CHAP. XXXI.
They make themselves more comfortable in the Cave of Treasures on the third day.
AFTER these things God said unto Adam, "Thou didst ask of Me
something from the garden, to be comforted therewith, and I have given
thee these three tokens as a consolation to thee; that thou trust in Me
and in My covenant with thee.2 "For I will come and save thee; and kings shall bring me when in the flesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death.
3 "But, O Adam, put these by thee in the cave; the gold that it may shed light over thee by night; the incense, that thou smell its sweet savour; and the myrrh, to comfort thee in thy sorrow."
4 When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped
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before Him. He and Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks, because He had dealt mercifully with them.
5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one.
6 And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up Adam and Eve, and bring them down from the top of the high mountain, and to take them to the Cave of Treasures.
7 There they laid the gold on the south side of the cave, the incense on the eastern side, and the myrrh on the western side. For the mouth of the cave was on the north side.
8 The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed.
9 The gold was seventy rods; the incense, twelve pounds; and the myrrh, three pounds.
10 These remained by Adam in the House of Treasures; therefore was it called "of concealment." But other interpreters say it was called the "Cave of Treasures," by reason of the bodies of righteous men that were in it.
11 These three things did God give to Adam, on the third day after he had come out of the garden, in token of the three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth.
12 And these three things, as they continued with Adam in the cave, gave him light by night; and by day they gave him a little relief from his sorrow.
CHAP. XXXII.
Adam and Eve go into the water to pray.
AND Adam and Eve remained in the Cave of Treasures until the seventh
day; they neither ate of the fruit of the earth, nor drank water.2 And when it dawned on the eighth day, Adam said to Eve, "O Eve, we prayed God to give us somewhat from the garden, and He sent His angels who brought us what we had desired.
3 "But now, arise, let us go to the sea of water we saw at first, and let us stand in it, praying that God will again be favourable to us and take us back to the garden; or give us something; or that He will give us comfort in some other land than this in which we are."
4 Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave, went and stood on the border of the sea in which they had before thrown themselves, and Adam said to Eve:--
5 "Come, go down into this place, and come not out of it until the end of thirty days, when I shall come to thee. And pray to God with fervent heart and a sweet voice, to forgive us.
6 "And I will go to another place, and go down into it, and do like thee."
7 Then Eve went down into the water, as Adam had commanded her. Adam also went down into the water; and they stood praying; and besought the Lord to forgive them their offence, and to restore them to their former state.
8 And they stood thus praying, unto the end of the five-and-thirty days.
CHAP. XXXIII.
Satan falsely promises the "bright light!'
BUT Satan, the hater of all good, sought them in the cave, but found them not, although he searched diligently for them.2 But he found them standing in the water praying and thought within himself, "Adam and Eve are thus standing in that water beseeching God to forgive them their transgression,
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and to restore them to their former estate, and to take them from under my hand.
3 "But I will deceive them so that they shall come out of the water, and not fulfil their vow."
4 Then the hater of all good, went not to Adam, but be went to Eve, and took the form of an angel of God, praising and rejoicing, and said to her--
5 "Peace be unto thee! Be glad and rejoice! God is favourable unto you, and He sent me to Adam. I have brought him the glad tidings of salvation, and of his being filled with bright light as he was at first.
6 "And Adam, in his joy for his restoration, has sent me to thee, that thou come to me, in order that I crown thee with light like him.
7 "And he said to me, 'Speak unto Eve; if she does not come with thee, tell her of the sign when we were on the top of the mountain; how God sent His angels who took us and brought us to the Cave of Treasures; and laid the gold on the southern side; incense, on the eastern side; and myrrh on the western side.' Now come to him."
8 When Eve heard these words from him, she rejoiced greatly. And thinking that Satan's appearance was real, she came out of the sea.
9 He went before, and she followed him until they came to Adam. Then Satan hid himself from her, and she saw him no more.
10 She then came and stood before Adam, who was standing by the water and rejoicing in God's forgiveness.
11 And as she called to him, he turned round, found her there and wept when he saw her, and smote upon his breast; and from the bitterness of his grief, he sank into the water.
