Satan's Attack on Adam and Eve



77.

And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were happy and joyful in Paradise,

that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath.

and he went and took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up,

and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden] whereon was Paradise.

78.

Now why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein?

 

Because he knew that his appearance was foul,

and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before him.

 

 

79.

Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird

--now the bird that can learn the speech of men is called "babbaghah" (parrot)--

first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird.

80.

He then beginneth to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man,

it turneth round, and when it seeth its own form [reflected] in the mirror;

it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it.

81.

Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure,

and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it,

and it becometh eager to learn, and to speak Greek.

 

 

82.

In this manner (with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke to her)

did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent,

and he watched for the opportunity,

and [when] he saw Eve by herself, he called her by her name.

83.

And when she turned round towards him,

she saw her own form [reflected] in him, and she talked to him;

and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding).

84.

And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it,

and she plucked the fruit of disobedience from the tree of transgression of the command,

and she ate.

 

 

85.

Then immediately she found herself stripped naked,

and she saw the hatefulness of her shame,

and she ran away naked, and hid herself in another tree,

and covered her nakedness with the leaves thereof.

86.

And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her,

and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten, and he also did eat thereof.

87.

And when he had eaten he also became naked,

and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the leaves of the fig-trees;

and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three hours.

 

88.

At mid-day they received [their] sentence of doom.

89.

And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees,

that is to say, of the bark of the trees,

because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks,

and they were softer than the byssus and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made.

90.

And God dressed them in this soft skin,

which was thus spread over a body of infirmities.

 


The [Succession] of the Generations                                                                     CHAPTER FOUR

Divisions 91-115

The Cave of Treasures

 

OF THE GENERATIONS

Adam's time in Paradise

91.

At the third hour of the day Adam and Eve ascended into Paradise,

and for three hours they enjoyed the good things thereof;

 

for three hours they were in shame and disgrace,

and at the ninth hour their expulsion from Paradise took place.

92.

And as they were going forth sorrowfully, God spake unto Adam, and heartened him,

and said unto him,

 

"Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for I will restore unto thee thine inheritance.

93.

Behold, see how greatly I have loved thee,

for though I have cursed the earth for thy sake,

yet have I withdrawn thee from the operation of the curse.

94.

As for the serpent, I have fettered his legs in his belly,

and I have given him the dust of the earth for food;

 

and Eve have I bound under the yoke of servitude.

 

 

95.

Inasmuch as thou hast transgressed my commandments get thee forth, but be not sad.

96.

After the fulfilment of the times which I have allotted that you shall be in exile outside [Paradise],

in the land which is under the curse, behold, I will send my Son.

97.

And He shall go down [from heaven] for thy redemption,

and He shall sojourn in a Virgin,

and shall put on a body [of flesh],

and through Him redemption and a return shall be effected for thee.

 

 

98.

Yet command thy sons,

and order them to embalm thy body after thy death with myrrh, cassia, and stakte.

99.

And they shall place thee in this cave, wherein I am making you to dwell this day,

until the time when your expulsion shall take place from the regions of Paradise

to that earth which is outside it.

100.

And whosoever shall be left in those days shall take thy body with him,

and shall deposit it on the spot which I shall show him, in the centre of the earth;

for in that place shall redemption be effected for thee and for all thy children."

101.

And God revealed unto Adam everything which the Son would suffer on behalf of him.

 

 

Adam's egress from Paradise

102.

And when Adam and Eve had gone forth from Paradise,

the door of Paradise was shut, and a cherub bearing a two-edged sword stood by it.

 

(According to the Book of the Bee, the cherub, or, as some think, a " terrible form endowed with a body," was armed with a spear and sword, each being made of fire.)

103.

And Adam and Eve went down in [    ] of spirit over the mountains of Paradise,

and they found a cave in the top of the mountain, and they entered and hid themselves therein.

 

 

104.

So Adam and Eve went down from that holy mountain of Eden to the slopes which were below it,

and there Adam knew Eve his wife.

 

(A marginal note in the manuscript says that Adam knew Eve thirty years after they went forth from Paradise.)

105.

And Eve conceived and brought forth Cain and LebhÛdha, his sister, with him;

and Eve conceived again and she brought forth Hâbhîl (Abel) and Kelîmath, his sister, with him.

 

(The Book of the Bee says Kelîmath was the twin sister of Cain, and Lebhudhâ the twin sister of Abel.)

106.

And when the children grew up, Adam said unto Eve,

"Let Cain take to wife Kelîmath, who was brought forth with Abel, and let Abel take to wife LebhÛdhâ, who was brought forth with Cain."

107.

