1 Adam and Eve - Public Domain Versions

1:1.On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on\nthe border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun-rising,\none finds nothing but water, that encompasses the whole world, and\nreaches to the borders of heaven.\n

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1:2.And to the north of the garden there is a sea of water, clear and\npure to the taste, unlike anything else; so that, through the clearness\nthereof, one may look into the depths of the earth.\n

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1:3.And when a man washes himself in it, he becomes clean of the\ncleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness--even if he were dark.\n

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1:4.And God created that sea of his own good pleasure, for He knew what\nwould come of the man He would make; so that after he had left the\ngarden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the\nearth. Among them are righteous ones who will die, whose souls God\nwould raise at the last day; when all of them will return to their\nflesh, bathe in the water of that sea, and repent of their sins.\n

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1:5.But when God made Adam go out of the garden, He did not place him on\nthe border of it northward. This was so that he and Eve would not be\nable to go near to the sea of water where they could wash themselves in\nit, be cleansed from their sins, erase the transgression they had\ncommitted, and be no longer reminded of it in the thought of their\npunishment.\n

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1:6.As to the southern side of the garden, God did not want Adam to live\nthere either; because, when the wind blew from the north, it would\nbring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of\nthe garden.\n

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1:7.Wherefore God did not put Adam there. This was so that he would not\nbe able to smell the sweet smell of those trees, forget his\ntransgression, and find consolation for what he had done by taking\ndelight in the smell of the trees and yet not be cleansed from his\ntransgression.\n

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1:8.Again, also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs\nall things in a way that He alone knows--He made our father Adam live\nin the western border of the garden, because on that side the earth is\nvery broad.\n

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1:9.And God commanded him to live there in a cave in a rock--the Cave of\nTreasures below the garden.\n

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2:1.But when our father Adam, and Eve, went out of the garden, they\nwalked the ground on their feet, not knowing they were walking.\n

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2:2.And when they came to the opening of the gate of the garden, and saw\nthe broad earth spread before them, covered with stones large and\nsmall, and with sand, they feared and trembled, and fell on their\nfaces, from the fear that came over them; and they were as dead.\n

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2:3.Because--whereas until this time they had been in the garden land,\nbeautifully planted with all manner of trees--they now saw themselves,\nin a strange land, which they knew not, and had never seen.\n

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2:4.And because, when they were in the garden they were filled with the\ngrace of a bright nature, and they had not hearts turned toward earthly\nthings.\n

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2:5.Therefore God had pity on them; and when He saw them fallen before\nthe gate of the garden, He sent His Word to our father, Adam and Eve,\nand raised them from their fallen state.\n\n

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3:1.God said to Adam, 'I have ordained on this earth days and years, and\nyou and your descendants shall live and walk in them, until the days\nand years are fulfilled; when I shall send the Word that created you,\nand against which you have transgressed, the Word that made you come\nout of the garden, and that raised you when you were fallen.\n

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3:2.Yes, the Word that will again save you when the five and a half days\nare fulfilled.'\n

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3:3.But when Adam heard these words from God, and of the great five and a\nhalf days, he did not understand the meaning of them.\n

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3:4.For Adam was thinking there would be only five and a half days for\nhim until the end of the world.\n

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3:5.And Adam cried, and prayed to God to explain it to him.\n

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3:6.Then God in his mercy for Adam who was made after His own image and\nlikeness, explained to him, that these were 5,000 and 500 years; and\nhow One would then come and save him and his descendants.\n

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3:7.But before that, God had made this covenant with our father, Adam, in\nthe same terms, before he came out of the garden, when he was by the\ntree where Eve took of the fruit and gave it to him to eat.\n

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3:8.Because, when our father Adam came out of the garden, he passed by\nthat tree, and saw how God had changed the appearance of it into\nanother form, and how it shriveled.\n

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3:9.And as Adam went to it he feared, trembled and fell down; but God in\nHis mercy lifted him up, and then made this covenant with him.\n

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3:10.And again, when Adam was by the gate of the garden, and saw the\ncherub with a sword of flashing fire in his hand, and the cherub grew\nangry and frowned at him, both Adam and Eve became afraid of him, and\nthought he meant to put them to death. So they fell on their faces,\ntrembled with fear.\n

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3:11.But he had pity on them, and showed them mercy; and turning from\nthem went up to heaven, and prayed to the Lord, and said;--\n

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3:12.Lord, You sent me to watch at the gate of the garden, with a sword\nof fire.\n

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3:13.But when Your servants, Adam and Eve, saw me, they fell on their\nfaces, and were as dead. O my Lord, what shall we do to Your servants?'\n

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3:14.Then God had pity on them, and showed them mercy, and sent His Angel\nto keep the garden.\n

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3:15.And the Word of the Lord came to Adam and Eve, and raised them up.\n

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3:16.And the Lord said to Adam, 'I told you that at the end of the five\nand a half days, I will send my Word and save you.\n

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3:17.Strengthen your heart, therefore, and stay in the Cave of Treasures,\nof which I have before spoken to you.'\n

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3:18.And when Adam heard this Word from God, he was comforted with that\nwhich God had told him. For He had told him how He would save him. \n

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4:1.But Adam and Eve cried for having come out of the garden, their first\nhome.\n

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4:2.And indeed, when Adam looked at his flesh, that was altered, he cried\nbitterly, he and Eve, over what they had done. And they walked and\nwent gently down into the Cave of Treasures.\n

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4:3.And as they came to it, Adam cried over himself and said to Eve,\n'Look at this cave that is to be our prison in this world, and a\nplace of punishment!\n

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4:4.What is it compared with the garden? What is its narrowness compared\nwith the space of the other?\n

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4:5.What is this rock, by the side of those groves? What is the gloom of\nthis cavern, compared with the light of the garden?\n

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4:6.What is this overhanging ledge of rock to shelter us, compared with\nthe mercy of the Lord that overshadowed us?\n

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4:7.What is the soil of this cave compared with the garden land? This\nearth, strewed with stones; and that, planted with delicious fruit\ntrees?'\n

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4:8.And Adam said to Eve, 'Look at your eyes, and at mine, which before\nbeheld angels praising in heaven; and they too, without ceasing.\n

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4:9.But now we do not see as we did; our eyes have become of flesh; they\ncannot see like they used to see before.'\n

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4:10.Adam said again to Eve, 'What is our body today, compared to what it\nwas in former days, when we lived in the garden?'\n

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4:11.After this, Adam did not want to enter the cave, under the\noverhanging rock; nor would he ever want to enter it.\n

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4:12.But he bowed to God's orders; and said to himself, 'Unless I enter\nthe cave, I shall again be a transgressor.'\n

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5:1.Then Adam and Eve entered the cave, and stood praying, in their own\ntongue, unknown to us, but which they knew well.\n

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5:2.And as they prayed, Adam raised his eyes and saw the rock and the\nroof of the cave that covered him overhead. This prevented him from\nseeing either heaven or God's creatures. So he cried and beat his\nchest hard, until he dropped, and was as dead.\n

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5:3.And Eve sat crying; for she believed he was dead.\n

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5:4.Then she got up, spread her hands toward God, appealing to Him for\nmercy and pity, and said, 'O God, forgive me my sin, the sin which I\ncommitted, and don't remember it against me.\n

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5:5.For I alone caused Your servant to fall from the garden into this\ncondemned land; from light into this darkness; and from the house of\njoy into this prison.\n

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5:6.O God, look at this Your servant fallen in this manner, and bring him\nback to life, that he may cry and repent of his transgression which he\ncommitted through me.\n

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5:7.Don't take away his soul right now; but let him live that he may\nstand after the measure of his repentance, and do Your will, as before\nhis death.\n

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5:8.But if You do not bring him back to life, then, O God, take away my\nown soul, that I be like him, and leave me not in this dungeon, one and\nalone; for I could not stand alone in this world, but with him only.\n

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5:9.For You, O God, caused him to fall asleep, and took a bone from his\nside, and restored the flesh in the place of it, by Your divine power.\n

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5:10.And You took me, the bone, and make me a woman, bright like him,\nwith heart, reason, and speech; and in flesh, like to his own; and You\nmade me after the likeness of his looks, by Your mercy and power.\n

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5:11.O Lord, I and he are one, and You, O God, are our Creator, You are\nHe who made us both in one day.\n

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5:12.Therefore, O God, give him life, that he may be with me in this\nstrange land, while we live in it on account of our transgression.\n

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5:13.But if You will not give him life, then take me, even me, like him;\nthat we both may die the same day.'\n

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5:14.And Eve cried bitterly, and fell on our father Adam; from her great\nsorrow.\n

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6:1.But God looked at them; for they had killed themselves through great\ngrief.\n

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6:2.But He decided to raise them and comfort them.\n

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6:3.He, therefore, sent His Word to them; that they should stand and be\nraised immediately.\n

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6:4.And the Lord said to Adam and Eve, 'You transgressed of your own free\nwill, until you came out of the garden in which I had placed you.\n

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6:5.Of your own free will have you transgressed through your desire for\ndivinity, greatness, and an exalted state, such as I have; so that I\ndeprived you of the bright nature in which you then were, and I made\nyou come out of the garden to this land, rough and full of trouble.\n

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6:6.If only you had not transgressed My commandment and had kept My law,\nand had not eaten of the fruit of the tree which I told you not to come\nnear! And there were fruit trees in the garden better than that one.\n

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6:7.But the wicked Satan did not keep his faith and had no good intent\ntowards Me, that although I had created him, he considered Me to be\nuseless, and sought the Godhead for himself; for this I hurled him down\nfrom heaven so that he could not remain in his first estate--it was he\nwho made the tree appear pleasant in your eyes, until you ate of it, by\nbelieving his words.\n

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6:8.Thus have you transgressed My commandment, and therefore I have\nbrought on you all these sorrows.\n

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6:9.For I am God the Creator, who, when I created My creatures, did not\nintend to destroy them. But after they had sorely roused My anger, I\npunished them with grievous plagues, until they repent.\n

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6:10.But, if on the contrary, they still continue hardened in their\ntransgression, they shall be under a curse forever.'\n

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7:1.When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried and sobbed\nyet more; but they strengthened their hearts in God, because they now\nfelt that the Lord was to them like a father and a mother; and for this\nvery reason, they cried before Him, and sought mercy from Him.\n

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7:2.Then God had pity on them, and said: 'O Adam, I have made My covenant\nwith you, and I will not turn from it; neither will I let you return to\nthe garden, until My covenant of the great five and a half days is\nfulfilled.'\n

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7:3.Then Adam said to God, 'O Lord, You created us, and made us fit to be\nin the garden; and before I transgressed, You made all beasts come to\nme, that I should name them.\n

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7:4.Your grace was then on me; and I named every one according to Your\nmind; and you made them all subject to me.\n

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7:5.But now, O Lord God, that I have transgressed Your commandment, all\nbeasts will rise against me and will devour me, and Eve Your handmaid;\nand will cut off our life from the face of the earth.\n

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7:6.I therefore beg you, O God, that since You have made us come out of\nthe garden, and have made us be in a strange land, You will not let the\nbeasts hurt us.'\n

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7:7.When the Lord heard these words from Adam, He had pity on him, and\nfelt that he had truly said that the beasts of the field would rise and\ndevour him and Eve, because He, the Lord, was angry with the two of\nthem on account of their transgressions.\n

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7:8.Then God commanded the beasts, and the birds, and all that moves on\nthe earth, to come to Adam and to be familiar with him, and not to\ntrouble him and Eve; nor yet any of the good and righteous among their\noffspring.\n

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7:9.Then all the beasts paid homage to Adam, according to the commandment\nof God; except the serpent, against which God was angry. It did not\ncome to Adam, with the beasts.\n

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8:1.Then Adam cried and said, 'O God, when we lived in the garden, and\nour hearts were lifted up, we saw the angels that sang praises in\nheaven, but now we can't see like we used to; no, when we entered the\ncave, all creation became hidden from us.'\n

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8:2.Then God the Lord said to Adam, 'When you were under subjection to\nMe, you had a bright nature within you, and for that reason could you\nsee things far away. But after your transgression your bright nature\nwas withdrawn from you; and it was not left to you to see things far\naway, but only near at hand; after the ability of the flesh; for it is\nbrutish.'\n

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8:3.When Adam and Eve had heard these words from God, they went their\nway; praising and worshipping Him with a sorrowful heart.\n

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8:4.And God ceased to commune with them.\n

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9:1.Then Adam and Eve came out of the Cave of Treasures, and went near to\nthe garden gate, and there they stood to look at it, and cried for\nhaving come away from it.\n

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9:2.And Adam and Eve went from before the gate of the garden to the\nsouthern side of it, and found there the water that watered the garden,\nfrom the root of the Tree of Life, and that split itself from there\ninto four rivers over the earth.\n

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9:3.Then they came and went near to that water, and looked at it; and saw\nthat it was the water that came forth from under the root of the Tree\nof Life in the garden.\n

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9:4.And Adam cried and wailed, and beat his chest, for being severed from\nthe garden; and said to Eve:--\n

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9:5.Why have you brought on me, on yourself, and on our descendants, so\nmany of these plagues and punishments?'\n

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9:6.And Eve said to him, 'What is it you have seen that has caused you to\ncry and to speak to me in this manner?'\n

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9:7.And he said to Eve, 'Do you not see this water that was with us in\nthe garden, that watered the trees of the garden, and flowed out from\nthere?\n

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9:8.And we, when we were in the garden, did not care about it; but since\nwe came to this strange land, we love it, and turn it to use for our\nbody.'\n

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9:9.But when Eve heard these words from him, she cried; and from the\nsoreness of their crying, they fell into that water; and would have put\nan end to themselves in it, so as never again to return and behold the\ncreation; for when they looked at the work of creation, they felt they\nmust put an end to themselves.\n

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10:1.Then God, merciful and gracious, looked at them thus lying in the\nwater, and close to death, and sent an angel, who brought them out of\nthe water, and laid them on the seashore as dead.\n

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10:2.Then the angel went up to God, was welcome, and said, 'O God, Your\ncreatures have breathed their last.'\n

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10:3.Then God sent His Word to Adam and Eve, who raised them from their\ndeath.\n

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10:4.And Adam said, after he was raised, 'O God, while we were in the\ngarden we did not require, or care for this water; but since we came to\nthis land we cannot do without it.'\n

