See also “The Image of Jacob Cast Out of Heaven,” p. 368 for a third example of a polemical myth. This is a polemic against the myths that raise Jacob from a human to a heavenly figure, another example of the First Created Being. This myth has God cast Jacob’s image, which was on God’s throne, out of heaven.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 38a; Midrash Avkir; Yalkut Shim’oni 34; Genesis Rabbah 8:1; 2 Enoch 30:11-12; The Testament of Abraham 8 (rec. B).
162. ADAM’S BODY OF LIGHT
Adam possessed a body of light, which shone from one end of the world to the other. This light was identical with the primordial light that was created on the first day. So bright was this light that Adam’s heel outshone the globe of the sun; how much more so the brightness of his face. So astonishing was the sight of Adam that the ministering angels became confused, and mistook him for a divine being, and wished to proclaim him as God. So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and then all the angels knew he was but a man.
The splendor of Adam’s face was only one of seven precious gifts that God gave to Adam before the Fall. Some of the others were eternal life, tallness of stature, the fruit of the soil, the fruit of the trees, the luminaries in the sky, the light of the moon, and the light of the sun. The reason that Adam’s face shone so brightly is that God created Adam in His own image (Gen. 1:27). So brightly did his face shine that the angels mistook him for God himself. So God put him into a deep sleep, and the angels realized he was no more than a man.
Some say that one of the consequences of Adam’s sin was that the light of Adam’s body was diminished, along with his cosmic size. When this brightness vanished, he appeared naked. Others insist that even after his death Adam retained his radiant countenance. Still others say that Adam did not receive the light that surrounded his body until after he sinned and repented, and that is when God gave him a garment of light.
Now it was Rabbi Bana’ah’s duty to measure burial caves, and once he came upon the cave in which Adam was buried. There he discerned that each of Adam’s heels eclipsed the sun. And he understood that if Adam’s heel outshone the sun, the radiance of his face must have eclipsed it even more so. But before he could enter any further, a voice came forth, which said: “You have beheld the likeness of My likeness, but My likeness itself you may not behold.”
After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they perceived that they were naked (Gen. 3:7). Some midrashim assert that they had been surrounded by clouds of glory, which departed after their sin. See “The Garments of Adam and Eve,” p. 437. This myth about Adam’s body of light is a variation on the theme of clouds of glory. Here, instead of the clouds, Adam is said to be surrounded by the primordial light. See “The Light of the First Day,” p. 83. This light disappears after Adam’s sin. This myth is also a variant on the theme of Adam as demiurge, in that, surrounded by that light, the angels mistook him for a divine being.
The extensive tradition about Adam’s body of light seems intended to create a bridge between the myths about a heavenly Adam who has a demiurgic role, and the earthly Adam created out of dust by God. This myth links both Adams into a single being, who loses his divine nature when he eats the forbidden fruit. For more on the demiurgic Adam, see “The Heavenly Man,” p. 124 and “Adam Kadmon,” p. 15.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 58a; B. Sanhedrin 38b; Leviticus Rabbah 20:2; Genesis Rabbah. 8:9-10, 11:2, 12:6, 20:11; Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:3; Numbers Rabbah 13:12; Song of Songs Rabbah 30:3; Midrash ha-Gadol 126-130; Midrash Mishlei 31; B. Bava Batra 58a; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 4:4, 12:1, 26:3; Pesikta Rabbati 14:10; Zohar 1:142b; Kedushat Shabbat 5, p. 13b.
Studies:
“The Body as Image of God in Rabbinic Literature” by Alon Goshen Gottstein.
“Shedding Light on God’s Body in Rabbinic Midrashim: Reflections on the Theory of a Luminous Adam” by David H. Aaron.
163. THE ENTHRONEMENT OF ADAM
The Archangel Michael descended to earth and took Abraham on a chariot pulled by cherubim and brought him up into heaven. That chariot soared over the entire world, and Abraham beheld all that took place that day in the lives of men, both good and evil. He saw births, wedding processions, and the dead being borne to their tombs.
