretched his legs,and died. And when Jacob awoke from sleep, he knew not that Abraham was dead, but called to him: Father, father ! But
when he felt him cold, he ran and told Rebekah, his mother, who told Isaac;and they both came with a light,and found Abraham laid out. Then they buried
him, in the double-cave [Machpelah],and mourned over him forty days.
(Kufale, c. xxii, xxiii, pp. 82, 83.) Abraham lived upwards of three
Jubilees and a half, because he was.
250 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
righteous; for after the Flood man's life was cut short. And from Abraham forth, it will be said that, whereas the patriarchs lived eighteen or nineteen Jubilees,and had peace, now men only live seventy or eighty years and all is trouble, because of the wickedness of the world, that will grow worse and worse. Men will be covetous, eager for wealth, in order to get themselves a name thereby; and defile the Most Holy with their evil deeds. They shall
do evil the young with the old, the old with the young; the poor with the rich,and rich with the poor; the mean with the judge, by reason of the law and judgment; because they shall have forgotten the commandments of God and right, feasts, moons, Sabbaths, jubilees,and all manner of judgment.(Kufale, c. xxiii, pp. 84, 85.)
11 Eutychus says Hiram was the first to clothe himself in purple, that was discovered thus: There was a shepherd with his dog one day tending his sheep on the sea-shore. The dog found a purple shell creeping on the shore and having eaten it, the shepherd wiped with some wool the dog s mouth that was full of purple colour. With the wool thus dyed the shepherd made himself a fillet or crown which he
placed on his head. Every one who saw him walking in the sun thus
arrayed, thought that a ray of light shone forth from his head. Hiram heard of it, sent for the shepherd, wondered at the beauty of the colour,and ordered his dyers of stuffs to dye a cloak for him of the same colour.(Nazam al-j., pp. 173, 174.)
12 As with Abraham, so with Solomon there exists a whole literature
about bis wisdom and marvellous deeds, celebrated from his throne (Takht-i-Suleyman) on the Suleyman range of the Hindoo Koosh, to his dialogue with Saturn in the far north. The Suleyman of which extracts are given by Baron Hammer-Purgstall, in Rosen-ol,vol. i, is said to consist of sixty volumes; but the stories of him in the Targum of Jerusalem on Esther,and in the Talmud (Gittin 68; see Ftirst Perlenschurej p. 121) are a thousand years older; so also the accounts of the Wise King found in Eusebius (Prcep. Ev.),Josephus, the Coran. For his psalms, see Fabric. Cod. Apoc. V. T.,vol. i, and Woide s Sahidic New T.
Lib. Hebed Jesu, p. 238, sq.), Solomon not only translated into
Syriac the greater part of the Old Testament the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel,David, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Songs,and Job at Hiram's especial request, but he also invented the
characters, according to Jesudad, who says that, Whereas Moses invented the Hebrew letters, Solomon invented all others, which he gave to the peoples by which he was honoured; but he first of all invented the Syriac letters which he gave to Hiram, king of Tyre.
13 After the death of Hezekiah, Manasseh forgot his father's commandments;and Samael took possession of Manasseh,and clung to him. Then Manasseh forsook God, served Satan, his angels and his powers,and turned his heart to the worship of Berial [Belial]. Then all manner of wickedness, magic and sorcery increased in Jerusalem; Isaiah seeing this removed from Jerusalem, went and dwelt at
Bethlehem. But as Bethlehem was equally corrupt, he and Michaiah, Joel,and Habakkuk and his son Josheb,and others who believed that the righteous would go up to heaven resided on a hill, clothed in skins and living on roots and herbs of the mountains. Then Isaiah had a vision of the.
NOTES.
251
coming of the Beloved, for which Berial was angry with him,and took
possession of the heart of Manasseh who sawed Isaiah with a saw to cut wood. While he was being thus cut asunder, Belkira, Bankembeki and Berial stood opposite, deriding him. Manasseh also and Melkira and his false prophets, stood by looking on. But Isaiah while being thus saw asunder neither cried nor wept; but his mouth conversed
with the Holy Ghost. Thus did Manasseh according to the will of Satan. (Ascension of Isaiah,c. 2-5.)
14 The Ethiopia translator omitted the story told in the Arabic original that, when Isaiah was about to be saw asunder, he wanted water to drink and prayed God to give him some, as He had done to Moses, when smiting the rock. Then God told him to stamp the rock under him with his foot, whence a spring of water at once burst
14 The Ethiopia translator omitted the story told in the Arabic original that, when Isaiah was about to be saw asunder, he wanted water to drink and prayed God to give him some, as He had done to Moses, when smiting the rock. Then God told him to stamp the rock under him with his foot, whence a spring of water at once burst
forth, that has continued unto this day.
15 As for Jeremiah the prophet, they found him hidden and covered with mud in a land of waters (marsh).(Euseb. De Stella, p. 2, ed. W.Wright.) Jeremiah having fled into Egypt, was there stoned to death, and buried. But Alexander when he came into Egypt,
brought the body of Jeremiah to Alexandria,and buried it there.
(Eutych. Nazam aZ-j., p. 252.)