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10:5.Then God said to Adam, 'While you were under My command and were a\nbright angel, you knew not this water.\n

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10:6.But now that you have transgressed My commandment, you can not do\nwithout water, wherein to wash your body and make it grow; for it is\nnow like that of beasts, and is in want of water.'\n

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10:7.When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried a bitter\ncry; and Adam entreated God to let him return into the garden, and look\nat it a second time.\n

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10:8.But God said to Adam, 'I have made you a promise; when that promise\nis fulfilled, I will bring you back into the garden, you and your\nrighteous descendants.'\n

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10:9.And God ceased to commune with Adam.\n

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11:1.Then Adam and Eve felt themselves burning with thirst, and heat, and\nsorrow.\n

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11:2.And Adam said to Eve, 'We shall not drink of this water, even if we\nwere to die. O Eve, when this water comes into our inner parts, it\nwill increase our punishments and that of our descendants.'\n

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11:3.Both Adam and Eve then went away from the water, and drank none of it\nat all; but came and entered the Cave of Treasures.\n

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11:4.But when in it Adam could not see Eve; he only heard the noise she\nmade. Neither could she see Adam, but heard the noise he made.\n

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11:5.Then Adam cried, in deep affliction, and beat his chest; and he got\nup and said to Eve, 'Where are you?'\n

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11:6.And she said to him, 'Look, I am standing in this darkness.'\n

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11:7.He then said to her, 'Remember the bright nature in which we lived,\nwhen we lived in the garden!\n

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11:8.O Eve! Remember the glory that rested on us in the garden. O Eve!\nRemember the trees that overshadowed us in the garden while we moved\namong them.\n

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11:9.O Eve! Remember that while we were in the garden, we knew neither\nnight nor day. Think of the Tree of Life, from below which flowed the\nwater, and that shed lustre over us! Remember, O Eve, the garden land,\nand the brightness thereof!\n

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11:10.Think, oh think of that garden in which was no darkness, while we\nlived in it.\n

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11:11.Whereas no sooner did we come into this Cave of Treasures than\ndarkness surrounded us all around; until we can no longer see each\nother; and all the pleasure of this life has come to an end.'\n

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12:1.Then Adam beat his chest, he and Eve, and they mourned the whole\nnight until the crack of dawn, and they sighed over the length of the\nnight in Miyazia.\n

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12:2.And Adam beat himself, and threw himself on the ground in the cave,\nfrom bitter grief, and because of the darkness, and lay there as dead.\n

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12:3.But Eve heard the noise he made in falling on the ground. And she\nfelt about for him with her hands, and found him like a corpse.\n

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12:4.Then she was afraid, speechless, and remained by him.\n

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12:5.But the merciful Lord looked on the death of Adam, and on Eve's\nsilence from fear of the darkness.\n

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12:6.And the Word of God came to Adam and raised him from his death, and\nopened Eve's mouth that she might speak.\n

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12:7.Then Adam stood up in the cave and said, 'O God, why has light\ndeparted from us, and darkness covered us? Why did you leave us in\nthis long darkness? Why do you plague us like this?\n

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12:8.And this darkness, O Lord, where was it before it covered us? It is\nbecause of this that we cannot see each other.\n

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12:9.For so long as we were in the garden, we neither saw nor even knew\nwhat darkness is. I was not hidden from Eve, neither was she hidden\nfrom me, until now that she cannot see me; and no darkness came over us\nto separate us from each other.\n

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12:10.But she and I were both in one bright light. I saw her and she saw\nme. Yet now since we came into this cave, darkness has covered us, and\nseparated us from each other, so that I do not see her, and she does\nnot see me.\n

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12:11.O Lord, will You then plague us with this darkness?'\n

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13:1.Then when God, who is merciful and full of pity, heard Adam's voice,\nHe said to him:--\n

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13:2.O Adam, so long as the good angel was obedient to Me, a bright light\nrested on him and on his hosts.\n

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13:3.But when he transgressed My commandment, I deprived him of that\nbright nature, and he became dark.\n

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13:4.And when he was in the heavens, in the realms of light, he knew\nnothing of darkness.\n

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13:5.But he transgressed, and I made him fall from the heaven onto the\nearth; and it was this darkness that came over him.\n

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13:6.And on you, O Adam, while in My garden and obedient to Me, did that\nbright light rest also.\n

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13:7.But when I heard of your transgression, I deprived you of that bright\nlight. Yet, of My mercy, I did not turn you into darkness, but I made\nyou your body of flesh, over which I spread this skin, in order that it\nmay bear cold and heat.\n

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13:8.If I had let My wrath fall heavily on you, I should have destroyed\nyou; and had I turned you into darkness, it would have been as if I had\nkilled you.\n

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13:9.But in My mercy, I have made you as you are; when you transgressed My\ncommandment, O Adam, I drove you from the garden, and made you come\nforth into this land; and commanded you to live in this cave; and\ndarkness covered you, as it did over him who transgressed My\ncommandment.\n

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13:10.Thus, O Adam, has this night deceived you. It is not to last\nforever; but is only of twelve hours; when it is over, daylight will\nreturn.\n

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13:11.Sigh not, therefore, neither be moved; and say not in your heart\nthat this darkness is long and drags on wearily; and say not in your\nheart that I plague you with it.\n

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13:12.Strengthen your heart, and be not afraid. This darkness is not a\npunishment. But, O Adam, I have made the day, and have placed the sun\nin it to give light; in order that you and your children should do your\nwork.\n

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13:13.For I knew you would sin and transgress, and come out into this\nland. Yet I wouldn't force you, nor be heard over you, nor shut up;\nnor doom you through your fall; nor through your coming out from light\ninto darkness; nor yet through your coming from the garden into this\nland.\n

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13:14.For I made you of the light; and I willed to bring out children of\nlight from you and like to you.\n

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13:15.But you did not keep My commandment one day; until I had finished\nthe creation and blessed everything in it.\n

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13:16.Then, concerning the tree, I commanded you not to eat of it. Yet I\nknew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive you.\n

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13:17.So I made known to you by means of the tree, not to come near him.\nAnd I told you not to eat of the fruit thereof, nor to taste of it, nor\nyet to sit under it, nor to yield to it.\n

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13:18.Had I not been and spoken to you, O Adam, concerning the tree, and\nhad I left you without a commandment, and you had sinned--it would have\nbeen an offence on My part, for not having given you any order; you\nwould turn around and blame Me for it.\n

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13:19.But I commanded you, and warned you, and you fell. So that My\ncreatures cannot blame Me; but the blame rests on them alone.\n

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13:20.And, O Adam, I have made the day so that you and your descendants\ncan work and toil in it. And I have made the night for them to rest in\nit from their work; and for the beasts of the field to go forth by\nnight and look for their food.\n

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13:21.But little of darkness now remains, O Adam, and daylight will soon\nappear.'\n

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14:1.Then Adam said to God: 'O Lord, take You my soul, and let me not see\nthis gloom any more; or remove me to some place where there is no\ndarkness.'\n

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14:2.But God the Lord said to Adam, 'Indeed I say to you, this darkness\nwill pass from you, every day I have determined for you, until the\nfulfillment of My covenant; when I will save you and bring you back\nagain into the garden, into the house of light you long for, in which\nthere is no darkness. I will bring you to it--in the kingdom of\nheaven.'\n

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14:3.Again said God to Adam, 'All this misery that you have been made to\ntake on yourself because of your transgression, will not free you from\nthe hand of Satan, and will not save you.\n

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14:4.But I will. When I shall come down from heaven, and shall become\nflesh of your descendants, and take on Myself the infirmity from which\nyou suffer, then the darkness that covered you in this cave shall cover\nMe in the grave, when I am in the flesh of your descendants.\n

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14:5.And I, who am without years, shall be subject to the reckoning of\nyears, of times, of months, and of days, and I shall be reckoned as one\nof the sons of men, in order to save you.'\n

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14:6.And God ceased to commune with Adam.\n

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15:1.Then Adam and Eve cried and sorrowed by reason of God's word to them,\nthat they should not return to the garden until the fulfillment of the\ndays decreed on them; but mostly because God had told them that He\nshould suffer for their salvation.\n

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16:1.After this, Adam and Eve continued to stand in the cave, praying and\ncrying, until the morning dawned on them.\n

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16:2.And when they saw the light returned to them, they retrained from\nfear, and strengthened their hearts.\n

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16:3.Then Adam began to come out of the cave. And when he came to the\nmouth of it, and stood and turned his face towards the east, and saw\nthe sunrise in glowing rays, and felt the heat thereof on his body, he\nwas afraid of it, and thought in his heart that this flame came forth\nto plague him.\n

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16:4.He then cried and beat his chest, then he fell on the ground on his\nface and made his request, saying:--\n

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16:5.O Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life\nfrom the earth.'\n

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16:6.For he thought the sun was God.\n

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16:7.Because while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the\nsound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the\nbrilliant light of the sun, neither did its flaming heat touch his body.\n

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16:8.Therefore he was afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached\nhim. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days He had\ndecreed for him.\n

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16:9.For Adam also said in his thoughts, as God did not plague us with\ndarkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with\nburning heat.\n

commentary

16:10.But while he was thinking like this in his heart, the Word of God\ncame to him and said:--\n

commentary

16:11.O Adam, get up on your feet. This sun is not God; but it has been\ncreated to give light by day, of which I spoke to you in the cave\nsaying, 'that the dawn would come, and there would be light by day.'\n

commentary

16:12.But I am God who comforted you in the night.'\n

commentary

16:13.And God ceased to commune with Adam.\n

commentary

17:1.The Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave, and went towards\nthe garden.\n

commentary

17:2.But as they went near it, before the western gate, from which Satan\ncame when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the serpent that became\nSatan coming at the gate, and sorrowfully licking the dust, and\nwiggling on its breast on the ground, by reason of the curse that fell\non it from God.\n

commentary

17:3.And whereas before the serpent was the most exalted of all beasts,\nnow it was changed and become slippery, and the meanest of them all,\nand it crept on its breast and went on its belly.\n

commentary

17:4.And whereas it was the fairest of all beasts, it had been changed,\nand was become the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best\nfood, now it turned to eat the dust. Instead of living, as before, in\nthe best places, now it lived in the dust.\n

commentary

17:5.And, whereas it had been the most beautiful of all beasts, all of\nwhich stood dumb at its beauty, it was now abhorred of them.\n

commentary

17:6.And, again, whereas it lived in one beautiful home, to which all\nother animals came from elsewhere; and where it drank, they drank also\nof the same; now, after it had become venomous, by reason of God's\ncurse, all beasts fled from its home, and would not drink of the water\nit drank; but fled from it.\n

commentary

18:1.When the accursed serpent saw Adam and Eve, it swelled its head,\nstood on its tail, and with eyes blood-red, acted like it would kill\nthem.\n

commentary

18:2.It made straight for Eve, and ran after her; while Adam standing by,\ncried because he had no stick in his hand with which to hit the\nserpent, and did not know how to put it to death.\n

commentary

18:3.But with a heart burning for Eve, Adam approached the serpent, and\nheld it by the tail; when it turned towards him and said to him:--\n

commentary

18:4.O Adam, because of you and of Eve, I am slippery, and go on my\nbelly.' Then with its great strength, it threw down Adam and Eve and\nsqueezed them, and tried to kill them.\n

commentary

18:5.But God sent an angel who threw the serpent away from them, and\nraised them up.\n

commentary

18:6.Then the Word of God came to the serpent, and said to it, 'The first\ntime I made you slick, and made you to go on your belly; but I did not\ndeprive you of speech.\n

commentary

18:7.This time, however, you will be mute, and you and your race will\nspeak no more; because, the first time My creatures were ruined because\nof you, and this time you tried to kill them.'\n

commentary

18:8.Then the serpent was struck mute, and was no longer able to speak.\n

commentary

18:9.And a wind blew down from heaven by the command of God and carried\naway the serpent from Adam and Eve, and threw it on the seashore where\nit landed in India.\n

commentary

19:1.But Adam and Eve cried before God. And Adam said to Him:--\n

commentary

19:2.O Lord, when I was in the cave, I said this to you, my Lord, the\nbeasts of the field would rise and devour me, and cut off my life from\nthe earth.'\n

commentary

19:3.Then Adam, because of what had happened to him, beat his chest and\nfell on the ground like a corpse. Then the Word of God came to him,\nwho raised him, and said to him,\n

commentary

19:4.O Adam, not one of these beasts will be able to hurt you; because I\nhave made the beasts and other moving things come to you in the cave.\nI did not let the serpent come with them because it might have risen\nagainst you and made you tremble; and the fear of it should fall into\nyour hearts.\n

commentary

19:5.For I knew that the accursed one is wicked; therefore I would not let\nit come near you with the other beasts.\n

commentary

19:6.But now strengthen your heart and fear not. I am with you to the end\nof the days I have determined on you.' \n

commentary

20:1.Then Adam cried and said, 'O God, take us away to some other place,\nwhere the serpent can not come near us again, and rise against us. For\nfear that it might find Your handmaid Eve alone and kill her; for its\neyes are hideous and evil.'\n

commentary

20:2.But God said to Adam and Eve, 'From now on, don't be afraid, I will\nnot let it come near you; I have driven it away from you, from this\nmountain; neither will I leave in it the ability to hurt you.'\n

commentary

20:3.Then Adam and Eve worshipped before God and gave Him thanks, and\npraised Him for having delivered them from death. \n

commentary

21:1.Then Adam and Eve went in search of the garden.\n

commentary

21:2.And the heat beat like a flame on their faces; and they sweated from\nthe heat, and cried before the Lord.\n

commentary

21:3.But the place where they cried was close to a high mountain, facing\nthe western gate of the garden.\n

commentary

21:4.Then Adam threw himself down from the top of that mountain; his face\nwas torn and his flesh was ripped; he lost a lot of blood and was close\nto death.\n

commentary

21:5.Meanwhile Eve remained standing on the mountain crying over him, thus\nlying.\n

commentary

21:6.And she said, 'I don't wish to live after him; for all that he did to\nhimself was through me.'\n

commentary

21:7.Then she threw herself after him; and was torn and ripped by stones;\nand remained lying as dead.\n

commentary

21:8.But the merciful God, who looks over His creatures, looked at Adam\nand Eve as they lay dead, and He sent His Word to them, and raised them.\n