Then the chariot reached the first gate of heaven. There Abraham saw that there were two paths, one broad and one straight and narrow. And they saw many souls driven by angels through the broad gate, and a few other souls led by angels through the narrow gate. And outside the two gates they saw a man seated on a golden throne, adorned in glory. And when the man on the throne saw the many souls driven through the broad gate, he threw himself on the ground and wept and grieved. But when he saw the souls entering through the straight gate, he rejoiced and exulted.
Seeing this, Abraham asked the angel Michael who that wondrous man was, and Michael told him that it was Adam, the first to be formed, who was enthroned there. He observes the world and all those who live there, since everyone has descended from him. And when he sees souls entering through the gate of the righteous, which leads to life, he rejoices. But when he sees all those who enter by the gate of the sinners, which leads to destruction, he weeps and wails.
This myth about Adam being seated on a golden throne in heaven comes out of a tradition that elevated Adam to the status of a divine being. This myth also belongs to the tradition of other enthronement myths, such as those about Jacob, Moses, and King David that are found in a variety of sources, especially the Pseudepigrapha.
In a variety of myths, Adam is portrayed as a divine figure. In some he is described as a giant reaching from earth to heaven. See “Adam the Giant,” p. 128. In others he is described as an enormous golem, as big as this world, asleep in paradise. See “Adam the Golem,” p. 127. Here, Adam is portrayed as a figure seated on a golden throne who either rejoices at the fate of righteous souls who enter paradise, or mourns over the fate of those souls driven away from a heavenly reward. Adam’s great concern for them grows out of his role as their ancestor, the first man. Indeed, he regards them all as his children.
Underlying this enthronement myth is the view that Adam must be regarded as a divine figure, who shares the duties of ruling the world with God. It is evidence of the survival of Jewish Gnosticism, primarily in the texts of the Pseudepigrapha, as here, from The Testament of Abraham.
Sources:
The Testament of Abraham 10-11.
164. ADAM’S BODY FORMED BY AN ANGEL
When the time came for the first man to be created, God called upon the angel Michael, and ordered him to form Adam from the dust of the earth. First Michael gathered dust from the four corners of the earth—though some say that the dust came from the Holy Land, from the place where the altar of the Temple would one day be built. Then Michael shaped him into a clay figure in the image of God, as it is said, In the image of God he created him (Gen. 1:27). God then breathed into the clay figure a soul from the Heavenly Temple, and Adam opened his eyes.
The notion that someone other than God gathered the dust from which Adam was created finds its source in the verse Make for me an altar of earth (Exod. 20:21). In some versions (such as Midrash Konen), it is Gabriel, rather than Michael, who is sent to gather the dust. One midrash holds that the earth refused Gabriel, so that God reached out and gathered the dust from the four corners of the earth Himself. In other versions, such as Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 12, it is said that God took the dust from which He created Adam from the site of the Temple, as this was a holy and pure place, or that Adam’s bones were created there. Other sources say that Adam’s body came from Babylon, his head from the Land of Israel, and his limbs from the other lands.
Some sources, such as 4 Ezra 3:4, emphatically deny that God was assisted in the creation of the world or of man: “O Lord, did You not speak when You created earth, which You did without help, and command the dust, so that it gave You Adam?” In Against Apion 2:192, Josephus makes a similar point: “God created the world and its cont
ents not with hands, not with toil, and not with assistants, for He had no need of them. He willed it into existence.”
Michael’s forming the body of Adam by himself is parallel to Prometheus forming man out of clay and water. See Graves, The Greek Myths, 4c and 4.3. Graves calls the archangel Michael the counterpart of Prometheus. The Prometheus myth also finds a parallel in Judaism in the myth about Adam stealing light from heaven and bringing it to earth. See “Adam Brings Down Fire from Heaven,” p. 137.