And Cain said unto Eve his mother,

"I will take to wife my twin sister LebhÛdhâ, and let Abel take to wife his twin sister Kelîmath";

108.

Now LebhÛdhâ was beautiful,

and when Adam heard these words, which were exceedingly displeasing unto him, he said,

109.

"It will be a transgression of the commandment

for thee to take [to wife] thy sister, who was born with thee.

110.

Nevertheless, take ye to yourselves fruits of trees, and the young of sheep,

and get ye up to the top of this holy mountain.

111.

Then go ye into , and offer ye up your offerings,

and make your prayers, and then ye shall consort with your wives."

112.

And it came to pass that when, Adam, the first priest, and Cain and Abel, his sons,

were going up to the top of the mountain,

Satan entered into Cain [and persuaded him] to kill Abel, his brother,

because of LebhÛdhâ;

and because his offering was rejected and was not accepted before God,

whilst the offering of Abel was accepted,

113.

Cain's jealousy of his brother Abel was increased.

And when they came down to the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel,

and he killed him with a blow from a stone of flint.

114.

Then straightway Cain received the doom of death, instead of curses,

and he became a fugitive and a wanderer all the days of his life.

115.

And God drove him forth into exile in a certain part of the forest of Nôdh,

and Cain took to wife his twin sister and made the place of his abode there

 


The [Succession] of the Generations                                                                      CHAPTER FIVE

Divisions 116-150

The Cave of Treasures

 

OF THE GENERATIONS

The Birth of Seth

116.

And Adam and Eve mourned for Abel 100 years.

117.

And then Adam knew his wife again, and she brought forth Seth, the Beautiful,

a man mighty and perfect like unto Adam,

and he became the father of the mighty men who lived before the Flood.

 

The Posterity of Seth

118.

And to Seth was born Anôsh (Enos),

and Anôsh begot Kainân (Cainan),

and Kainân begot Mahlâlâîl (Mahalaleel);

119.

these [are] the Patriarchs who were born in the days of Adam.

 

 

The Death of Adam

120.

And when Adam had lived 930 years, that is to say, until the 135th year of Mahlâlâîl,

the day of his death drew nigh and came.

121.

And Seth, his son, and Anôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl

gathered themselves together and came to him.

122.

And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over them.

123.

And he commanded his son Seth, and said unto him,

 

"Observe, my son Seth, that which I command thee this day,

and do thou on the day of thy death give my command to Anôsh,

124.

and repeat it to him, and let him repeat it to Kainan,

and Kainân shall repeat it to Mahlâlâîl,

and let this [my] command be handed on to all your generations.

125.

And when I die, embalm me with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte, and deposit my body in ___.

126.

And whosoever shall be left of your generations in that day,

when your going forth from this country, which is round about Paradise, shall take place,

shall carry my body with him, and shall take it and deposit it in the centre of the earth,

for in that place shall redemption be effected for me and for all my children.

127.

And be thou, O my son Seth,

governor of the sons of thy people.

128.

And thou shalt rule them purely and holy in all the fear of God.

129.

And keep ye your offspring separate from the offspring of Cain, the murderer."

 

130.

And when the report " Adam is dying " was known generally,

all his offspring gathered together, and came to him,

that is to say, Seth, his son, and ânôsh, and Kainân and Mahlâlâîl,

they and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters;

and Adam blessed them.

131.

And the departure of Adam from this world took place in the 930th year

--according to the reckoning from the beginning--

on the 14th day of the moon, on the 6th day of the month of Nîsân (April),

at the 9th hour, on the day of the Eve of the Sabbath (Friday).

132.

At the same hour in which the Son of Man delivered up his soul to His Father on the Cross,

did our father Adam deliver up his soul to Him that fashioned him;

and he departed from this world.

 

 

The Burial of Adam

133.

And when Adam was dead his son Seth embalmed him,

according as Adam had commanded him, with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte.

134.

Now Adam's dead body was the first [body buried] in the earth.

135.

And grief for him was exceedingly sore, and Seth [and his sons] mourned for his death 140 days;

and they took Adam's body up to the top of the mountain, and buried it in ______ .

136.

And after the families and peoples of the children of Seth had buried Adam,

they separated themselves from the children of Cain, the murderer.

137.

And Seth took Anôsh, his firstborn, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and their wives and children,

and led them up into the glorious mountain where Adam was buried;

and Cain and all his descendants remained below on the plain where Cain slew Abel.

 

 

The Rule of Seth

138.

And Seth became the governor of the children of his people,

and he ruled them in purity and holiness.

139.

And because of their purity they received the name, which is the best of all names,

and were called " the sons of God," they and their wives and their sons.

140.

Thus they lived in that mountain in all purity and holiness and in the fear of God.