commentary

21:9.And said to Adam, 'O Adam, all this misery which you have brought on\nyourself, will have no affect against My rule, neither will it alter\nthe covenant of the 5, 500 years.'\n

commentary

22:1.Then Adam said to God, 'I dry up in the heat, I am faint from\nwalking, and I don't want to be in this world. And I don't know when\nYou will take me out of it to rest.'\n

commentary

22:2.Then the Lord God said to him, 'O Adam, it cannot be now, not until\nyou have ended your days. Then shall I bring you out of this miserable\nland.'\n

commentary

22:3.And Adam said to God, 'While I was in the garden I knew neither heat,\nnor languor, neither moving about, nor trembling, nor fear; but now\nsince I came to this land, all this affliction has come over me.\n

commentary

22:4.Then God said to Adam, 'So long as you were keeping My commandment,\nMy light and My grace rested on you. But when you transgressed My\ncommandment, sorrow and misery came to you in this land.'\n

commentary

22:5.And Adam cried and said, 'O Lord, do not cut me off for this, neither\npunish me with heavy plagues, nor yet repay me according to my sin; for\nwe, of our own will, transgressed Your commandment, and ignored Your\nlaw, and tried to become gods like you, when Satan the enemy deceived\nus.'\n

commentary

22:6.Then God said again to Adam, 'Because you have endured fear and\ntrembling in this land, languor and suffering, treading and walking\nabout, going on this mountain, and dying from it, I will take all this\non Myself in order to save you.'\n

commentary

23:1.Then Adam cried more and said, 'O God, have mercy on me, so far as to\ntake on yourself, that which I will do.'\n

commentary

23:2.But God withdrew His Word from Adam and Eve.\n

commentary

23:3.Then Adam and Eve stood on their feet; and Adam said to Eve,\n'Strengthen yourself, and I also will strengthen myself.' And she\nstrengthened herself, as Adam told her.\n

commentary

23:4.Then Adam and Eve took stones and placed them in the shape of an\naltar; and they took leaves from the trees outside the garden, with\nwhich they wiped, from the face of the rock, the blood they had spilled.\n

commentary

23:5.But that which had dropped on the sand, they took together with the\ndust with which it was mingled and offered it on the altar as an\noffering to God.\n

commentary

23:6.Then Adam and Eve stood under the Altar and cried, thus praying to\nGod, 'Forgive us our trespass and our sin, and look at us with Thine\neye of mercy. For when we were in the garden our praises and our hymns\nwent up before you without ceasing.\n

commentary

23:7.But when we came into this strange land, pure praise was not longer\nours, nor righteous prayer, nor understanding hearts, nor sweet\nthoughts, nor just counsels, nor long discernment, nor upright\nfeelings, neither is our bright nature left us. But our body is\nchanged from the likeness in which it was at first, when we were\ncreated.\n

commentary

23:8.Yet now look at our blood which is offered on these stones, and\naccept it at our hands, like the praise we used to sing to you at\nfirst, when in the garden.'\n

commentary

23:9.And Adam began to make more requests of God.\n

commentary

24:1.Then the merciful God, good and lover of men, looked at Adam and Eve,\nand at their blood, which they had held up as an offering to Him;\nwithout an order from Him for so doing. But He wondered at them; and\naccepted their offerings.\n

commentary

24:2.And God sent from His presence a bright fire, that consumed their\noffering.\n

commentary

24:3.He smelled the sweet savor of their offering, and showed them mercy.\n

commentary

24:4.Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, 'O Adam, as you\nhave shed your blood, so will I shed My own blood when I become flesh\nof your descendants; and as you died, O Adam, so also will I die. And\nas you built an altar, so also will I make for you an altar of the\nearth; and as you offered your blood on it, so also will I offer My\nblood on an altar on the earth.\n

commentary

24:5.And as you sued for forgiveness through that blood, so also will I\nmake My blood forgiveness of sins, and erase transgressions in it.\n

commentary

24:6.And now, behold, I have accepted your offering, O Adam, but the days\nof the covenant in which I have bound you are not fulfilled. When they\nare fulfilled, then will I bring you back into the garden.\n

commentary

24:7.Now, therefore, strengthen your heart; and when sorrow comes over\nyou, make Me an offering, and I will be favorable to you.'\n

commentary

25:1.But God knew that Adam believed he should frequently kill himself and\nmake an offering to Him of his blood.\n

commentary

25:2.Therefore He said to him, 'O Adam, don't ever kill yourself like this\nagain, by throwing yourself down from that mountain.'\n

commentary

25:3.But Adam said to God, 'I was thinking to put an end to myself at\nonce, for having transgressed Your commandments, and for my having come\nout of the beautiful garden; and for the bright light of which You have\ndeprived me; and for the praises which poured forth from my mouth\nwithout ceasing, and for the light that covered me.\n

commentary

25:4.Yet of Your goodness, O God, do not get rid of me altogether; but be\nfavorable to me every time I die, and bring me to life.\n

commentary

25:5.And thereby it will be made known that You are a merciful God, who\ndoes not want anyone to perish; who loves not that one should fall; and\nwho does not condemn any one cruelly, badly, and by whole destruction.'\n

commentary

25:6.Then Adam remained silent.\n

commentary

25:7.And the Word of God came to him, and blessed him, and comforted him,\nand covenanted with him, that He would save him at the end of the days\ndetermined for him.\n

commentary

25:8.This, then, was the first offering Adam made to God; and so it became\nhis custom to do. \n

commentary

26:1.Then Adam took Eve, and they began to return to the Cave of Treasures\nwhere they lived. But when they got closer to it and saw it from a\ndistance, heavy sorrow fell on Adam and Eve when they looked at it.\n

commentary

26:2.Then Adam said to Eve, 'When we were on the mountain we were\ncomforted by the Word of God that conversed with us; and the light that\ncame from the east shown over us.\n

commentary

26:3.But now the Word of God is hidden from us; and the light that shown\nover us is so changed as to disappear, and let darkness and sorrow come\nover us.\n

commentary

26:4.And we are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison, in which\ndarkness covers us, so that we are separated from each other; and you\ncan not see me, neither can I see you.'\n

commentary

26:5.When Adam had said these words, they cried and spread their hands\nbefore God; for they were full of sorrow.\n

commentary

26:6.And they prayed to God to bring the sun to them, to shine on them, so\nthat darkness would not return to them, and that they wouldn't have to\ngo under this covering of rock. And they wished to die rather than see\nthe darkness.\n

commentary

26:7.Then God looked at Adam and Eve and at their great sorrow, and at all\nthey had done with a fervent heart, on account of all the trouble they\nwere in, instead of their former well-being, and on account of all the\nmisery that came over them in a strange land.\n

commentary

26:8.Therefore God was not angry with them; nor impatient with them; but\nhe was patient and forbearing towards them, as towards the children He\nhad created.\n

commentary

26:9.Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, 'Adam, as for the\nsun, if I were to take it and bring it to you, days, hours, years and\nmonths would all stop, and the covenant I have made with you, would\nnever be fulfilled.\n

commentary

26:10.But then you would be deserted and stuck in a perpetual plague, and\nyou would never be saved.\n

commentary

26:11.Yes, rather, bear long and calm your soul while you live night and\nday; until the fulfillment of the days, and the time of My covenant is\ncome.\n

commentary

26:12.Then shall I come and save you, O Adam, for I do not wish that you\nbe afflicted.\n

commentary

26:13.And when I look at all the good things in which you lived, and why\nyou came out of them, then would I willingly show you mercy.\n

commentary

26:14.But I cannot alter the covenant that has gone out of My mouth;\notherwise I would have brought you back into the garden.\n

commentary

26:15.When, however, the covenant is fulfilled, then shall I show you and\nyour descendants mercy, and bring you into a land of gladness, where\nthere is neither sorrow nor suffering; but abiding joy and gladness,\nand light that never fails, and praises that never cease; and a\nbeautiful garden that shall never pass away.'\n

commentary

26:16.And God said again to Adam, 'Be patient and enter the cave, for the\ndarkness, of which you were afraid, shall only be twelve hours long;\nand when ended, light shall come up.'\n

commentary

26:17.Then when Adam heard these words from God, he and Eve worshipped\nbefore Him, and their hearts were comforted. They returned into the\ncave after their custom, while tears flowed from their eyes, sorrow and\nwailing came from their hearts, and they wished their soul would leave\ntheir body.\n

commentary

26:18.And Adam and Eve stood praying until the darkness of night came over\nthem, and Adam was hid from Eve, and she from him.\n

commentary

26:19.And they remained standing in prayer. \n

commentary

27:1.When Satan, the hater of all good, saw how they continued in prayer,\nand how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had\naccepted their offering--Satan made an apparition.\n

commentary

27:2.He began with transforming his hosts; in his hands was a flashing\nfire, and they were in a great light.\n

commentary

27:3.He then placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could\nnot enter into it by reason of their prayers. And he shed light into\nthe cave, until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve; while his hosts\nbegan to sing praises.\n

commentary

27:4.And Satan did this, in order that when Adam saw the light, he should\nthink within himself that it was a heavenly light, and that Satan's\nhosts were angels; and that God had sent them to watch at the cave, and\nto give him light in the darkness.\n

commentary

27:5.So that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve\nbowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam thereby, and a second time\nhumble him before God.\n

commentary

27:6.When, therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, fancying it was real,\nthey strengthened their hearts; yet, as they were trembling, Adam said\nto Eve:--\n

commentary

27:7.Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at\nthat host standing outside who won't come into our cave. Why don't\nthey tell us what they want, where they are from, what the meaning of\nthis light is, what those praises are, why they have been sent to this\nplace, and why they won't come in?\n

commentary

27:8.If they were from God, they would come into the cave with us, and\nwould tell us why they were sent.'\n

commentary

27:9.Then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart, and said:--\n

commentary

27:10.O Lord, is there in the world another god besides You, who created\nangels and filled them with light, and sent them to keep us, who would\ncome with them?\n

commentary

27:11.But, look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave;\nthey are in a great light; they sing loud praises. If they are of some\nother god than You, tell me; and if they are sent by you, inform me of\nthe reason for which You have sent them.'\n

commentary

27:12.No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared to him\nin the cave, who said to him, 'O Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his\nhosts; he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the\nfirst time, he was hidden in the serpent; but this time he is come to\nyou in the likeness of an angel of light; in order that, when you\nworshipped him, he might enslave you, in the very presence of God.'\n

commentary

27:13.Then the angel went from Adam and seized Satan at the opening of the\ncave, and stripped him of the pretense he had assumed, and brought him\nin his own hideous form to Adam and Eve; who were afraid of him when\nthey saw him.\n

commentary

27:14.And the angel said to Adam, 'This hideous form has been his ever\nsince God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you\nin it; he therefore transformed himself into an angel of light.'\n

commentary

27:15.Then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve, and\nsaid to them, 'Fear not; God who created you, will strengthen you.'\n

commentary

27:16.And the angel left them.\n

commentary

27:17.But Adam and Eve remained standing in the cave; no consolation came\nto them; they divided in their thoughts.\n

commentary

27:18.And when it was morning they prayed; and then went out to seek the\ngarden. For their hearts were towards it, and they could get no\nconsolation for having left it. \n

commentary

28:1.But when the crafty Satan saw them, that they were going to the\ngarden, he gathered together his host, and came in appearance on a\ncloud, intent on deceiving them.\n

commentary

28:2.But when Adam and Eve saw him thus in a vision, they thought they\nwere angels of God come to comfort them about having left the garden,\nor to bring them back again into it.\n

commentary

28:3.And Adam spread his hands before God, beseeching Him to make him\nunderstand what they were.\n

commentary

28:4.Then Satan, the hater of all good, said to Adam, 'O Adam, I am an\nangel of the great God; and, behold the hosts that surround me.\n

commentary

28:5.God has sent us to take you and bring you to the border of the garden\nnorthwards; to the shore of the clear sea, and bathe you and Eve in it,\nand raise you to your former gladness, that you return again to the\ngarden.'\n

commentary

28:6.These words sank into the heart of Adam and Eve.\n

commentary

28:7.Yet God withheld His Word from Adam, and did not make him understand\nat once, but waited to see his strength; whether he would be overcome\nas Eve was when in the garden, or whether he would prevail.\n

commentary

28:8.Then Satan called to Adam and Eve, and said, 'Behold, we go to the\nsea of water,' and they began to go.\n

commentary

28:9.And Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance.\n

commentary

28:10.But when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden, a\nvery high mountain, without any steps to the top of it, the Devil drew\nnear to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top in reality, and\nnot in a vision; wishing, as he did, to throw them down and kill them,\nand to wipe off their name from the earth; so that this earth should\nremain to him and his hosts alone. \n

commentary

29:1.But when the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his\nmany tricks, and saw that Adam was meek and without guile, God spoke to\nSatan in a loud voice, and cursed him.\n

commentary

29:2.Then he and his hosts fled, and Adam and Eve remained standing on the\ntop of the mountain, from there they saw below them the wide world,\nhigh above which they were. But they saw none of the host which time\nafter time were by them.\n

commentary

29:3.They cried, both Adam and Eve, before God, and begged for forgiveness\nof Him.\n

commentary

29:4.Then came the Word from God to Adam, and said to him, 'Know you and\nunderstand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive you and your\ndescendants after you.'\n

commentary

29:5.And Adam cried before the Lord God, and begged and prayed to Him to\ngive him something from the garden, as a token to him, wherein to be\ncomforted.\n

commentary

29:6.And God considered Adam's thought, and sent the angel Michael as far\nas the sea that reaches India, to take from there golden rods and bring\nthem to Adam.\n

commentary

29:7.This did God in His wisdom in order that these golden rods, being\nwith Adam in the cave, should shine forth with light in the night\naround him, and put an end to his fear of the darkness.\n

commentary

29:8.Then the angel Michael went down by God's order, took golden rods, as\nGod had commanded him, and brought them to God. \n

commentary

30:1.After these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the\ngarden, and say to the cherub who kept it, 'Behold, God has commanded\nme to come into the garden, and to take from it sweet smelling incense,\nand give it to Adam.'\n

commentary

30:2.Then the angel Gabriel went down by God's order to the garden, and\ntold the cherub as God had commanded him.\n

commentary

30:3.The cherub then said, 'Well.' And Gabriel went in and took the\nincense.\n

commentary

30:4.Then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to the garden, and\nspeak to the cherub about some myrrh, to give to Adam.\n

