Adam handed down the garments to Seth, and Seth to Methuselah, and Methuselah to Noah, who took them with him on the ark. And when they left the ark, Ham, the son of Noah, bequeathed them to Nimrod, although others say that Nimrod stole them. When Nimrod wore Adam’s garments, his outward appearance was that of Adam, and the creatures were humbled before him and would bow down, thinking he was their king.
The garments came into the possession of Esau when he defeated Nimrod, and it was this garment that Jacob wore when he went to his father, Isaac. For that day Esau had not put them on, so that they remained in the house. Rebecca then took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were there in the house, and had her younger son Jacob put them on (Gen. 27:15). Isaac smelled the smell of Esau’s garments, and therefore he blessed Jacob.
Some say that the repentance of Adam and Eve earned a different set of garments for them, garments of light. At the End of Days, God will dress the Messiah in such a garment, which will shine from one end of the world to the other. And the Jews will draw upon its light and say to the Messiah, “Blessed is the hour in which the Messiah was created.”
This is an example of what might be called a “chain midrash,” because it links together the chain of the generations, from Adam until the Messiah. Other similar midrashic traditions are found about the staff of Moses, the book that the angel Raziel is said to have given Adam, and the glowing stone known as the Tzohar. Sometimes there are contradictory lines of descent, as in the case of Adam’s garment. According to one account in Midrash Tanhuma, the garment was diverted into the hands of the evil king Nimrod, while in an opposing account, it was transferred from Noah to Shem to Abraham, who passed it down to Isaac. Isaac is said to have given it to Esau, his firstborn, but Esau entrusted it to his mother, Rebecca, when he saw his own wives practiced idolatry. And, as is reported in the biblical account, Rebecca took the beloved garments of her son Esau and gave them to Jacob, at the time he received the stolen blessing.
According to Sefer ha-Zikhronot, the garments of Adam and Eve were among eight things created on the first day of Creation. Other sources describe them as being created at twilight on the sixth day of Creation. As is apparent, there were alternate explanations about the nature of the garments of Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:21 seems to clearly state that they were made of the skins of animals, while in the midrash they are also described as consisting of a hornlike substance. The notion that their original garments were made of light derives from the word or, which when spelled with an aleph means “light,” while when spelled with an ayin means “skin” as well as “leather.” It is spelled with an ayin in Genesis 3:21, but Genesis Rabbah 20:12 states that in the Torah scroll of Rabbi Meir, the or in the biblical verse was written with an aleph. Zohar 2:229b explains that they were originally garments of light, not of skin, for when Adam was about to enter the Garden of Eden for the first time, God dressed him in garments of light, of the sort used by the angels in paradise. Indeed, the light of Adam’s garments was more elevated than their own. Had he not been wearing those garments, Adam could not have entered the garden. And when he was driven out of Eden, he required different garments, so the Lord made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them (Gen. 3:21).
A variant of this myth has Noah’s son, Shem, giving the garments to Abraham, who wears them when he takes Isaac to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. Later they were inherited by Isaac, who gave them to his firstborn son, Esau. These were the garments Jacob put on when he pretended to be Esau in order to receive his father’s blessing. Thus when Jacob entered the room, Isaac smelled the fragrance that he had smelled when he was tied upon the altar.
Rabbi Tzadok ha-Kohen of Lublin (1823-1900) proposes that the sin of Adam and Eve, followed by their repentance, brought them to a more exalted state than before the sin, symbolized by their receiving new garments, replacing the garments of skin with garments of light. This is a surprising view of the role of sin and repentance in stimulating spiritual growth. Rabbi Yosef Hayim of Baghdad, known as Ben Ish Hai, asserts in Ben Yehoyada that Torah study has the power to reverse the process, changing garments of skins back into garments of light.