141.

And they went up on the skirts of [the mountain] of Paradise,

and they became praisers and glorifiers of God

in the place of that host of devils who fell from heaven.

142.

There they dwelt in peace and happiness:

there was nothing about which they needed to feel anxiety,

they had nothing to weary or trouble them,

and they had nothing to do except to praise and glorify God, with the angels.

143.

For they heard continually the voices of the angels who were singing praises in Paradise,

which was situated at no great height above them

--in fact, only about thirty spans--according to the measure of the spirit.

144.

They suffered neither toil nor fatigue, they had neither seed [time] nor harvest,

yet they fed themselves with the delectable fruits of glorious trees of all kinds,

and they enjoyed the sweet scent and perfume of the breezes

that were wafted forth to them from Paradise.

 

 

145.

[Thus lived] those holy men, who were indeed holy,

and their wives were pure,

and their sons were virtuous,

and their daughters were chaste and undefiled.

146.

In them there was no rebellious thought,

no envy, no anger, no enmity.

147.

In their wives and daughters there was no impure longing, and neither lasciviousness,

nor cursing, nor lying was heard among them.

 

148.

The only oath which they used in swearing was,

"By the blood of Abel."

149.

And they, and their wives, and their children used to rise up early in the morning,

and go up to the top of that holy mountain, and worship there before God.

150.

And they were blessed by the body of Adam their father,

and they lifted up their eyes to Paradise, and praised God;

and thus they did all the days of their life.

 


The [Succession] of the Generations                                                                         CHAPTER SIX

Divisions 151-175

The Cave of Treasures

 

OF THE GENERATIONS

151.

And when Seth had lived 913 years he became sick unto death.

152.

And ânôsh his son, and Kainan, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd (Jared), and Henôkh (Enoch),

and their wives and their sons, gathered together and came unto him,

and they were blessed by him.

153.

And he prayed over them, and commanded them,

and made them to take an oath, and said unto them,

154.

"I will make you to take an oath, and to swear by the holy blood of Abel,

that none of you will go down from this holy mountain to the children of Cain, the murderer.

155.

For ye know well the enmity which hath existed between us and Cain

from the day whereon he slew Abel."

156.

And Seth blessed ânôsh, his son,

and gave him commands concerning the body of Adam,

and he made him ruler over the children of his people.

157.

And Seth ruled them in purity and in holiness,

and he ministered diligently before the body of Adam.

158.

And Seth died when he was 912 years old,

on the 27th day of the blessed month of Abh (August), on the second day of the week (Monday),

at the third hour, in the 20th year of the life of Enoch.

159.

And ânôsh, Seth's first-born son, embalmed his body and buried him in _______ ,

with his father Adam; and they made a mourning for him 40 days.

 

 

The Rule of Enôsh

160.

And Anôsh rose up to minister before God in ______.

161.

And he became the governor of the children of his people,

and he kept all the commandments which his father Seth had commanded him,

and he urged them to be constant in prayer.

 

 

162.

And in the days of Anôsh, in his 820th year, Lamech, the blind man,

killed Cain, the murderer, in the Forest of Nôdh.

163.

Now this killing took place in the following manner.

164.

As Lamech was leaning on the youth, his son [Tubal-Cain],

and the youth was setting straight his father's arm in the direction in which he saw the quarry,

he heard the sound of Cain moving about, backwards and forwards, in the forest.

 

165.

Now Cain was unable to stand still in one place and to hold his peace.

166.

And Lamech, thinking that it was a wild beast that was making a movement in the forest,

raised his arm, and, having made ready, drew his bow and shot an arrow towards that spot,

and the arrow smote Cain between his eyes, and he fell down and died.

167.

And Lamech, thinking that he had shot game, spake to the youth, saying,

"Make haste, and let us see what game we have shot."

168.

And when they went to the spot, and the boy on whom Lamech leaned had looked,

he said unto him, "O my lord, thou hast killed Cain."

169.

And Lamech moved his hands to smite them together, [in anguish]

and as he did so he smote the youth and killed him also.

 

 

170.

And when ânôsh had lived 905 years, and was sick unto death,

all the patriarchs gathered themselves together, and came unto him,

via Kainân, his first-born son, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and Enoch, and MatÛshlah (Methuselah),

they, and their wives, and their sons.

171.

And they were blessed by him,

and he prayed over them and commanded them, and spake unto them, saying,

 

"I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel

that not one of you shall go down from this mountain to the plain,

nor into the encampment of the children of Cain, the murderer;

and ye shall not mingle yourselves among them.

172.

Take ye good heed unto this matter,

for ye well know what enmity hath existed between us and them

from the day whereon Cain slew Abel."