commentary

30:5.And the angel Raphael went down and told the cherub as God had\ncommanded him, and the cherub said, 'Well.' Then Raphael went in and\ntook the myrrh.\n

commentary

30:6.The golden rods were from the Indian sea, where there are precious\nstones. The incense was from the eastern border of the garden; and the\nmyrrh from the western border, from where bitterness came over Adam.\n

commentary

30:7.And the angels brought these things to God, by the Tree of Life, in\nthe garden.\n

commentary

30:8.Then God said to the angels, 'Dip them in the spring of water; then\ntake them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve, that they be a\nlittle comforted in their sorrow, and give them to Adam and Eve.\n

commentary

30:9.And the angels did as God had commanded them, and they gave all those\nthings to Adam and Eve on the top of the mountain on which Satan had\nplaced them, when he sought to make an end of them.\n

commentary

30:10.And when Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he was\nrejoiced and cried because he thought that the gold was a token of the\nkingdom from where he had come, that the incense was a token of the\nbright light which had been taken from him, and that the myrrh was a\ntoken of the sorrow in which he was. \n

commentary

31:1.After these things God said to Adam, 'You asked Me for something from\nthe garden, to be comforted therewith, and I have given you these three\ntokens as a consolation to you; that you trust in Me and in My covenant\nwith you.\n

commentary

31:2.For I will come and save you; and kings shall bring me when in the\nflesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a token of My kingdom; incense\nas a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of\nMy death.\n

commentary

31:3.But, O Adam, put these by you in the cave; the gold that it may shed\nlight over you by night; the incense, that you smell its sweet savor;\nand the myrrh, to comfort you in your sorrow.'\n

commentary

31:4.When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped before Him. He\nand Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks, because He had dealt\nmercifully with them.\n

commentary

31:5.Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael,\neach to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did\nso, one by one.\n

commentary

31:6.And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up Adam and Eve, and\nbring them down from the top of the high mountain, and to take them to\nthe Cave of Treasures.\n

commentary

31:7.There they laid the gold on the south side of the cave, the incense\non the eastern side, and the myrrh on the western side. For the mouth\nof the cave was on the north side.\n

commentary

31:8.The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed.\n

commentary

31:9.The gold was seventy rods; the incense, twelve pounds; and the\nmyrrh, three pounds.\n

commentary

31:10.These remained by Adam in the Cave of Treasures.\n

commentary

31:11.God gave these three things to Adam on the third day after he had\ncome out of the garden, in token of the three days the Lord should\nremain in the heart of the earth.\n

commentary

31:12.And these three things, as they continued with Adam in the cave,\ngave him light by night; and by day they gave him a little relief from\nhis sorrow.\n

commentary

32:1.And Adam and Eve remained in the Cave of Treasures until the seventh\nday; they neither ate of the fruit the earth, nor drank water.\n

commentary

32:2.And when it dawned on the eighth day, Adam said to Eve, 'O Eve, we\nprayed God to give us something from the garden, and He sent his angels\nwho brought us what we had desired.\n

commentary

32:3.But now, get up, let us go to the sea of water we saw at first, and\nlet us stand in it, praying that God will again be favorable to us and\ntake us back to the garden; or give us something; or that He will give\nus comfort in some other land than this in which we are.'\n

commentary

32:4.Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave, went and stood on the border\nof the sea in which they had before thrown themselves, and Adam said to\nEve:--\n

commentary

32:5.Come, go down into this place, and come not out of it until the end\nof thirty days, when I shall come to you. And pray to God with burning\nheart and a sweet voice, to forgive us.\n

commentary

32:6.And I will go to another place, and go down into it, and do like you.'\n

commentary

32:7.Then Eve went down into the water, as Adam had commanded her. Adam\nalso went down into the water; and they stood praying; and besought the\nLord to forgive them their offense, and to restore them to their former\nstate.\n

commentary

32:8.And they stood like that praying, until the end of the thirty-five\ndays.\n

commentary

33:1.But Satan, the hater of all good, sought them in the cave, but found\nthem not, although he searched diligently for them.\n

commentary

33:2.But he found them standing in the water praying and thought within\nhimself, 'Adam and Eve are standing like that in that water praying to\nGod to forgive them their transgression, and to restore them to their\nformer state, and to take them from under my hand.\n

commentary

33:3.But I will deceive them so that they shall come out of the water, and\nnot fulfil their vow.'\n

commentary

33:4.Then the hater of all good, went not to Adam, but he went to Eve, and\ntook the form of an angel of God, praising and rejoicing, and said to\nher:--\n

commentary

33:5.Peace be to you! Be glad and rejoice! God is favorable to you, and\nHe sent me to Adam. I have brought him the glad tidings of salvation,\nand of his being filled with bright light as he was at first.\n

commentary

33:6.And Adam, in his joy for his restoration, has sent me to you, that\nyou come to me, in order that I crown you with light like him.\n

commentary

33:7.And he said to me, 'Speak to Eve; if she does not come with you, tell\nher of the sign when we were on the top of the mountain; how God sent\nhis angels who took us and brought us to the Cave of Treasures; and\nlaid the gold on the southern side; incense, on the eastern side; and\nmyrrh on the western side.' Now come to him.'\n

commentary

33:8.When Eve hear these words from him, she rejoiced greatly. And\nthinking Satan's appearance was real, she came out of the sea.\n

commentary

33:9.He went before, and she followed him until they came to Adam. Then\nSatan hid himself from her, and she saw him no more.\n

commentary

33:10.She then came and stood before Adam, who was standing by the water\nand rejoicing in God's forgiveness.\n

commentary

33:11.And as she called to him, he turned around, found her there and\ncried when he saw her, and beat his chest; and from the bitterness of\nhis grief, he sank into the water.\n

commentary

33:12.But God looked at him and at his misery, and at his being about to\nbreathe his last. And the Word of God came from heaven, raised him out\nof the water, and said to him, 'Go up the high bank to Eve.' And when\nhe came up to Eve he said to her, 'Who told you to come here?'\n

commentary

33:13.Then she told him the discourse of the angel who had appeared to her\nand had given her a sign.\n

commentary

33:14.But Adam grieved, and gave her to know it was Satan. He then took\nher and they both returned to the cave.\n

commentary

33:15.These things happened to them the second time they went down to the\nwater, seven days after their coming out of the garden.\n

commentary

33:16.They fasted in the water thirty-five days; altogether forty-two days\nsince they had left the garden. \n

commentary

34:1.And on the morning of the forty-third day, they came out of the cave,\nsorrowful and crying. Their bodies were lean, and they were parched\nfrom hunger and thirst, from fasting and praying, and from their heavy\nsorrow on account of their transgression.\n

commentary

34:2.And when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to\nthe west of the garden.\n

commentary

34:3.There they stood and prayed and besought God to grant them\nforgiveness of their sins.\n

commentary

34:4.And after their prayers Adam began to beg God, saying, 'O my Lord, my\nGod, and my Creator, You commanded the four elements to be gathered\ntogether, and they were gathered together by Thine order.\n

commentary

34:5.Then You spread Your hand and created me out of one element, that of\ndust of the earth; and You brought me into the garden at the third\nhour, on a Friday, and informed me of it in the cave.\n

commentary

34:6.Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, for I had a bright\nnature; neither did the light in which I lived ever leave me to know\nnight or day.\n

commentary

34:7.Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which You created me, You\nbrought to me all beasts, and lions, and ostriches, and fowls of the\nair, and all things that move in the earth, which You had created at\nthe first hour before me of the Friday.\n

commentary

34:8.And Your will was that I should name them all, one by one, with a\nsuitable name. But You gave me understanding and knowledge, and a pure\nheart and a right mind from you, that I should name them after Thine\nown mind regarding the naming of them.\n

commentary

34:9.O God, You made them obedient to me, and ordered that not one of them\nbreak from my sway, according to Your commandment, and to the dominion\nwhich You had given me over them. But now they are all estranged from\nme.\n

commentary

34:10.Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which You created me,\nand commanded me concerning the tree, to which I was neither to go\nnear, nor to eat thereof; for You said to me in the garden, 'When you\neat of it, of death you shall die.'\n

commentary

34:11.And if You had punished me as You said, with death, I should have\ndied that very moment.\n

commentary

34:12.Moreover, when You commanded me regarding the tree, I was neither to\napproach nor to eat thereof, Eve was not with me; You had not yet\ncreated her, neither had You yet taken her out of my side; nor had she\nyet heard this order from you.\n

commentary

34:13.Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday, O Lord, You\ncaused a slumber and a sleep to come over me, and I slept, and was\noverwhelmed in sleep.\n

commentary

34:14.Then You drew a rib out of my side, and created it after my own\nlikeness and image. Then I awoke; and when I saw her and knew who she\nwas, I said, 'This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; from now\non she shall be called woman.'\n

commentary

34:15.It was of Your good will, O God, that You brought a slumber in a\nsleep over me, and that You immediately brought Eve out of my side,\nuntil she was out, so that I did not see how she was made; neither\ncould I witness, O my Lord, how awful and great are Your goodness and\nglory.\n

commentary

34:16.And of Your goodwill, O Lord, You made us both with bodies of a\nbright nature, and You made us two, one; and You gave us Your grace,\nand filled us with praises of the Holy Spirit; that we should be\nneither hungry nor thirsty, nor know what sorrow is, nor yet faintness\nof heart; neither suffering, fasting nor weariness.\n

commentary

34:17.But now, O God, since we transgressed Your commandment and broke\nYour law, You have brought us out into a strange land, and have caused\nsuffering, and faintness, hunger and thirst to come over us.\n

commentary

34:18.Now, therefore, O God, we pray you, give us something to eat from\nthe garden, to satisfy our hunger with it; and something wherewith to\nquench our thirst.\n

commentary

34:19.For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted nothing and drunk\nnothing, and our flesh is dried up, and our strength is wasted, and\nsleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and crying.\n

commentary

34:20.Then, O God, we dare not gather anything from the fruit of trees,\nfrom fear of you. For when we transgress at first You spared us and\ndid not make us die.\n

commentary

34:21.But now, we thought in our hearts, if we eat of the fruit of the\ntrees, without God's order, He will destroy us this time, and will wipe\nus off from the face of the earth.\n

commentary

34:22.And if we drink of this water, without God's order, He will make an\nend of us and root us up at once.\n

commentary

34:23.Now, therefore, O God, that I am come to this place with Eve, we beg\nYou to give us some fruit from the garden, that we may be satisfied\nwith it.\n

commentary

34:24.For we desire the fruit that is on the earth, and all else that we\nlack in it.' \n

commentary

35:1.Then God looked again at Adam and his crying and groaning, and the\nWord of God came to him, and said to him:--\n

commentary

35:2.O Adam, when you were in My garden, you knew neither eating nor\ndrinking; neither faintness nor suffering; neither leanness of flesh,\nnor change; neither did sleep depart from thine eyes. But since you\ntransgressed, and came into this strange land, all these trials are\ncome over you.'\n

commentary

36:1.Then God commanded the cherub, who kept the gate of the garden with a\nsword of fire in his hand, to take some of the fruit of the fig-tree,\nand to give it to Adam.\n

commentary

36:2.The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God, and went into the\ngarden and brought two figs on two twigs, each fig hanging to its leaf;\nthey were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves\nwhen God went to walk in the garden, and the Word of God came to Adam\nand Eve and said to them, 'Adam, Adam, where are you?'\n

commentary

36:3.And Adam answered, 'O God, here I am. When I heard the sound of You\nand Your voice, I hid myself, because I am naked.'\n

commentary

36:4.Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve. But\nhe threw them to them from a distance; for they might not come near the\ncherub by reason of their flesh, that could not come near the fire.\n

commentary

36:5.At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of\nhim. But now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them.\n

commentary

36:6.Then Adam came closer and took one fig, and Eve also came in turn and\ntook the other.\n

commentary

36:7.And as they took them up in their hands, they looked at them, and\nknew they were from the trees among which they had hidden themselves.\n

commentary

37:1.Then Adam said to Eve, 'Do you not see these figs and their leaves,\nwith which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright\nnature? But now, we do not know what misery and suffering may come\nover us from eating them.\n

commentary

37:2.Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them,\nyou and I; and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of\nLife.'\n

commentary

37:3.Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did not eat of these\nfigs.\n

commentary

37:4.But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to give him of the\nfruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: 'O God, when we transgressed\nYour commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the\nbright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our\ntransgression, more than three hours.\n

commentary

37:5.But in the evening You made us come out of it. O God, we\ntransgressed against You one hour, and all these trials and sorrows\nhave come over us until this day.\n

commentary

37:6.And those days together with this the forty-third day, do not redeem\nthat one hour in which we transgressed!\n

commentary

37:7.O God, look at us with an eye of pity, and do not avenge us according\nto our transgression of Your commandment, in Your presence.\n

commentary

37:8.O God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life, that we may eat of\nit, and live, and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble, in this\nearth; for You are God.\n

commentary

37:9.When we transgressed Your commandment, You made us come out of the\ngarden, and sent a cherub to keep the Tree of Life, lest we should eat\nthereof, and live; and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed.\n

commentary

37:10.But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days, and have\nborne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the\none hour in which we transgressed.'\n

commentary

38:1.After these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him:--\n

commentary

38:2.O Adam, as to the fruit on the Tree of Life that you have asked for,\nI will not give it to you now, but only when the 5500 years are\nfulfilled. At that time I will give you fruit from the Tree of Life,\nand you will eat, and live forever, you, and Eve, and your righteous\ndescendants.\n

commentary

38:3.But these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which\nyou transgressed My commandment.\n

commentary

38:4.O Adam, I gave you the fruit of the fig-tree to eat in which you hid\nyourself. Go and eat of it, you and Eve.\n

commentary

38:5.I will not deny your request, neither will I disappoint your hope;\ntherefore, endure until the fulfillment of the covenant I made with\nyou.'\n

commentary

38:6.And God withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

39:1.Then Adam returned to Eve, and said to her, 'Get up, and take a fig\nfor yourself, and I will take another; and let us go to our cave.'\n

commentary

39:2.Then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards the cave; the time\nwas about the setting of the sun; and their thoughts made them long to\neat of the fruit.\n

commentary

39:3.But Adam said to Eve, 'I am afraid to eat of this fig. I know not\nwhat may come over me from it.'\n