Sources:
4 Ezra 3:4; Genesis Rabbah 14.8; Midrash Konen in Beit ha-Midrash 2:27; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 11, 12, 20; Midrash Tehillim 92:6; Y. Nazir 7.2, 56b; Seder Eliyahu Zuta 2; Sefer Zikhronot 15.
Studies:
Midrash Yerushalem: A Metaphysical History of Jerusalem by Daniel Sperber, pp. 75-77.
165. GOD CONSULTS THE ANGELS ABOUT THE CREATION OF ADAM
When God wished to create man, He first created a company of ministering angels and said to them: “Shall we make man in our image?”
They asked, “Master of the Universe, what will be his character?”
God replied, “Righteous descendants will come forth from him.” But He did not report to them that wicked descendants would come forth as well.
They answered, “Master of the Universe, what will his deeds be?”
God recounted their deeds, and the angels exclaimed, “What is man that You have been mindful of him, mortal man that You have taken note of him” (Ps. 8:5).
Thereupon, God stretched out His little finger among them and consumed them with fire. The same thing happened with the second group of angels.
When God consulted with the third company of angels, they replied, “Master of the Universe, what did the other angels accomplish when they spoke to You as they did? The whole world is Yours, and whatever You wish to do with your world, You can do it.”
Others say that the angels formed parties and sects over the question of whether man should be created. Some called for him to be created, others for him not to be created.
While the angels were engaged in contentious arguments with each other, God went ahead and created man. Then God said to the angels, “What good are you doing? Man has already been made!”
God created all that is above and below, yet here, when it comes to creating man, He takes counsel with the ministering angels. In one version of this myth, God destroys the angels as soon as they raise objections. So by the time He has created a third company of angels, they realize that there is no point in contradicting God, and point out, “The whole world is Yours, and whatever You wish to do with Your world, You can do it.” In another version, the angels become pre-occupied with contentious arguments about whether or not man should be created. In the meantime, God simply ignores them and proceeds with the creation, telling them after the fact that man has already been created. Both versions make the same point: even though God may consult with the angels, in the end He will do as He wishes. Note that this midrash resolves the problem of the use of the plural in Genesis 1:26, Let us make man in our image by suggesting that God took counsel with the angels before creating man.
In 3 Enoch, the angels object to the elevation of Enoch in much the same terms as they object to the creation of man, and as they object to the ascent of Moses into heaven. See “The Ascent of Moses,” p. 261.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 38b; Genesis Rabbah 8:4, 8:5, 8-6, 8:8; Midrash ha-Ne’elam, Zohar Hadash 16a-b; Midrash ha-Gadol on Genesis 1:26; 3 Enoch 4:6-9.
Studies:
“3 Enoch and the Talmud” by P. S. Alexander.
“Gen. 1, 26 and 2, 7 in Judaism, Samaritanism, and Gnosticism” by Jarl Fossum.
166. THE CREATION OF MAN
Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the Lord God made earth and heaven—when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
Some midrashim say that God sent the angel Michael (or Gabriel) to gather the earth from which Adam was to be made from each of the four corners of the world, so that people could be buried anywhere, without the earth objecting that he had not come from that place. Another interpretation is found in Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 12, where it is said that God took Adam’s dust from a pure place, the place of the Temple.
Nachmanides, in Perush Ramban al ha-Torah on Genesis 1:26, identifies two stages in which Adam received his soul. First God placed a life force (nefesh) within him. Later, God breathed a higher soul (neshamah) into him.
Parallels to the biblical account of the creation of man are found in the Mesopotamian myths of Atrahasis, the Enuma Elish, and the epic of Gilgamesh. In the stories of Atrahasis, humans were created by Mami, the mother goddess, with the help of the god Ea, out of clay mixed with the blood of the slain god Geshtu-e. A similar myth is found in Enuma Elish, in which the god Marduk, with the help of Ea, created mankind using the blood of Qingu, slain leader of the enemy gods. In Gilgamesh, Enkidu is parallel to Adam and Dilmun is parallel to Eden. To civilize the savage Enkidu, a woman is sent to be his companion, who seduces him for six days and seven nights, and turns him into a civilized man.