Sources:
Targum Pseudo-Yonathan on Genesis 27:15; B. Pesahim 54a; Genesis Rabbah 20:12; Numbers Rabbah 4:8; Pesikta de-Rabbi Eliezer 20:46a, 22:50b; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana (appendices), p. 470; Pesikta Rabbati 37 (p. 164a); Midrash Tanhuma, Toledot 12; Aggadat Bereshit, p. 86; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 1:3;Zohar 1:53a, 1:73b-74a, 2:229b; Ben Yehoyada; Sh’nei Luhot ha-B’rit, va-Yeshev; Kedushat Shabbat 5:13b. See Ginzberg, Legends, 5:283, note 89.
Studies:
“The Clothing of the Primordial Adam as a Symbol of Apocalyptic Time in Midrashic Sources” by Nissan Rubin and Admiel Kosman.
560. ADAM’S DESCENDANTS
God created the world and set it on its foundation. Then He created Adam and brought him into the world to find contentment in him and his descendants until the end of generations. But among Adam’s descendants some worshipped the sun and moon, others worshipped wood and stone, and every day God lost patience with them, until He deemed that they were deserving of annihilation.
Nevertheless, after considering that they were the work of His hands, God said, “These humans have life, and so do the other creatures. These have breath and those have breath. These have a desire for food and drink and those have a desire for food and drink. Humans must be at least as important as the beasts and creeping things I created upon the earth.”
At once God felt some measure of contentment and resolved not to annihilate humankind.
This myth presents God’s view of humanity through two lenses: the lens of justice and that of mercy. From the view of strict justice, humankind, who has failed to recognize God’s role and instead has various kinds of pagan worship, deserves annihilation. But from the perspective of mercy, humans are simply one of the kinds of creatures that God created. It is this merciful view that wins out over that of strict justice, and God resolves—thus makes an oath with Himself—not to annihilate humankind. And even though God comes close to doing this in the time of the Flood, God does spare Noah and his family, who repopulate the earth. From the perspective of this myth, sparing Noah was an act of God’s mercy, despite the harshness of the Flood.
While God’s views of humanity are interpreted in terms of justice and mercy, they also portray God as somewhat at the mercy of His moods, sometimes gripped by fury great enough to annihilate mankind, and at other times behaving like a loving parent, concerned about His own creations.
Sources:
Eliyahu Rabbah 1:6.
561. GOD DESCENDS INTO THE GARDEN
No sooner did Adam taste the forbidden fruit than the angel Gabriel blew a trumpet and summoned all the angels. When Adam and Eve heard the trumpet, they knew that God was about to come into the Garden to judge them.
Then God set out on His Chariot driven by cherubs, with angels praising Him. Adam and Eve were afraid, and hid. As soon as God reached the Garden, all the plants of the Garden flowered. God set up His throne close to the Tree of Life.
Then God summoned Adam and said, “Adam, do you think you can hide from Me? Can the building hide from its builder?”
Adam replied, “Lord, I was afraid, for I am naked and ashamed.” And God pronounced the punishments of the man and the woman and the serpent, and God commanded that the man and woman be expelled from the Garden.
Then Adam begged God to let him eat of the Tree of Life before he left the Garden. But God said, “You cannot take of it in your lifetime.”
Then the angels began to expel him, but Adam began to cry. “I beseech you,” he pleaded,” let me take incense with me from the Garden, so that I may offer sweet incense to God. Then perhaps God will hearken to me.” The angels let him be, and Adam took sweet incense with him, iris and balsam, and he and Eve went forth from the Garden.
Just before God confronts Adam and Eve with their sin, Genesis 3:8 states, They heard the voice of the Lord Go
d walking in the Garden toward the cool of the day. This myth, from the Armenian version of Vita Adae et Evae known as Penitence of Adam, describes God’s descent from heaven and His arrival in the Garden of Eden in His Chariot, the Merkavah, driven by cherubs. It explains how God traveled from heaven to the Garden of Eden. This descent of God reflects the themes of Merkavah literature, and should be considered an example of it.
Sources:
Penitence of Adam 44:22:1-44:23:2, 44:27:1-44:29:6.
Studies:
Portraits of Adam in Early Judaism: From Sirah to 2 Baruch by John R. Levison.
Penitence of Adam, edited by Michael E. Stone.
Biblical Figures Outside the Bible, edited by Michael E. Stone and Theodore A. Bergren.