commentary

39:4.So Adam cried, and stood praying before God, saying, 'Satisfy my\nhunger, without my having to eat this fig; for after I have eaten it,\nwhat will it profit me? And what shall I desire and ask of you, O God,\nwhen it is gone?'\n

commentary

39:5.And he said again, 'I am afraid to eat of it; for I know not what\nwill befall me through it.'\n

commentary

40:1.Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him, 'O Adam, why\ndidn't you have this dread, or this fasting, or this care before now?\nAnd why didn't you have this fear before you transgressed?\n

commentary

40:2.But when you came to live in this strange land, your animal body\ncould not survive on earth without earthly food, to strengthen it and\nto restore its powers.'\n

commentary

40:3.And God withdrew His Word for Adam.\n

commentary

41:1.Then Adam took the fig, and laid it on the golden rods. Eve also\ntook her fig, and put it on the incense.\n

commentary

41:2.And the weight of each fig was that of a water-melon; for the fruit\nof the garden was much larger than the fruit of this land.\n

commentary

41:3.But Adam and Eve remained standing and fasting the whole of that\nnight, until the morning dawned.\n

commentary

41:4.When the sun rose they were still praying, but after they had\nfinished praying, Adam said to Eve:--\n

commentary

41:5.O Eve, come, let us go to the border of the garden looking south; to\nthe place from where the river flows, and is parted into four heads.\nThere we will pray to God, and ask Him to give us some of the Water of\nLife to drink.\n

commentary

41:6.For God has not fed us with the Tree of Life, in order that we may\nnot live. Therefore, we will ask him to give us some of the Water of\nLife, and to quench our thirst with it, rather than with a drink of\nwater of this land.'\n

commentary

41:7.When Eve heard these words from Adam, she agreed; and they both got\nup and came to the southern border of the garden, at the edge of the\nriver of water a short distance from the garden.\n

commentary

41:8.And they stood and prayed before the Lord, and asked Him to look at\nthem this once, to forgive them, and to grant them their request.\n

commentary

41:9.After this prayer from both of them, Adam began to pray with his\nvoice before God, and said;--\n

commentary

41:10.O Lord, when I was in the garden and saw the water that flowed from\nunder the Tree of Life, my heart did not desire, neither did my body\nrequire to drink of it; neither did I know thirst, for I was living;\nand above that which I am now.\n

commentary

41:11.So that in order to live I did not require any Food of Life, neither\ndid I drink of the Water of Life.\n

commentary

41:12.But now, O God, I am dead; my flesh is parched with thirst. Give me\nof the Water of Life that I may drink of it and live.\n

commentary

41:13.Of Your mercy, O God, save me from these plagues and trials, and\nbring me into another land different from this, if You will not let me\nlive in Your garden.'\n

commentary

42:1.Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him:--\n

commentary

42:2.O Adam, as to what you said, 'Bring me into a land where there is\nrest,' it is not another land than this, but it is the kingdom of\nheaven where alone there is rest.\n

commentary

42:3.But you can not make your entrance into it at present; but only after\nyour judgment is past and fulfilled.\n

commentary

42:4.Then will I make you go up into the kingdom of heaven, you and your\nrighteous descendants; and I will give you and them the rest you ask\nfor at present.\n

commentary

42:5.And if you said, 'Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink and\nlive'--it cannot be this day, but on the day that I shall descend into\nhell, and break the gates of brass, and bruise in pieces the kingdoms\nof iron.\n

commentary

42:6.Then will I in mercy save your soul and the souls of the righteous,\nto give them rest in My garden. And that shall be when the end of the\nworld is come.\n

commentary

42:7.And, again, in regards to the Water of Life you seek, it will not be\ngranted you this day; but on the day that I shall shed My blood on your\nhead in the land of Golgotha.\n

commentary

42:8.For My blood shall be the Water of Life to you at that time, and not\nto just you alone, but to all your descendants who shall believe in\nMe; that it be to them for rest forever.'\n

commentary

42:9.The Lord said again to Adam, 'O Adam, when you were in the garden,\nthese trials did not come to you.\n

commentary

42:10.But since you transgressed My commandment, all these sufferings have\ncome over you.\n

commentary

42:11.Now, also, does your flesh require food and drink; drink then of\nthat water that flows by you on the face of the earth.\n

commentary

42:12.Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

42:13.And Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord, and returned from the river of\nwater to the cave. It was noon-day; and when they drew near to the\ncave, they saw a large fire by it.\n

commentary

43:1.Then Adam and Eve were afraid, and stood still. And Adam said to\nEve, 'What is that fire by our cave? We have done nothing in it to\ncause this fire.\n

commentary

43:2.We neither have bread to bake therein, nor broth to cook there. As\nto this fire, we have never known anything like it, neither do we know\nwhat to call it.\n

commentary

43:3.But ever since God sent the cherub with a sword of fire that flashed\nand lightened in his hand, from fear of which we fell down and were\nlike corpses, have we not seen the like.\n

commentary

43:4.But now, O Eve, behold, this is the same fire that was in the\ncherub's hand, which God has sent to keep the cave in which we live.\n

commentary

43:5.O Eve, it is because God is angry with us, and will drive us from it.\n

commentary

43:6.O Eve, we have again transgressed His commandment in that cave, so\nthat He had sent this fire to burn around it, and to prevent us from\ngoing into it.\n

commentary

43:7.If this be really so, O Eve, where shall we live? And where shall we\nflee from before the face of the Lord? Since, in regards to the\ngarden, He will not let us live in it, and He has deprived us of the\ngood things thereof; but He has placed us in this cave, in which we\nhave borne darkness, trials and hardships, until at last we have found\ncomfort therein.\n

commentary

43:8.But now that He has brought us out into another land, who knows what\nmay happen in it? And who knows but that the darkness of that land may\nbe far greater than the darkness of this land?\n

commentary

43:9.Who knows what may happen in that land by day or by night? And who\nknows whether it will be far or near, O Eve? Where it will please God\nto put us, may be far from the garden, O Eve? Or where God will\nprevent us from beholding Him, because we have transgressed His\ncommandment, and because we have made requests of Him at all times?\n

commentary

43:10.O Eve, if God will bring us into a strange land other than this, in\nwhich we find consolation, it must be to put our souls to death, and\nblot out our name from the face of the earth.\n

commentary

43:11.O Eve, if we are further alienated from the garden and from God,\nwhere shall we find Him again, and ask Him to give us gold, incense,\nmyrrh, and some fruit of the fig-tree?\n

commentary

43:12.Where shall we find Him, to comfort us a second time? Where shall\nwe find Him, that He may think of us, as regards the covenant He has\nmade on our behalf?'\n

commentary

43:13.Then Adam said no more. And they kept looking, He and Eve, towards\nthe cave, and at the fire that flared up around it.\n

commentary

43:14.But that fire was from Satan. For he had gathered trees and dry\ngrasses, and had carried and brought them to the cave, and had set fire\nto them, in order to consume the cave and what was in it.\n

commentary

43:15.So that Adam and Eve should be left in sorrow, and he should cut off\ntheir trust in God, and make them deny Him.\n

commentary

43:16.But by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave, for God sent His\nangel around the cave to guard it from such a fire, until it went out.\n

commentary

43:17.And this fire lasted from noon-day until the break of day. That was\nthe forty-fifth day. \n

commentary

44:1.Yet Adam and Eve were standing and looking at the fire, and unable to\ncome near the cave from their dread of the fire.\n

commentary

44:2.And Satan kept on bringing trees and throwing them into the fire,\nuntil the flames of the fire rose up on high, and covered the whole\ncave, thinking, as he did in his own mind, to consume the cave with\nmuch fire. But the angel of the Lord was guarding it.\n

commentary

44:3.And yet he could not curse Satan, nor injure him by word, because he\nhad no authority over him, neither did he take to doing so with words\nfrom his mouth.\n

commentary

44:4.Therefore the angel tolerated him, without saying one bad word, until\nthe Word of God came who said to Satan, 'Go away from here; once before\nyou deceived My servants, and this time you seek to destroy them.\n

commentary

44:5.Were it not for My mercy I would have destroyed you and your hosts\nfrom off the earth. But I have had patience with you, until the end of\nthe world.'\n

commentary

44:6.Then Satan fled from before the Lord. But the fire went on burning\naround the cave like a coal-fire the whole day; which was the\nforty-sixth day Adam and Eve had spent since they came out of the\ngarden.\n

commentary

44:7.And when Adam and Eve saw that the heat of the fire had somewhat\ncooled down, they began to walk towards the cave to get into it as they\nusually did; but they could not, by reason of the heat of the fire.\n

commentary

44:8.Then they both began crying because of the fire that separated them\nfrom the cave, and that came towards them, burning. And they were\nafraid.\n

commentary

44:9.Then Adam said to Eve, 'See this fire of which we have a portion in\nus: which formerly yielded to us, but no longer does so, now that we\nhave transgressed the limit of creation, and changed our condition, and\nour nature is altered. But the fire is not changed in its nature, nor\naltered from its creation. Therefore it now has power over us; and\nwhen we come near it, it scorches our flesh.' \n

commentary

45:1.Then Adam rose and prayed to God, saying, 'See, this fire has\nseparated us from the cave in which You have commanded us to live; but\nnow, behold, we cannot go into it.'\n

commentary

45:2.Then God heard Adam, and sent him His Word, that said:--\n

commentary

45:3.O Adam, see this fire! How different the flame and heat thereof are\nfrom the garden of delights and the good things in it!\n

commentary

45:4.When you were under My control, all creatures yielded to you; but\nafter you have transgressed My commandment, they all rise over you.'\n

commentary

45:5.God said again to him, 'See, O Adam, how Satan has exalted you! He\nhas deprived you of the Godhead, and of an exalted state like Me, and\nhas not kept his word to you; but has, after all, become your enemy.\nHe is the one who made this fire in which he meant to burn you and Eve.\n

commentary

45:6.Why, O Adam, has he not kept his agreement with you, not even one\nday; but has deprived you of the glory that was on you--when you\nyielded to his command?\n

commentary

45:7.Do you think, Adam, that he loved you when he made this agreement\nwith you? Or that he loved you and wished to raise you on high?\n

commentary

45:8.But no, Adam, he did not do all that out of love to you; but he\nwished to make you come out of light into darkness; and from an exalted\nstate to degradation; from glory to abasement; from joy to sorrow; and\nfrom rest to fasting and fainting.'\n

commentary

45:9.God also said to Adam, 'See this fire kindled by Satan around your\ncave; see this wonder that surrounds you; and know that it will\nencompass about both you and your descendants, when you obey his\ncommand; that he will plague you with fire; and that you will go down\ninto hell after you are dead.\n

commentary

45:10.Then you will see the burning of his fire, that will be burning\naround you and likewise your descendants. You will not be delivered\nfrom it until My coming; just like you cannot go into your cave right\nnow because of the great fire around it; not until My Word comes and\nmakes a way for you on the day My covenant is fulfilled.\n

commentary

45:11.There is no way for you at present to come from this life to rest,\nnot until My Word comes, who is My Word. Then He will make a way for\nyou, and you shall have rest.' Then God called with His Word to the\nfire that burned around the cave, that it split itself in half, until\nAdam had gone through it. Then the fire parted itself by God's order,\nand a way was made for Adam.\n

commentary

45:12.And God withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

46:1.Then Adam and Eve began again to come into the cave. And when they\ncame to the way between the fire, Satan blew into the fire like a\nwhirlwind, and caused the burning coal-fire to cover Adam and Eve; so\nthat their bodies were singed; and the coal-fire scorched them.\n

commentary

46:2.And from the burning of the fire Adam and Eve screamed, and said, 'O\nLord, save us! Leave us not to be consumed and plagued by this burning\nfire; neither require us for having transgressed Your commandment.'\n

commentary

46:3.Then God looked at their bodies, on which Satan had caused fire to\nburn, and God sent His angel that stayed the burning fire. But the\nwounds remained on their bodies.\n

commentary

46:4.And God said to Adam, 'See Satan's love for you, who pretended to\ngive you the Godhead and greatness; and, behold, he burns you with\nfire, and seeks to destroy you from off the earth.\n

commentary

46:5.Then look at Me, O Adam; I created you, and how many times have I\ndelivered you out of his hand? If not, wouldn't he have destroyed\nyou?'\n

commentary

46:6.God said again to Eve, 'What is that he promised you in the garden,\nsaying, 'As soon as you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened,\nand you shall become like gods, knowing good and evil.' But look! He\nhas burnt your bodies with fire, and has made you taste the taste of\nfire, for the taste of the garden; and has made you see the burning of\nfire, and the evil of it, and the power it has over you.\n

commentary

46:7.Your eyes have seen the good he has taken from you, and in truth he\nhas opened your eyes; and you have seen the garden in which you were\nwith Me, and you have also seen the evil that has come over you from\nSatan. But as to the Godhead he cannot give it to you, neither fulfil\nhis speech to you. No, he was bitter against you and your descendants,\nthat will come after you.'\n

commentary

46:8.And God withdrew His Word form them. \n

commentary

47:1.Then Adam and Eve came into the cave, yet trembling at the fire that\nhad scorched their bodies. So Adam said to Eve:--\n

commentary

47:2.Look, the fire has burnt our flesh in this world; but how will it be\nwhen we are dead, and Satan shall punish our souls? Is not our\ndeliverance long and far off, unless God come, and in mercy to us\nfulfil His promise?'\n

commentary

47:3.Then Adam and Eve passed into the cave, blessing themselves for\ncoming into it once more. For it was in their thoughts, that they\nnever should enter it, when they saw the fire around it.\n

commentary

47:4.But as the sun was setting the fire was still burning and nearing\nAdam and Eve in the cave, so that they could not sleep in it. After\nthe sun had set, they went out of it. This was the forty-seventh day\nafter they came out of the garden.\n

commentary

47:5.Adam and Eve then came under the top of hill by the garden to sleep,\nas they were accustomed.\n

commentary

47:6.And they stood and prayed God to forgive them their sins, and then\nfell asleep under the summit of the mountain.\n

commentary

47:7.But Satan, the hater of all good, thought within himself: 'Whereas\nGod has promised salvation to Adam by covenant, and that He would\ndeliver him out of all the hardships that have befallen him--but has\nnot promised me by covenant, and will not deliver me out of my\nhardships; no, since He has promised him that He should make him and\nhis descendants live in the kingdom in which I once was--I will kill\nAdam.\n