16 Eutychus reckons thus: From the end of Cleopatra's reign to the birth of Christ ... 30 yrs.
From Alexander's reign . 319
From the removal to BabyIon 582
From David's reign . . 1059
From the Exodus . . 1665
From Abraham . . . 2172
FromPhaleg . . . 2713
From the Flood . . . 3244
From Adam . 5500 ,
17 In the year 309 of Alexander, the Lord Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, when Cyrenius was sent by Caesar to Jerusalem. Joseph went up with Mary to Bethlehem to inscribe their names. Mary brought forth. And Magi in their journeyings came and offered unto Christ gold, incense and myrrh, who on their first interview with Herod, when asked by him their errand, said to him: There was a great man
among us who prophesied in a book he wrote, that in Palestine should be born a child of heavenly race, whom the greater part of the world would serve. And the sign thereof unto you will be a star that will guide you to the place where the child is; and when ye see it ye shall offer to Him gold, incense and myrrh, We saw the star and
we are come to worship Him.(Abulpharaj, Dyn. Arab., pp. 109,110.) This supposed prophecy is again mentioned by Abulpharaj (id.,p. 83). When speaking of Cyrus he says: In those days came Zeradasht,
chief of the Magian sect, by birth of Adjerbijan, or, as some say, of Assyria. It is reported that he was one of the prophet Elijah s
disciples [as Confucius was of Daniel(?)], and he informed the Persians of the sign of the birth of Christ,and that they should bring Him gifts. And he told them that in after-time a virgin should
be with child without having known man; and that about the time of her bringing forth a star brilliant by day would appear, in the midst of which would be seen the figure of a young virgin. You, then, my children, will be favoured before all other people with
the Light of that Star; and when ye see it, go whither it leads you; worship the child,and offer Him gold, incense and myrrh. It is needless to say
that no such prophecy of Zeradasht or Zoroaster does.
252 THE BOOK OF ADAM AND EVE.
exist. Neither does Abulpharaj allude to it in his Syriac work, which in many respects differs from the same in Arabic; done by him shortly before his death for his Arab friends at Mabug, some con
siderable time after his first work in Syriac. The number of Magi or, as some say, of kings with their armies is variously stated. Eutychus (Nazamal-j., p. 310) says that only three Magi came, who told Herod the star had appeared to them two years before their arrival at Jerusalem. says Nicephorus Callixtus (Eccles. Hist, lib. i., c. 13), who with Origen, S. Basil, S. Chrysostom,
refers the star to Balaam s prophecy. Nay, Eusebius probably wrote the small treatise on the star attributed to him, which exists only in Syriac, in order to show that Balaam s prophecy travelled
eastward from Moab,and was handed down by Persian kings until the days of Augustus Caesar; when the star did actually appear. Then were the king and the people greatly troubled at the light of the star that outshone all other celestial bodies by day as well as by
night. The king therefore prepared offerings of myrrh and of incense, which he sent by Magi, worshippers of fire. But as the king did not know where Christ was born, he commanded those who carried the gifts, saying: Follow the leading of the star as
you go, by day and by night keep to the light of the star; for the brilliancy
thereof will guide you even when the sun is risen. Then they went to
Bethlehem,and returned and told the king what they had seen and heard.(Pp. 16, 17, fol. 12 of MS., ed. W.Wright.) Et factum est, cum natus esset Dominus Jesus Bethlehemi, ecce !
Magi (History of
Armenia), vol. i,p. 277, relates also that " the
wonderful birth of Christ was made known by means of a star, erits maikuts thakavorats,to three Magi-kings, who came to Judaea to find Him and to worship Him.(See note from the History of Georgia, at Book I, ch. xx.) What sign then did you
see, asked Herod of the wise men, to tell you
a king was born. They said unto him: We saw a very large star, shining among the celestial bodies,and out
shining them all, and we thus knew that a great king was born in Israel,and we came to worship Him.(Proto-ev.Jacobi, c. xxi.)
Fabricius thus quotes from his own edition of Chalcidius, p. 21 9, ad Timceum
NOTES.
253
(Cod. Ap. N.T., vol. ii,p. 116.) Solomon, Bp. of Botsra (or Bassora), says in his Deburitho (or Bee, as quoted by Assem. Bibl. Or., vol. iii, p. 316), that the Magi were twelve Persian princes, whose names he gives at length. These occur also, with few changes, in other, both Syriac and Arabic. Bar. Hebrgeus, or Abulpharaj, in his Ozarkros, or Store house of
secrets, says that the Magi were only three princes who came with a thousand men (sent by Mahir-Shapur, king of Persia, to worship Christ). But James, the Bishop,
says they were twelve princes, who having left seven thousand of their men at the Euphrates, came to Jerusalem with only one thousand. The Bp. of Botsra, however, does not quote the tradition received by other historians, that the presents brought by the Magi to Christ were those which Adam had laid up in the Cave of Treasures; which he made over to his son Seth,and which had been handed down unto the coming of Christ. Of those twelve princes, four,
namely: Zarvandad, Hormisdas, Guznasaph, and Arsaces brought gold; four, Zarvandad son of Varzud, Orthoes, Artaxerxes,and Estunabudanes brought myrrh; and four, Maruch, Assuerus, Sardalach
and Merodach brought incense; according to the Bp. of Botsra.
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