562. THE LAND OF ERETZ
When Adam left the Garden of Eden, he came to the land of Eretz, a place of darkness and desolation, where sunlight is never seen. On entering there, Adam was gripped by great fear. No matter how far Adam went in any direction, he encountered the flame of the ever-turning sword that blazed on all sides of Eretz. Only when the Sabbath ended and Adam had thoughts of repentance, did God take him out of Eretz and bring him to the Land of Adamah, where he found peace at last.
The Land of Eretz is described here as a place of desolation, where Adam faced the consequences of his sin and experienced the most intense grief. Note that no mention of Eve is made, although the Genesis narrative indicates that Adam and Eve remained together. This strongly suggests that Eretz is an allegorical land, representing the kind of grief that precedes repentance. The myth also indicates that having been expelled from Eden, Adam experiences panic and fright, as the boundaries of his formerly peaceful existence vanish, replaced by fearful unknowns. Indeed, melancholy and fear are part of his now-fallen condition. At the same time, rabbinic commentaries suggest that he had a great deal to regret. He bitterly regretted his sin and expulsion from Eden. He especially mourned over having brought death into the world, for now he and all his descendants had become mortal.
Once he repents, however, Adam is brought to the allegorical land of Adamah, and there, at last, he experiences peace. One version of this myth, from Zohar Hadash, states that after Adam had repented by entering the waters of the river Gihon up to his neck, God brought him to the land of Adamah, thus indicating God’s forgiveness.
This myth raises the question of why Eretz (land) was selected to represent a place of suffering, while Adama (ground) represents a place of inner peace. The answer derives from the use of these terms in the Genesis narrative about Adam and about Cain. So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil (adamah) from which he was taken (Gen. 3:23). This suggests a compatibility between Adam the man and the Land of Adama, because Adam was created from the dust of the earth, a link that is underscored by their similar names. Eretz, by contrast, appears in Genesis 4:12 as a place where Cain is condemned to wander.
The presence of the ever-turning fiery sword, echoing Genesis 3:24, illustrates both that Adam is trapped in the land of Eretz, and, at the same time, that Eretz is somehow connected to Eden, from which he has been expelled. Thus the ever-turning fiery sword symbolizes all the limitations that have developed in Adam’s life, which have left him virtually trapped both in a desolate land and in his own bitter remorse.
Sources:
Zohar 1:253b; Zohar Hadash, Ruth 79b.
563. ADAM’S ACCOUNT OF THE FALL
On his deathbed, Adam recounted his memories of the Fall to his son, Seth: “After your mother and I were created, God placed us in Paradise. We were permitted to eat from every tree in the garden, except for one—the Tree of Knowledge that grew in the center of the garden. We were forbidden to eat of its fruit.
“Now God gave a part of Paradise to me and a part to your mother. He gave me the trees in the eastern and northern parts of the garden, and your mother received the trees of the southern and western parts. So too did God give us two angels to guard us.
“Each day, when the time came for the angels to worship in the presence of God, they ascended on high. Once the adversary, Satan, took advantage of the angels absence and convinced your mother to eat of the forbidden fruit. And after she ate of it, she gave it to me.
“No sooner did we taste the forbidden fruit, than the Lord grew angry with us and said, ‘Because of this, you and all of your generation will suffer pains in each separate limb, for I will bring seventy plagues upon you.’
“And when Eve, your mother, saw me weeping, she too began to weep. And she spoke up and said, ‘O Lord, my God, give his pain to me, for it was I who sinned.’ And she said to me, ‘Give me a portion of your pain, for your guilt has come from me.’ And ever since, both of us have had our share of suffering.”
This version of the Fall by Adam to his son Seth adds some important details to the account in Genesis 3, such as that the Garden of Eden was divided into two parts, one for Adam and one for Eve. This seems to imply that territorial possession finds its origin with the first couple. Adam also explains how the serpent—here directly identified as Satan—succeeded in seducing Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. It seems that God had sent two angels, one for Adam and one for Eve, to guard and protect them. But when the angels left to pray in God’s presence, Satan took advantage of their absence. Also added to Adam’s account is Eve’s explicit confession of guilt, as well as her offer to share in Adam’s suffering. This perpetuates the blame Eve is to bear for the Fall, but at the same time it portrays her in an exceptionally favorable manner, willing to share both in Adam’s guilt and in his suffering.