commentary

47:8.The earth shall be rid of him; and shall be left to me alone; so that\nwhen he is dead he may not have any descendants left to inherit the\nkingdom that shall remain my own realm; God will then be wanting me,\nand He will restore it to me and my hosts.' \n

commentary

48:1.After this Satan called to his hosts, all of which came to him, and\nsaid to him:--\n

commentary

48:2.O, our lord, what will you do?'\n

commentary

48:3.He then said to them, 'You know that this Adam, whom God created out\nof the dust, is the one who has taken our kingdom, come, let us gather\ntogether and kill him; or hurl a rock at him and at Eve, and crush them\nunder it.'\n

commentary

48:4.When Satan's hosts heard these words, they came to the part of the\nmountain where Adam and Eve were asleep.\n

commentary

48:5.Then Satan and his host took a huge rock, broad and even, and without\nblemish, thinking within himself, 'If there should be a hole in the\nrock, when it fell on them, the hole in the rock might come over them,\nand so they would escape and not die.'\n

commentary

48:6.He then said to his hosts, 'Take up this stone, and throw it flat on\nthem, so that it doesn't roll off them to somewhere else. And when you\nhave hurled it, get away from there quickly.'\n

commentary

48:7.And they did as he told them. But as the rock fell down from the\nmountain toward Adam and Eve, God commanded the rock to become a dome\nover them, that did them no harm. And so it was by God's order.\n

commentary

48:8.But when the rock fell, the whole earth quaked with it, and was\nshaken from the size of the rock.\n

commentary

48:9.And as it quaked and shook, Adam and Eve awoke from sleep, and found\nthemselves under a dome of rock. But they didn't know what had\nhappened; because when the fell asleep they were under the sky, and not\nunder a dome; and when they saw it, they were afraid.\n

commentary

48:10.Then Adam said to Eve, 'Wherefore has the mountain bent itself, and\nthe earth quaked and shaken on our account? And why has this rock\nspread itself over us like a tent?\n

commentary

48:11.Does God intend to plague us and to shut us up in this prison? Or\nwill He close the earth over us?\n

commentary

48:12.He is angry with us for our having come out of the cave, without His\norder; and for our having done so of our own accord, without consulting\nHim, when we left the cave and came to this place.'\n

commentary

48:13.Then Eve said, 'If, indeed, the earth quaked for our sake, and this\nrock forms a tent over us because of our transgression, then we will be\nsorry, O Adam, because our punishment will be long.\n

commentary

48:14.But get up and pray to God to let us know concerning this, and what\nthis rock is that is spread over us like a tent.'\n

commentary

48:15.Then Adam stood up and prayed before the Lord, to let him know what\nhad brought about this difficult time. And Adam stood praying like\nthat until the morning. \n

commentary

49:1.Then the Word of God came and said:--\n

commentary

49:2.O Adam, who counselled you, when you came out of the cave, to come\nto this place?'\n

commentary

49:3.And Adam said to God, 'O Lord, we came to this place because of the\nheat of the fire, that came over us inside the cave.'\n

commentary

49:4.Then the Lord God said to Adam, 'O Adam, you dread the heat of fire\nfor one night, but how will it be when you live in hell?\n

commentary

49:5.Yet, O Adam, don't be afraid, and don't believe that I have placed\nthis dome of rock over you to plague you with it.\n

commentary

49:6.It came from Satan, who had promised you the Godhead and majesty. It\nis he who threw down this rock to kill you under it, and Eve with you,\nand thus to prevent you from living on the earth.\n

commentary

49:7.But, in mercy for you, just as that rock was falling down on you, I\ncommanded it to form an dome over you; and the rock under you to lower\nitself.\n

commentary

49:8.And this sign, O Adam, will happen to Me at My coming on earth: Satan\nwill raise the people of the Jews to put Me to death; and they will lay\nMe in a rock, and seal a large stone over Me, and I shall remain within\nthat rock three days and three nights.\n

commentary

49:9.But on the third day I shall rise again, and it shall be salvation to\nyou, O Adam, and to your descendants, to believe in Me. But, O Adam, I\nwill not bring you from under this rock until three days and three\nnights have passed.'\n

commentary

49:10.And God withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

49:11.But Adam and Eve lived under the rock three days and three nights,\nas God had told them.\n

commentary

49:12.And God did so to them because they had left their cave and had come\nto this same place without God's order.\n

commentary

49:13.But, after three days and three nights, God created an opening in\nthe dome of rock and allowed them to get out from under it. Their\nflesh was dried up, and their eyes and hearts were troubled from crying\nand sorrow.\n

commentary

50:1.Then Adam and Eve went forth and came into the Cave of Treasures, and\nthey stood praying in it the whole of that day, until the evening.\n

commentary

50:2.And this took place at the end of the fifty days after they had left\nthe garden.\n

commentary

50:3.But Adam and Eve rose again and prayed to God in the cave the whole\nof that night, and begged for mercy from Him.\n

commentary

50:4.And when the day dawned, Adam said to Eve, 'Come! Let us go and do\nsome work for our bodies.'\n

commentary

50:5.So they went out of the cave, and came to the northern border of the\ngarden, and they looked for something to cover their bodies with. But\nthey found nothing, and knew not how to do the work. Yet their bodies\nwere stained, and they were speechless from cold and heat.\n

commentary

50:6.Then Adam stood and asked God to show him something with which to\ncover their bodies.\n

commentary

50:7.Then came the Word of God and said to him, 'O Adam, take Eve and come\nto the seashore where you fasted before. There you will find skins of\nsheep that were left after lions ate the carcasses. Take them and make\ngarments for yourselves, and clothe yourselves with them. \n

commentary

51:1.When Adam heard these words from God, he took Eve and went from the\nnorthern end of the garden to the south of it, by the river of water\nwhere they once fasted.\n

commentary

51:2.But as they were going on their way, and before they got there,\nSatan, the wicked one, had heard the Word of God communing with Adam\nrespecting his covering.\n

commentary

51:3.It grieved him, and he hastened to the place where the sheep-skins\nwere, with the intention of taking them and throwing them into the sea,\nor of burning them with fire, so that Adam and Eve would not find them.\n

commentary

51:4.But as he was about to take them, the Word of God came from heaven,\nand bound him by the side of those skins until Adam and Eve came near\nhim. But as they got closer to him they were afraid of him, and of his\nhideous look.\n

commentary

51:5.Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and said to them, 'This is\nhe who was hidden in the serpent, and who deceived you, and stripped\nyou of the garment of light and glory in which you were.\n

commentary

51:6.This is he who promised you majesty and divinity. Where, then, is\nthe beauty that was on him? Where is his divinity? Where is his\nlight? Where is the glory that rested on him?\n

commentary

51:7.Now his figure is hideous; he is become abominable among angels; and\nhe has come to be called Satan.\n

commentary

51:8.O Adam, he wished to take from you this earthly garment of\nsheep-skins, and to destroy it, and not let you be covered with it.\n

commentary

51:9.What, then, is his beauty that you should have followed him? And\nwhat have you gained by obeying him? See his evil works and then look\nat Me; at Me, your Creator, and at the good deeds I do you.\n

commentary

51:10.See, I bound him until you came and saw him and beheld his weakness,\nthat no power is left with him.'\n

commentary

51:11.And God released him from his bonds.\n

commentary

52:1.After this Adam and Eve said no more, but cried before God on account\nof their creation, and of their bodies that required an earthly\ncovering.\n

commentary

52:2.Then Adam said to Eve, 'O Eve, this is the skin of beasts with which\nwe shall be covered, but when we put it on, behold, we shall be\nwearing a token of death on our bodies. Just as the owners of these\nskins have died and have wasted away, so also shall we die and pass\naway.'\n

commentary

52:3.Then Adam and Eve took the skins, and went back to the Cave of\nTreasures; and when in it, they stood and prayed as they were\naccustomed.\n

commentary

52:4.And they thought how they could make garments of those skins; for\nthey had no skill for it.\n

commentary

52:5.Then God sent to them His angel to show them how to work it out. And\nthe angel said to Adam, 'Go forth, and bring some palm-thorns.' Then\nAdam went out, and brought some, as the angel had commanded him.\n

commentary

52:6.Then the angel began before them to work out the skins, after the\nmanner of one who prepares a shirt. And he took the thorns and stuck\nthem into the skins, before their eyes.\n

commentary

52:7.Then the angel again stood up and prayed God that the thorns in those\nskins should be hidden, so as to be, as it were, sewn with one thread.\n

commentary

52:8.And so it was, by God's order; they became garments for Adam and Eve,\nand He clothed them therewith.\n

commentary

52:9.From that time the nakedness of their bodies was covered from the\nsight of each other's eyes.\n

commentary

52:10.And this happened at the end of the fifty-first day.\n

commentary

52:11.Then when Adam's and Eve's bodies were covered, they stood and\nprayed, and sought mercy of the Lord, and forgiveness, and gave Him\nthanks for that He had had mercy on them, and had covered their\nnakedness. And they ceased not from prayer the whole of that night.\n

commentary

52:12.Then when the morning dawned at the rising of the sun, they said\ntheir prayers after their custom; and then went out of the cave.\n

commentary

52:13.And Adam said to Eve, 'Since we don't know what there is to the west\nof this cave, let us go out and see it today.' Then they came forth and\nwent toward the western border. \n

commentary

53:1.They were not very far from the cave, when Satan came towards them,\nand hid himself between them and the cave, under the form of two\nravenous lions three days without food, that came towards Adam and Eve,\nas if to break them in pieces and devour them.\n

commentary

53:2.Then Adam and Eve cried, and prayed God to deliver them from their\npaws.\n

commentary

53:3.Then the Word of God came to them, and drove away the lions from them.\n

commentary

53:4.And God said to Adam, 'O Adam, what do you seek on the western\nborder? And why have you left of thine own accord the eastern border,\nin which was your living place?\n

commentary

53:5.Now then, turn back to your cave, and remain in it, so that Satan\nwon't deceive you or work his purpose over you.\n

commentary

53:6.For in this western border, O Adam, there will go from you a\ndescendant, that shall replenish it; and that will defile themselves\nwith their sins, and with their yielding to the commands of Satan, and\nby following his works.\n

commentary

53:7.Therefore will I bring over them the waters of a flood, and overwhelm\nthem all. But I will deliver what is left of the righteous among them;\nand I will bring them to a distant land, and the land in which you live\nnow shall remain desolate and without one inhabitant in it.\n

commentary

53:8.After God had thus spoken to them, they went back to the Cave of\nTreasures. But their flesh was dried up, and they were weak from\nfasting and praying, and from the sorrow they felt at having trespassed\nagainst God. \n

commentary

54:1.Then Adam and Eve stood up in the cave and prayed the whole of that\nnight until the morning dawned. And when the sun was risen they both\nwent out of the cave; their heads were wandering from heaviness of\nsorrow and they didn't know where they were going.\n

commentary

54:2.And they walked in that condition to the southern border of the\ngarden. And they began to go up that border until they came to the\neastern border beyond which there was no more land.\n

commentary

54:3.And the cherub who guarded the garden was standing at the western\ngate, and guarding it against Adam and Eve, lest they should suddenly\ncome into the garden. And the cherub turned around, as if to put them\nto death; according to the commandment God had given him.\n

commentary

54:4.When Adam and Eve came to the eastern border of the garden--thinking\nin their hearts that the cherub was not watching--as they were standing\nby the gate as if wishing to go in, suddenly came the cherub with a\nflashing sword of fire in his hand; and when he saw them, he went forth\nto kill them. For he was afraid that God would destroy him if they\nwent into the garden without His order.\n

commentary

54:5.And the sword of the cherub seemed to shoot flames a distance away\nfrom it. But when he raised it over Adam and Eve, the flame of the\nsword did not flash forth.\n

commentary

54:6.Therefore the cherub thought that God was favorable to them, and was\nbringing them back into the garden. And the cherub stood wondering.\n

commentary

54:7.He could not go up to Heaven to determine God's order regarding their\ngetting into the garden; he therefore continued to stand by them,\nunable as he was to part from them; for he was afraid that if they\nshould enter the garden without permission, God would destroy him.\n

commentary

54:8.When Adam and Eve saw the cherub coming towards them with a flaming\nsword of fire in his hand, they fell on their faces from fear, and were\nas dead.\n

commentary

54:9.At that time the heavens and the earth shook; and another cherubim\ncame down from heaven to the cherub who guarded the garden, and saw him\namazed and silent.\n

commentary

54:10.Then, again, other angels came down close to the place where Adam\nand Eve were. They were divided between joy and sorrow.\n

commentary

54:11.They were glad, because they thought that God was favorable to Adam,\nand wished him to return to the garden; and wished to restore him to\nthe gladness he once enjoyed.\n

commentary

54:12.But they sorrowed over Adam, because he was fallen like a dead man,\nhe and Eve; and they said in their thoughts, 'Adam has not died in this\nplace; but God has put him to death, for his having come to this place,\nand wishing to get into the garden without His permission.' \n

commentary

55:1.Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and raised them from their\ndead state, saying to them, 'Why did you come up here? Do you intend\nto go into the garden, from which I brought you out? It cannot be\ntoday; but only when the covenant I have made with you is fulfilled.'\n

commentary

55:2.Then Adam, when he heard the Word of God, and the fluttering of the\nangels whom he did not see, but only heard the sound of them with his\nears, he and Eve cried, and said to the angels:--\n

commentary

55:3.O Spirits, who wait on God, look at me, and at my being unable to\nsee you! For when I was in my former bright nature, then I could see\nyou. I sang praises as you do; and my heart was far above you.\n

commentary

55:4.But now, that I have transgressed, that bright nature is gone from\nme, and I am come to this miserable state. And now I have come to\nthis, that I cannot see you, and you do not serve me like you used to\ndo. For I have become animal flesh.\n

commentary

55:5.Yet now, O angels of God, ask God with me, to restore me to that\nwherein I was formerly; to rescue me from this misery, and to remove\nfrom me the sentence of death He passed on me, for having trespassed\nagainst Him.'\n

commentary

55:6.Then, when the angels heard these words, they all grieved over him;\nand cursed Satan who had misled Adam, until he came from the garden to\nmisery; from life to death; from peace to trouble; and from gladness to\na strange land.\n