Sources:
Genesis 2:4-7.
Studies:
The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels by A. Heidel. The Epic of Gilgamesh by R. Campbell Thompson.
Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East by Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, pp. 19-30.
167. CREATION FROM A MOLD
Adam was not created by God’s pronouncement, as were other creations, but with God’s own hands, as it is said, You lay Your Hand upon me (Ps. 139:5). Indeed, Adam was created by a mold that was made especially for him. This is the meaning of And God created man in his image (Gen. 1:27).
Some say that God created this mold when He said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26). Others say that God used the mold of the angels, who also walk erect, since, in any case, God does not have an image or form.
Everything made with a human mold is identical. But such is God’s power that although each person is created with the same mold used for the first man, no two are alike.
Genesis 1:27 is usually translated And God created man in His image, but here the word tzelem, usually translated as “image,” is understood to mean “mold.” This myth explains how it is that all humans beings seem to be made in the same mold. The mold can also be understood as an archetype, and Adam, as the first human being, is the archetype of all subsequent humans. Nevertheless, no two people are alike.
The myth also raises the possibility that God used the mold with which he created the angels to create humans. This follows the tradition that humans and angels have similar forms.
Finally, the myth emphasizes that while angels and humans may have been created from a mold, God does not have an image or form.
Sources:
B. Hagigah 16a; B. Sanhedrin 38a; Alpha Beta de-Rabbi Akiba in Otzar Midrashim p. 428; Rashi on Genesis 1:27; Commentary of Eliyahu Mizrachi on Genesis 1:26; Siftei Hakhamim.
168. WISDOM CREATED MAN
When God decided to create man, He assigned a share of the work to Wisdom, as it is said, “Let us make man” (Gen. 1:6). Why did God do this? So that man’s rightful actions might be attributed to God, but his sins to others. For it was not fitting that the road to wickedness should be God’s making. Therefore, on the sixth day God commanded Wisdom to create man.
Wisdom is said to have been one of God’s earliest creations, as stated in Proverbs 3:19: Yahweh founded the earth by Wisdom (Prov. 3:19). In most traditions this personification of Wisdom simply serves as a witness of God’s subsequent creations, to testify that no others were involved. Bu
t here God assigns Wisdom the task of creating human beings. Wisdom of Solomon states that “By Your wisdom You have formed man.” Of course, the term “wisdom” can refer both to God’s wisdom and to the mythical figure of Wisdom, but it seems clear in these sources—2 Enoch, Wisdom of Solomon, and Philo’s De Confusione Linguarum—that the term “wisdom” is intended to refer to the mythical figure. See “The Creation of Wisdom,” p. 45. Other sources attribute the “us” of “Let us make man” to the angels, and there are traditions about the role the angels such as Michael or Gabriel played in assisting God in the creation of man. See “Adam’s Body Formed by an Angel,” p. 131. It is interesting to note that in some Christian interpretations, “Let us make man,” God is believed to have been addressing the Son of God, and the work of Creation was a collaboration in which the Father commanded it be done, but it was the Son who carried it out (Hymns of Faith 6:13 by Ephraem).
Sources:
2 Enoch 30:8; Wisdom of Solomon 9:1; Philo, De Confusione Linguarum 179; Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers 3:19, 4:7, 4:38, 12:36.
169. ADAM’S CHOICE
Before God created Adam, there were two formations, that of the celestial creatures and that of the earthly creatures. The angels and other celestial beings were created in the image of God, but they did not reproduce, while the animals and other earthly beings reproduced, but they were not created in the image of God. God decided that man would be created in His image, like the celestial beings, but that he would also reproduce, like the terrestrial beings.
God said, “If I create man out of celestial elements, he will live forever. And if I create him out of terrestrial elements, his life will be brief. Therefore I will create him out of both celestial and terrestrial elements. The choice will be his: if he sins, he will die; if he does not sin, he will be immortal.”
Tree of Souls Page 39