Sources:
Vita Adae et Evae 32-35; Apocalypse of Moses 15-21.
Studies:
“New Discoveries Relating to the Armenian Adam Books” by Michael E. Stone.
564. WHAT THE SERPENT SAID TO EVE
In order to convince Eve to taste the forbidden fruit, the serpent said: “But God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God” (Gen. 3:5-6). Know that God ate of this tree and then created the world. That is why He has commanded you not to eat of it, lest you create other worlds. The truth is that you were brought into being to rule over everything. Make haste and eat before God creates other worlds that will dominate you.” And Eve saw how plausible were the words of the serpent, and she tasted the fruit.
This midrash adds significantly to the biblical version in having the serpent suggest to Eve that God Himself gained His powers after eating from the Tree of Knowledge. While the serpent’s original comments promised Eve knowledge, they did not imply that God obtained His knowledge in this way. But the rabbis, reading between the lines, saw a hint of such a meaning in the serpent’s comments and made this hint explicit. To do so is to belittle God’s unique powers, and it turns the serpent into a heretic. Thus this midrash may be viewed as aimed not only at the serpent, but at those with Gnostic views who failed to acknowledge God’s unique powers as Creator of the world.
Sources:
Genesis Rabbah 19:4.
565. SATAN AND THE SERPENT
Satan said to the serpent, “Arise and come to me. I will tell you something that will serve you well.” The serpent came to him and Satan said, “You are said to be wiser than all the other animals. None is your equal in cunning. That is why I have come to see you.”
Now all the wild beasts, including the serpent, came to worship Adam every morning. One morning Satan went with them and said to the serpent, “Why do you worship Adam? You came into being before he did. He should worship you. Come, rise up. Let us expel Adam from the Garden.”
The serpent said, “How can we expel him from the Garden?”
Satan said, “You will be a lyre for me, and I will pronounce words through your mouth, so that you may be able to help.”
Then Satan took on the form of an angel and began to praise God with angelic phrases. Eve knelt down by the wall and listened to his prayers. When she looked at him, she saw the likeness of an angel, but
when she looked at him again, he was not to be seen.
Then Satan called upon the serpent to be his mouthpiece, and the serpent came to Eve and said, “Are you Eve?”
“Yes I am.”
“What do you do in the Garden?”
“God put us here to guard the Garden.”
“And do you eat of the trees in the Garden?”
“Yes,” said Eve. “We eat of all of them except for one tree in the very middle. God commanded us not to eat of it, lest we die.”
“No, you will not die,” Satan said. “But when you eat of its fruit your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil. God deceived you when He said not to eat of it. Look at the glory that surrounds the tree.”
And when Eve looked up and saw the great glory surrounding it, she said, “The tree is pleasing to my sight, but I am afraid. If you are not afraid, bring me the fruit and I will eat it, so I may know if your words are true or not.”
Then Satan made Eve swear an oath that if she ate of the fruit of the tree, she would share it with Adam. Then the serpent brought her to the tree and lowered the branches of the tree to the earth. As he held them down, Eve plucked some of the fruit and ate it.
When Satan saw this, he had the serpent descend from the tree and hide in the Garden.
In most interpretations of the story of the Fall, the serpent is identified as Satan. In this myth the serpent serves as the mouthpiece of Satan. This version changes quite a few details in the biblical account, including some negotiation between Eve and the serpent about the conditions under which she would eat the fruit. Eve is afraid to pick the fruit and asks the serpent to do it for her. Instead, the serpent lowers the tree to the earth, making it easy for her to pick the fruit, which she does. Eve’s reluctance is also found in the midrash, in which she first bites only the skin of the fruit, and when nothing happens, eats the rest of the fruit. (Zekhor Hamor on Gen. 3:6.) Note that the oath that Satan forces Eve to make would be the first oath, and it is made to Satan rather than to God.
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