commentary

55:7.Then the angels said to Adam, 'You obeyed Satan, and ignored the Word\nof God who created you; and you believed that Satan would fulfil all he\nhad promised you.\n

commentary

55:8.But now, O Adam, we will make known to you, what came over us though\nhim, before his fall from heaven.\n

commentary

55:9.He gathered together his hosts, and deceived them, promising to give\nthem a great kingdom, a divine nature; and other promises he made them.\n

commentary

55:10.His hosts believed that his word was true, so they yielded to him,\nand renounced the glory of God.\n

commentary

55:11.He then sent for us--according to the orders in which we were--to\ncome under his command, and to accept his vein promise. But we would\nnot, and we did not take his advice.\n

commentary

55:12.Then after he had fought with God, and had dealt forwardly with Him,\nhe gathered together his hosts, and made war with us. And if it had\nnot been for God's strength that was with us, we could not have\nprevailed against him to hurl him from heaven.\n

commentary

55:13.But when he fell from among us, there was great joy in heaven,\nbecause of his going down from us. For if he had remained in heaven,\nnothing, not even one angel would have remained in it.\n

commentary

55:14.But God in His mercy, drove him from among us to this dark earth;\nfor he had become darkness itself and a worker of unrighteousness.\n

commentary

55:15.And he has continued, O Adam, to make war against you, until he\ntricked you and made you come out of the garden, to this strange land,\nwhere all these trials have come to you. And death, which God brought\nto him, he has also brought to you, O Adam, because you obeyed him, and\ntrespassed against God.'\n

commentary

55:16.Then all the angels rejoiced and praised God, and asked Him not to\ndestroy Adam this time, for his having sought to enter the garden; but\nto bear with him until the fulfillment of the promise; and to help him\nin this world until he was free from Satan's hand. \n

commentary

56:1.Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him:--\n

commentary

56:2.O Adam, look at that garden of joy and at this earth of toil, and\nbehold the garden is full of angels, but look at yourself alone on this\nearth with Satan whom you obeyed.\n

commentary

56:3.Yet, if you had submitted, and been obedient to Me, and had kept My\nWord, you would be with My angels in My garden.\n

commentary

56:4.But when you transgressed and obeyed Satan, you became his guests\namong his angels, that are full of wickedness; and you came to this\nearth, that brings forth to you thorns and thistles.\n

commentary

56:5.O Adam, ask him who deceived you, to give you the divine nature he\npromised you, or to make you a garden as I had made for you; or to fill\nyou with that same bright nature with which I had filled you.\n

commentary

56:6.Ask him to make you a body like the one I made you, or to give you a\nday of rest as I gave you; or to create within you a reasonable soul,\nas I created for you; or to take you from here to some other earth than\nthis one which I gave you. But, O Adam, he will not fulfil even one of\nthe things he told you.\n

commentary

56:7.Acknowledge, then, My favor towards you, and My mercy on you, My\ncreature; that I have not avenged you for your transgression against\nMe, but in My pity for you I have promised you that at the end of the\ngreat five and a half days I will come and save you.'\n

commentary

56:8.Then God said again to Adam and Eve, 'Get up, go down from here,\nbefore the cherub with a sword of fire in his hand destroys you.'\n

commentary

56:9.But Adam's heart was comforted by God's words to him, and he\nworshipped before Him.\n

commentary

56:10.And God commanded His angels to escort Adam and Eve to the cave with\njoy, instead of the fear that had come over them.\n

commentary

56:11.Then the angels took up Adam and Eve, and brought them down from the\nmountain by the garden, with songs and psalms, until they arrived at\nthe cave. There the angels began to comfort and to strengthen them,\nand then departed from them towards heaven, to their Creator, who had\nsent them.\n

commentary

56:12.But after the angels had departed from Adam and Eve, Satan came with\nshamefacedness, and stood at the entrance of the cave in which were\nAdam and Eve. He then called to Adam, and said, 'O Adam, come, let me\nspeak to you.'\n

commentary

56:13.Then Adam came out of the cave, thinking he was one of God's angels\nthat was come to give him some good counsel.\n

commentary

57:1.But when Adam came out and saw his hideous figure, he was afraid of\nhim, and said to him, 'Who are you?'\n

commentary

57:2.Then Satan answered and said to him, 'It is I, who hid myself within\nthe serpent, and who spoke to Eve, and who enticed her until she obeyed\nmy command. I am he who sent her, using my deceitful speech, to\ndeceive you, until you both ate of the fruit of the tree and abandoned\nthe command of God.'\n

commentary

57:3.But when Adam heard these words from him, he said to him, 'Can you\nmake me a garden as God made for me? Or can you clothe me in the same\nbright nature in which God had clothed me?\n

commentary

57:4.Where is the divine nature you promised to give me? Where is that\nslick speech of yours that you had with us at first, when we were in\nthe garden?'\n

commentary

57:5.Then Satan said to Adam, 'Do you think that when I have promised one\nsomething that I would actually deliver it to him or fulfil my word?\nOf course not. For I myself have never even thought of obtaining what\nI promised.\n

commentary

57:6.Therefore I fell, and I made you fall by that for which I myself\nfell; and with you also, whosoever accepts my counsel, falls thereby.\n

commentary

57:7.But now, O Adam, because you fell you are under my rule, and I am\nking over you; because you have obeyed me and have transgressed against\nyour God. Neither will there be any deliverance from my hands until\nthe day promised you by your God.'\n

commentary

57:8.Again he said, 'Because we do not know the day agreed on with you by\nyour God, nor the hour in which you shall be delivered, for that reason\nwe will multiply war and murder on you and your descendants after you.\n

commentary

57:9.This is our will and our good pleasure, that we may not leave one of\nthe sons of men to inherit our orders in heaven.\n

commentary

57:10.For as to our home, O Adam, it is in burning fire; and we will not\nstop our evil doing, no, not one day nor one hour. And I, O Adam,\nshall set you on fire when you come into the cave to live there.'\n

commentary

57:11.When Adam heard these words he cried and mourned, and said to Eve,\n'Hear what he said; that he won't fulfil any of what he told you in the\ngarden. Did he really then become king over us?\n

commentary

57:12.But we will ask God, who created us, to deliver us out of his hands.'\n

commentary

58:1.Then Adam and Eve spread their hands before God, praying and begging\nHim to drive Satan away from them so that he can't harm them or force\nthem to deny God.\n

commentary

58:2.Then God sent to them at once, His angel, who drove away Satan from\nthem. This happened about sunset, on the fifty-third day after they\nhad come out of the garden.\n

commentary

58:3.Then Adam and Eve went into the cave, and stood up and turned their\nfaces to the ground, to pray to God.\n

commentary

58:4.But before they prayed Adam said to Eve, 'Look, you have seen what\ntemptations have befallen us in this land. Come, let us get up, and\nask God to forgive us the sins we have committed; and we will not come\nout until the end of the day next to the fortieth. And if we die in\nhere, He will save us.'\n

commentary

58:5.Then Adam and Eve got up, and joined together in entreating God.\n

commentary

58:6.They continued praying like this in the cave; neither did they come\nout of it, by night or by day, until their prayers went up out of their\nmouths, like a flame of fire. \n

commentary

59:1.But Satan, the hater of all good, did not allow them to finish their\nprayers. For he called to his hosts, and they came, all of them. Then\nhe said to them, 'Since Adam and Eve, whom we deceived, have agreed\ntogether to pray to God night and day, and to beg Him to deliver them,\nand since they will not come out of the cave until the end of the\nfortieth day.\n

commentary

59:2.And since they will continue their prayers as they have both agreed\nto do, that He will deliver them out of our hands, and restore them to\ntheir former state, see what we shall do to them.' And his hosts said\nto him, 'Power is thine, O our lord, to do what you list.'\n

commentary

59:3.Then Satan, great in wickedness, took his hosts and came into the\ncave, in the thirtieth night of the forty days and one; and he beat\nAdam and Eve, until he left them dead.\n

commentary

59:4.Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, who raised them from their\nsuffering, and God said to Adam, 'Be strong, and be not afraid of him\nwho has just come to you.'\n

commentary

59:5.But Adam cried and said, 'Where were you, O my God, that they should\npunish me with such blows, and that this suffering should come over us;\nover me and over Eve, Your handmaiden?'\n

commentary

59:6.Then God said to him, 'O Adam, see, he is lord and master of all you\nhave, he who said, he would give you divinity. Where is this love for\nyou? And where is the gift he promised?\n

commentary

59:7.Did it please him just once, O Adam, to come to you, comfort you,\nstrengthen you, rejoice with you, or send his hosts to protect you;\nbecause you have obeyed him, and have yielded to his counsel; and have\nfollowed his commandment and transgressed Mine?'\n

commentary

59:8.Then Adam cried before the Lord, and said, 'O Lord because I\ntransgressed a little, You have severely punished me in return for it,\nI ask You to deliver me out of his hands; or else have pity on me, and\ntake my soul out of my body now in this strange land.'\n

commentary

59:9.Then God said to Adam, 'If only there had been this sighing and\npraying before, before you transgressed! Then would you have rest from\nthe trouble in which you are now.'\n

commentary

59:10.But God had patience with Adam, and let him and Eve remain in the\ncave until they had fulfilled the forty days.\n

commentary

59:11.But as to Adam and Eve, their strength and flesh withered from\nfasting and praying, from hunger and thirst; for they had not tasted\neither food or drink since they left the garden; nor were the functions\nof their bodies yet settled; and they had no strength left to continue\nin prayer from hunger, until the end of the next day to the fortieth.\nThey were fallen down in the cave; yet what speech escaped from their\nmouths, was only in praises. \n

commentary

60:1.Then on the eighty-ninth day, Satan came to the cave, clad in a\ngarment of light, and girt about with a bright girdle.\n

commentary

60:2.In his hands was a staff of light, and he looked most awful; but his\nface was pleasant and his speech was sweet.\n

commentary

60:3.He thus transformed himself in order to deceive Adam and Eve, and to\nmake them come out of the cave, before they had fulfilled the forty\ndays.\n

commentary

60:4.For he said within himself, 'Now that when they had fulfilled the\nforty days' fasting and praying, God would restore them to their former\nstate; but if He did not do so, He would still be favorable to them;\nand even if He had not mercy on them, would He yet give them something\nfrom the garden to comfort them; as already twice before.'\n

commentary

60:5.Then Satan drew near the cave in this fair appearance, and said:--\n

commentary

60:6.O Adam, get up, stand up, you and Eve, and come along with me, to a\ngood land; and don't be afraid. I am flesh and bones like you; and at\nfirst I was a creature that God created.\n

commentary

60:7.And it was so, that when He had created me, He placed me in a garden\nin the north, on the border of the world.\n

commentary

60:8.And He said to me, 'Stay here!' And I remained there according to\nHis Word, neither did I transgress His commandment.\n

commentary

60:9.Then He made a slumber to come over me, and He brought you, O Adam,\nout of my side, but did not make you stay with me.\n

commentary

60:10.But God took you in His divine hand, and placed you in a garden to\nthe eastward.\n

commentary

60:11.Then I worried about you, for that while God had taken you out of my\nside, He had not let you stay with me.\n

commentary

60:12.But God said to me: 'Do not worry about Adam, whom I brought out of\nyour side; no harm will come to him.\n

commentary

60:13.For now I have brought out of his side a help-meet for him; and I\nhave given him joy by so doing.''\n

commentary

60:14.Then Satan said again, 'I did not know how it is you are in this\ncave, nor anything about this trial that has come over you--until God\nsaid to me, 'Behold, Adam has transgressed, he whom I had taken out of\nyour side, and Eve also, whom I took out of his side; and I have driven\nthem out of the garden; I have made them live in a land of sorrow and\nmisery, because they transgressed against Me, and have obeyed Satan.\nAnd look, they are in suffering until this day, the eightieth.'\n

commentary

60:15.Then God said to me, 'Get up, go to them, and make them come to your\nplace, and suffer not that Satan come near them, and afflict them. For\nthey are now in great misery; and lie helpless from hunger.'\n

commentary

60:16.He further said to me, 'When you have taken them to yourself, give\nthem to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and give them to drink of\nthe water of peace; and clothe them in a garment of light, and restore\nthem to their former state of grace, and leave them not in misery, for\nthey came from you. But grieve not over them, nor repent of that which\nhas come over them.\n

commentary

60:17.But when I heard this, I was sorry; and my heart could not patiently\nbear it for your sake, O my child.\n

commentary

60:18.But, O Adam, when I heard the name of Satan, I was afraid, and I\nsaid within myself, I will not come out because he might trap me as he\ndid my children, Adam and Eve.\n

commentary

60:19.And I said, 'O God, when I go to my children, Satan will meet me in\nthe way, and war against me, as he did against them.'\n

commentary

60:20.Then God said to me, 'Fear not; when you find him, hit him with the\nstaff that is in thine hand, and don't be afraid of him, for you are of\nold standing, and he shall not prevail against you.'\n

commentary

60:21.Then I said, 'O my Lord, I am old, and cannot go. Send Your angels\nto bring them.'\n

commentary

60:22.But God said to me, 'Angels, verily, are not like them; and they\nwill not consent to come with them. But I have chosen you, because\nthey are your offspring and are like you, and they will listen to what\nyou say.'\n

commentary

60:23.God said further to me, 'If you don't have enough strength to walk,\nI will send a cloud to carry you and set you down at the entrance of\ntheir cave; then the cloud will return and leave you there.\n

commentary

60:24.And if they will come with you, I will send a cloud to carry you and\nthem.'\n

commentary

60:25.Then He commanded a cloud, and it bear me up and brought me to you;\nand then went back.\n

commentary

60:26.And now, O my children, Adam and Eve, look at my old gray hair and\nat my feeble state, and at my coming from that distant place. Come,\ncome with me, to a place of rest.'\n

commentary

60:27.Then he began to cry and to sob before Adam and Eve, and his tears\npoured on the ground like water.\n

commentary

60:28.And when Adam and Eve raised their eyes and saw his beard, and heard\nhis sweet talk, their hearts softened towards him; they obeyed him, for\nthey believed he was true.\n

commentary

60:29.And it seemed to them that they were really his offspring, when they\nsaw that his face was like their own; and they trusted him. \n

commentary

61:1.Then he took Adam and Eve by the hand, and began to bring them out of\nthe cave.\n