173.

And he blessed Kainân, his son, and commanded him concerning the body of Adam,

that he should minister before it all the days of his life,

and that he should rule over the children of his people in purity and holiness.

174.

And Anôsh died at the age of 905 years, on the third day of the month of the First Teshrin (October), on the day of the Sabbath, in the 53rd year of the life of Methuselah.

175.

And Kainân, his first-born, embalmed him and buried him in _____,

with Adam and Seth, his father.

 

And they made a mourning for him 40 days.

 


The [Succession] of the Generations                                                                  CHAPTER SEVEN

Divisions 176-200

The Cave of Treasures

 

OF THE GENERATIONS

The Rule of Kainân

176.

And Kainân stood up before God to minister in the Cave of Treasures.

177.

He was an honourable and pure man,

and he governed the children of his people in the complete fear of God,

and he fulfilled all the commandments of ânôsh his father.

178.

And when Kainân had lived 920 years, and was sick unto death,  

[the Book of Adam and the Book of the Bee say 910 years],

all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him, via Mahlâlâîl his son, and Yârêd,

and Enoch and Methuselah and Lamech,

they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him.

179.

And he prayed over them and commanded them, saying,

 

"I will make you swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you

shall go down from this holy mountain into the camp of the children of Cain, the murderer,

for ye all know well what enmity hath existed between us and them

since the day whereon he killed Abel."

 

 

180.

And he blessed his son Mahlâlâîl,

and admonished him concerning the body of Adam, and said unto him,

181.

"Behold, O my son Mahlâlâîl,

minister thou before God in purity and holiness in ________,

and depart not thou from the presence of the body of Adam all the days of thy life.

182.

And be thou the governor of the children of thy people,

and rule thou them purely and holy."

 

 

183.

Kainân died, being 920 years old, on the thirteenth day of the month of Hezêrân (June),

on the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), at mid-day,

in the 560th year of [the life of] Lamech, the father of Noah.

184.

And Mahlâlâîl, his son, embalmed him, and buried him in ________ ;

and they made mourning for him 40 days.

 

 

The Rule of Mahlâlâîl

185.

And Mahlâlâîl rose up and ministered before God in the place of Kainân his father.

186.

He was constant in prayer by day and by night,

and he urged earnestly the children of his people to observe holiness and purity,

and to pray without ceasing.

 

 

187.

And when Mahlâlâîl had lived 895 years, and the day of his departure drew nigh,

and he was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him,

via Yârêd, his first-born, and Enoch and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah,

they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him.

188.

And he prayed over them, and commanded them, saying,

"I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel,

that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain.

189.

And ye shall not permit any one of your descendants to go down to the plain,

to the children of Cain, the murderer,

for ye all well know what enmity hath existed between us and them

from the day whereon he slew Abel."

 

 

190.

And he blessed Yârêd his first-born, and he commanded him concerning the body of Adam,

and revealed unto him the place whereto he should make ready to go.

191.

And he also commanded him, and made him to swear an oath, saying,

 

"Thou shalt not depart from the body of our father Adam all the days of thy life,

and thou shalt be the governor of the children of thy people,

and shalt rule them in chastity and holiness."

192.

And Mahlâlâîl died, [being] 895 years old, on the 2nd day of the month Nîsân (April),

on the 1st day of the week (Sunday), at the 3rd hour of the day,

in the 430th year of the life of Noah.

193.

And Yârêd, his first-born, embalmed him, and buried him in;

and the people made a mourning for him 40 days.

 

 

The Rule of Yârêd

194.

And Yârêd his son rose up and ministered before God [at _______ ] .

195.

He was a perfect man, and was complete in all the virtues,

and he was constant in prayer by day and by night.

196.

And because of the excellence of his life and conversation,

his days were longer than those of all the children of his people.

197.

And in the days of Yârêd, in the 500th year of his life,

the children of Seth broke the oaths which their fathers had made them to swear.

198.

And they began to go down from that holy mountain to the encampment of iniquity of the children of Cain, the murderer, and in this way the fall of the children of Seth took place.

 

 

199.

And in the 40th year of Yârêd, the first 1000 years, from Adam to Yârêd, came to an end.

200.

And in these years the handicraftsmen of sin, and the disciples of Satan, appeared,

for he was their teacher, and he entered in and dwelt in them,

and he poured into them the spirit of the operation of error,

through which the fall of the children of Seth was to take place.

 

 


The [Succession] of the Generations                                                                   CHAPTER EIGHT

Divisions 201-225

The Cave of Treasures

 

 

THE SECOND THOUSAND YEARS:

JâRÊD TO THE FLOOD 3500 BC to 3300 BC


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