12 But God looked upon him and upon his misery, and upon his being about to breathe his last. And the Word of God came from heaven, raised him out of the water, and said unto him, "Go up the high bank to Eve." And when he came up to Eve he said unto her, "Who said to thee 'come hither'?"
13 Then she told him the discourse of the angel who had appeared unto her and had given her a sign.
14 But Adam grieved, and gave her to know it was Satan. He then took her and they both returned to the cave.
15 These things happened to them the second time they went down to the water, seven days after their coming out of the garden.
16 They fasted in the water thirty-five days; altogether forty-two days since they had left the garden.
CHAP. XXXIV.
Adam recalls the creation of Eve. He eloquently appeals for food and drink.
AND on the morning of the forty-third day, they came out of the cave,
sorrowful and weeping. Their bodies were lean, and they were parched
from hunger and thirst, from fasting and praying, and from their heavy
sorrow on account of their transgression.2 And when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to the west of the garden.
3 There they stood and prayed and besought God to grant them forgiveness of their sins.
4 And after their prayers Adam began to entreat 'God, saying, "O my Lord my God, and my Creator, thou didst command the four elements to be gathered together, and they were gathered together by Thine order.
5 "Then Thou spreadest Thy
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hand and didst create me out of one element, that of dust of the earth; and Thou didst bring me into the garden at the third hour, on a Friday, and didst inform me of it in the cave.
6 "Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, for I had a bright nature; neither did the light in which I lived ever leave me to know night or day.
7 "Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which Thou didst create me, Thou broughtest to me all beasts, and lions, and ostriches, and fowls of the air, and all things that move in the earth, which Thou hadst created at the first hour before me of the Friday.
8 "And Thy will was that I should name them all, one by one, with a suitable name. But Thou gavest me understanding and knowledge, and a pure heart and a right mind from Thee, that I should name them after Thine own mind regarding the naming of them.
9 "O God, Thou madest them obedient to me, and didst order that not one of them break from my sway, according to Thy commandment, and to the dominion which Thou hast given me over them. But now they are all estranged from me.
10 "Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which Thou didst create me, and didst command me concerning the tree, to which I was neither to draw near, nor to eat thereof; for Thou saidst to me in the garden, 'When thou eatest of it, of death thou shalt die.'
11 "And if Thou hadst punished me as Thou saidst, with death, I should have died that very moment.
12 "Moreover, when Thou commandedst me regarding the tree, I was neither to approach nor to cat thereof, Eve was not with me; Thou hadst not Yet created her, neither hadst Thou yet taken her out of my side; nor had she yet heard this order from Thee.
13 "Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday, O Lord, Thou didst cause a slumber and a sleep to come over me, and I slept, and was overwhelmed in sleep.
14 "Then Thou didst draw a rib out of my side, and created it after my own similitude and image. Then I awoke; and when I saw her and knew who she was, I said, 'This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; henceforth she shall be called woman.'
15 "It was of Thy good will, O God, that Thou broughtest a slumber and a sleep over me, and that Thou didst forthwith bring Eve out of my side, until she was out, so that I did not see how she was made; neither could I witness, O my Lord, how awful and great are Thy goodness and glory.
16 "And of Thy goodwill, O Lord, Thou madest us both with bodies of a bright nature, and Thou madest us two, one; and Thou gavest us Thy grace, and didst fill us with praises of the Holy Spirit; that we should be neither hungry nor thirsty, nor know what sorrow is, nor yet faintness of heart; neither suffering, fasting, nor weariness.
17 "But now, O God, since we transgressed Thy commandment and broke Thy law, Thou hast brought us out into a strange land, and has caused suffering, and faintness, hunger and thirst to come upon us.
1S "Now, therefore, O God, we pray Thee, give us something to eat from the garden, to satisfy our hunger with it; and something wherewith to quench our thirst.
19 "For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted nothing and drunk nothing, and our flesh is dried up, and our
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strength is wasted, and sleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and weeping.
20 "Then, O God, we dare not gather aught of the fruit of trees, from fear of Thee. For when we transgressed at first Thou didst spare us, and didst not make us die.
21 "But now, we thought in our hearts, if we eat of the fruit of trees, without God's order, He will destroy us this time, and will wipe us off from the face of the earth.
22 "And if we drink of this water, without God's order, He will make an end of us, and root us up at once.
23 "Now, therefore, O God, that I am come to this place with Eve, we beg Thou wilt give us of the fruit of the garden, that we may be satisfied with it.
24 "For we desire the fruit that is on the earth, and all else that we lack in it."
CHAP. XXXV.
God's reply.
THEN God looked again upon Adam and his weeping and groaning, and the Word of God came to him, and said unto him:--2 "O Adam, when thou wast in My garden, thou knewest neither eating nor drinking; neither faintness nor suffering; neither leanness of flesh, nor change; neither did sleep depart from thine eyes. But since thou transgressedst, and camest into this strange land, all these trials are come upon thee."
CHAP. XXXVI.
Figs.
THEN God commanded the cherub, who kept the gate of the garden with a
sword of fire in his hand, to take some of the fruit of the fig-tree,
and to give it to Adam.2 The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God, and went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs, each fig hanging to its leaf; they were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when God went to walk in the garden, and the Word of God came to Adam and Eve and said unto them, "Adam, Adam, where art thou?"
3 And Adam answered, "O God, here am I. When I heard the sound of Thee and Thy voice, I hid myself, because I am naked."
4 Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve. But he threw them to them from afar; for they might not come near the cherub by reason of their flesh, that could not come near the fire.
5 At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of him. But now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them.
6 Then Adam drew near and took one fig, and Eve also came in turn and took the other.
7 And as they took them up in their hands, they looked at them, and knew they were from the trees among which they had hidden them elves.
CHAP. XXXVII.
Forty-three days of penance do not redeem one hour of sin (v. 6).
THEN Adam said to Eve, "Seest thou not these figs and their leaves,
with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright
nature? But now, we know not what misery and suffering may come upon us
from eating them.2 "Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them, thou and I; and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life."
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3 Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did not eat of these figs.
4 But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: "O God, when we transgressed Thy commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our transgression, more than three hours.
5 "But on the evening Thou madest us come out of it. O God, we transgressed against Thee one hour, and all these trials and sorrows have come upon us until this day.
6 "And those days together with this the forty-third day, do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed!
7 "O God, look upon us with an eye of pity, and do not requite us according to our transgression of Thy commandment, in presence of Thee.
8 "O, God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life, that we may eat of it, and live, and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble, in this earth; for Thou art God.
9 "When we transgressed Thy commandment, Thou madest us come out of the garden, and didst send a cherub to keep the Tree of Life, lest we should eat thereof, and live; and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed.
10 "But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days, and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed."
CHAP. XXXVIII.
"When 5500 years are fulfilled . . . ."
AFTER these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said unto him:--2 "O Adam, as to the fruit of the Tree of Life, for which thou askest, I will not give it thee now, but when the 5500 years are fulfilled. Then will I give thee of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and thou shalt eat, and live for ever, thou, and Eve, and thy righteous seed.
3 "But these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which thou didst transgress My commandment.
4 "O Adam, I gave thee to eat of the fig-tree in which thou didst hide thyself. Go and eat of it, thou and Eve.
5 "I will not deny thy request, neither will I disappoint thy hope; therefore, bear up unto the fulfilment of the covenant I made with thee."
6 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
CHAP. XXXIX.
Adam is cautious--but too late.
THEN Adam returned to Eve, and said to her, "Arise, and take a fig
for thyself, and I will take another; and let us go to our cave."2 Then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards the cave; the time was about the setting of the sun; and their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit.
3 But Adam said to Eve, "I am afraid to eat of this fig. I know not what may come upon me from it."
4 So Adam wept, and stood praying before God, saying, "Satisfy my hunger, without my having to eat this fig; for after I have eaten it, what will it profit me? And what shall I desire and ask of Thee, O God, when it is gone?"
5 And he said again, "I am afraid to eat of it; for I know not what will befall me through it."
CHAP. XL.
The first Human hunger.
THEN the Word of God came to Adam, and said unto him, "O, Adam, why
hadst thou not this dread, neither this fasting, nor this care ere this?
And why hadst thou not this fear before thou didst transgress?2 "But when thou camest to dwell in this strange land, thy animal body could not be on earth without earthly food, to strengthen it and to restore its powers."
3 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
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