commentary

61:2.But when they had come a little ways out of it, God knew that Satan\nhad overcome them, and had brought them out before the forty days were\nended, to take them to some distant place, and to destroy them.\n

commentary

61:3.Then the Word of the Lord God again came and cursed Satan, and drove\nhim away from them.\n

commentary

61:4.And God began to speak to Adam and Eve, saying to them, 'What made\nyou come out of the cave, to this place?'\n

commentary

61:5.Then Adam said to God, 'Did you create a man before us? For when we\nwere in the cave there suddenly came to us a friendly old man who said\nto us, 'I am a messenger from God to you, to bring you back to some\nplace of rest.'\n

commentary

61:6.And we believed, O God, that he was a messenger from you; and we came\nout with him; and knew not where we should go with him.'\n

commentary

61:7.Then God said to Adam, 'See, that is the father of evil arts, who\nbrought you and Eve out of the Garden of Delights. And now, indeed,\nwhen he saw that you and Eve both joined together in fasting and\npraying, and that you came not out of the cave before the end of the\nforty days, he wished to make your purpose vein, to break your mutual\nbond; to cut off all hope from you, and to drive you to some place\nwhere he might destroy you.\n

commentary

61:8.Because he couldn't do anything to you unless he showed himself in\nthe likeness of you.\n

commentary

61:9.Therefore he came to you with a face like your own, and began to give\nyou tokens as if they were all true.\n

commentary

61:10.But because I am merciful and am favorable to you, I did not allow\nhim to destroy you; instead I drove him away from you.\n

commentary

61:11.Now, therefore, O Adam, take Eve, and return to your cave, and\nremain in it until the morning after the fortieth day. And when you\ncome out, go towards the eastern gate of the garden.'\n

commentary

61:12.Then Adam and Eve worshipped God, and praised and blessed Him for\nthe deliverance that had come to them from Him. And they returned\ntowards the cave. This happened in the evening of the thirty-ninth day.\n

commentary

61:13.Then Adam and Eve stood up and with a fiery passion, prayed to God,\nto give them strength; for they had become weak because of hunger and\nthirst and prayer. But they watched the whole of that night praying,\nuntil morning.\n

commentary

61:14.Then Adam said to Eve, 'Get up, let us go towards the eastern gate\nof the garden as God told us.'\n

commentary

61:15.And they said their prayers as they were accustomed to do every day;\nand they left the cave to go near to the eastern gate of the garden.\n

commentary

61:16.Then Adam and Eve stood up and prayed, and appealed to God to\nstrengthen them, and to send them something to satisfy their hunger.\n

commentary

61:17.But after they finished their prayers, they were too weak to move.\n

commentary

61:18.Then came the Word of God again, and said to them, 'O Adam, get up,\ngo and bring the two figs here.'\n

commentary

61:19.Then Adam and Eve got up, and went until they came near to the cave. \n

commentary

62:1.But Satan the wicked was envious, because of the consolation God had\ngiven them.\n

commentary

62:2.So he prevented them, and went into the cave and took the two figs,\nand buried them outside the cave, so that Adam and Eve should not find\nthem. He also had in his thoughts to destroy them.\n

commentary

62:3.But by God's mercy, as soon as those two figs were in the ground, God\ndefeated Satan's counsel regarding them; and made them into two fruit\ntrees, that overshadowed the cave. For Satan had buried them on the\neastern side of it.\n

commentary

62:4.Then when the two trees were grown, and were covered with fruit,\nSatan grieved and mourned, and said, 'It would have been better to have\nleft those figs where they were; for now, behold, they have become two\nfruit trees, whereof Adam will eat all the days of his life. Whereas I\nhad in mind, when I buried them, to destroy them entirely, and to hide\nthem forever.\n

commentary

62:5.But God has overturned my counsel; and would not that this sacred\nfruit should perish; and He has made plain my intention, and has\ndefeated the counsel I had formed against His servants.'\n

commentary

62:6.Then Satan went away ashamed because he hadn't thought his plans all\nthe way through. \n

commentary

63:1.But Adam and Eve, as they got closer to the cave, saw two fig trees,\ncovered with fruit, and overshadowing the cave.\n

commentary

63:2.Then Adam said to Eve, 'It seems to me that we have gone the wrong\nway. When did these two trees grow here? It seems to me that the\nenemy wishes to lead us the wrong way. Do you suppose that there is\nanother cave besides this one in the earth?\n

commentary

63:3.Yet, O Eve, let us go into the cave, and find in it the two figs; for\nthis is our cave, in which we were. But if we should not find the two\nfigs in it, then it cannot be our cave.'\n

commentary

63:4.They went then into the cave, and looked into the four corners of it,\nbut found not the two figs.\n

commentary

63:5.And Adam cried and said to Eve, 'Did we go to the wrong cave, then, O\nEve? It seems to me these two fig trees are the two figs that were in\nthe cave.' And Eve said, 'I, for my part, do not know.'\n

commentary

63:6.Then Adam stood up and prayed and said, 'O God, You commanded us to\ncome back to the cave, to take the two figs, and then to return to you.\n

commentary

63:7.But now, we have not found them. O God, have you taken them, and\nsown these two trees, or have we gone astray in the earth; or has the\nenemy deceived us? If it be real, then, O God, reveal to us the secret\nof these two trees and of the two figs.'\n

commentary

63:8.Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, 'O Adam, when I\nsent you to fetch the figs, Satan went before you to the cave, took the\nfigs, and buried them outside, eastward of the cave, thinking to\ndestroy them; and not sowing them with good intent.\n

commentary

63:9.Not for his mere sake, then, have these trees grown up at once; but I\nhad mercy on you and I commanded them to grow. And they grew to be two\nlarge trees, that you be overshadowed by their branches, and find rest;\nand that I made you see My power and My marvelous works.\n

commentary

63:10.And, also, to show you Satan's meanness, and his evil works, for\never since you came out of the garden, he has not ceased, no, not one\nday, from doing you some harm. But I have not given him power over\nyou.'\n

commentary

63:11.And God said, 'From now on, O Adam, rejoice on account of the trees,\nyou and Eve; and rest under them when you feel weary. But do not eat\nany of their fruit or come near them.'\n

commentary

63:12.Then Adam cried, and said, 'O God, will You again kill us, or will\nYou drive us away from before Your face, and cut our life from off the\nface of the earth?\n

commentary

63:13.O God, I beg you, if You know that there be in these trees either\ndeath or some other evil, as at the first time, root them up from near\nour cave, and with them; and leave us to die of the heat, of hunger and\nof thirst.\n

commentary

63:14.For we know Your marvelous works, O God, that they are great, and\nthat by Your power You can bring one thing out of another, without\none's wish. For Your power can make rocks to become trees, and trees\nto become rocks.' \n

commentary

64:1.Then God looked at Adam and at his strength of mind, at his endurance\nof hunger and thirst, and of the heat. And He changed the two fig\ntrees into two figs, as they were at first, and then said to Adam and\nto Eve, 'Each of you may take one fig.' And they took them, as the\nLord commanded them.\n

commentary

64:2.And He said to them, 'You must now go into the cave and eat the figs,\nand satisfy your hunger, or else you will die.'\n

commentary

64:3.So, as God commanded them, they went into the cave about sunset. And\nAdam and Eve stood up and prayed during the setting sun.\n

commentary

64:4.Then they sat down to eat the figs; but they knew not how to eat\nthem; for they were not accustomed to eat earthly food. They were\nafraid that if they ate, their stomach would be burdened and their\nflesh thickened, and their hearts would take to liking earthly food.\n

commentary

64:5.But while they were thus seated, God, out of pity for them, sent them\nHis angel, so they wouldn't perish of hunger and thirst.\n

commentary

64:6.And the angel said to Adam and Eve, 'God says to you that you do not\nhave the strength that would be required to fast until death; eat,\ntherefore, and strengthen your bodies; for you are now animal flesh and\ncannot subsist without food and drink.'\n

commentary

64:7.Then Adam and Eve took the figs and began to eat of them. But God\nhad put into them a mixture as of savory bread and blood.\n

commentary

64:8.Then the angel went from Adam and Eve, who ate of the figs until they\nhad satisfied their hunger. Then they put aside what was left; but by\nthe power of God, the figs became whole again, because God blessed them.\n

commentary

64:9.After this Adam and Eve got up, and prayed with a joyful heart and\nrenewed strength, and praised and rejoiced abundantly the whole of that\nnight. And this was the end of the eighty-third day. \n

commentary

65:1.And when it was day, they got up and prayed, after their custom, and\nthen went out of the cave.\n

commentary

65:2.But they became sick from the food they had eaten because they were\nnot used to it, so they went about in the cave saying to each other:--\n

commentary

65:3.What has our eating caused to happen to us, that we should be in\nsuch pain? We are in misery, we shall die! It would have been better\nfor us to have died keeping our bodies pure than to have eaten and\ndefiled them with food.'\n

commentary

65:4.Then Adam said to Eve, 'This pain did not come to us in the garden,\nneither did we eat such bad food there. Do you think, O Eve, that God\nwill plague us through the food that is in us, or that our innards will\ncome out; or that God means to kill us with this pain before He has\nfulfilled His promise to us?'\n

commentary

65:5.Then Adam besought the Lord and said, 'O Lord, let us not perish\nthrough the food we have eaten. O Lord, don't punish us; but deal with\nus according to Your great mercy, and forsake us not until the day of\nthe promise You have made us.'\n

commentary

65:6.Then God looked at them, and then fitted them for eating food at\nonce; as to this day; so that they should not perish.\n

commentary

65:7.Then Adam and Eve came back into the cave sorrowful and crying\nbecause of the alteration of their bodies. And they both knew from\nthat hour that they were altered beings, that all hope of returning to\nthe garden was now lost; and that they could not enter it.\n

commentary

65:8.For that now their bodies had strange functions; and all flesh that\nrequires food and drink for its existence, cannot be in the garden.\n

commentary

65:9.Then Adam said to Eve, 'Behold, our hope is now lost; and so is our\ntrust to enter the garden. We no longer belong to the inhabitants of\nthe garden; but from now on we are earthy and of the dust, and of the\ninhabitants of the earth. We shall not return to the garden, until the\nday in which God has promised to save us, and to bring us again into\nthe garden, as He promised us.'\n

commentary

65:10.Then they prayed to God that He would have mercy on them; after\nwhich, their mind was quieted, their hearts were broken, and their\nlonging was cooled down; and they were like strangers on earth. That\nnight Adam and Eve spent in the cave, where they slept heavily by\nreason of the food they had eaten. \n

commentary

66:1.When it was morning, the day after they had eaten food, Adam and Eve\nprayed in the cave, and Adam said to Eve, 'Look, we asked for food of\nGod, and He gave it. But now let us also ask Him to give us a drink of\nwater.'\n

commentary

66:2.Then they got up, and went to the bank of the stream of water, that\nwas on the south border of the garden, in which they had before thrown\nthemselves. And they stood on the bank, and prayed to God that He\nwould command them to drink of the water.\n

commentary

66:3.Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him, 'O Adam, your\nbody has become brutish, and requires water to drink. Take some and\ndrink it, you and Eve, then give thanks and praise.'\n

commentary

66:4.Adam and Eve then went down to the stream and drank from it, until\ntheir bodies felt refreshed. After having drunk, they praised God, and\nthen returned to their cave, after their former custom. This happened\nat the end of eighty-three days.\n

commentary

66:5.Then on the eighty-fourth day, they took the two figs and hung them\nin the cave, together with the leaves thereof, to be to them a sign and\na blessing from God. And they placed them there so that if their\ndescendants came there, they would see the wonderful things God had\ndone for them.\n

commentary

66:6.Then Adam and Eve again stood outside the cave, and asked God to show\nthem some food with which they could nourish their bodies.\n

commentary

66:7.Then the Word of God came and said to him, 'O Adam, go down to the\nwestward of the cave until you come to a land of dark soil, and there\nyou shall find food.'\n

commentary

66:8.And Adam obeyed the Word of God, took Eve, and went down to a land of\ndark soil, and found there wheat growing in the ear and ripe, and figs\nto eat; and Adam rejoiced over it.\n

commentary

66:9.Then the Word of God came again to Adam, and said to him, 'Take some\nof this wheat and make yourselves some bread with it, to nourish your\nbody therewith.' And God gave Adam's heart wisdom, to work out the\ncorn until it became bread.\n

commentary

66:10.Adam accomplished all that, until he grew very faint and weary. He\nthen returned to the cave; rejoicing at what he had learned of what is\ndone with wheat, until it is made into bread for one's use. \n

commentary

67:1.When Adam and Eve went down to the land of black mud and came near to\nthe wheat God had showed them and saw that it was ripe and ready for\nreaping, they did not have a sickle to reap it with. So they readied\nthemselves, and began to pull up the wheat by hand, until it was all\ndone.\n

commentary

67:2.Then they heaped it into a pile; and, faint from heat and from\nthirst, they went under a shady tree, where the breeze fanned them to\nsleep.\n

commentary

67:3.But Satan saw what Adam and Eve had done. And he called his hosts,\nand said to them, 'Since God has shown to Adam and Eve all about this\nwheat, wherewith to strengthen their bodies--and, look, they have come\nand made a big pile of it, and faint from the toil are now\nasleep--come, let us set fire to this heap of corn, and burn it, and\nlet us take that bottle of water that is by them, and empty it out, so\nthat they may find nothing to drink, and we kill them with hunger and\nthirst.\n

commentary

67:4.Then, when they wake up from their sleep, and seek to return to the\ncave, we will come to them in the way, and will lead them astray; so\nthat they die of hunger and thirst; when they may, perhaps, deny God,\nand He destroy them. So shall we be rid of them.'\n

commentary

67:5.Then Satan and his hosts set the wheat on fire and burned it up.\n

commentary

67:6.But from the heat of the flame Adam and Eve awoke from their sleep,\nand saw the wheat burning, and the bucket of water by them, poured out.\n

commentary

67:7.Then they cried and went back to the cave.\n

commentary

67:8.But as they were going up from below the mountain where they were,\nSatan and his hosts met them in the form of angels, praising God.\n

commentary

67:9.Then Satan said to Adam, 'O Adam, why are you so pained with hunger\nand thirst? It seems to me that Satan has burnt up the wheat.' And\nAdam said to him, 'Yes.'\n

commentary

67:10.Again Satan said to Adam, 'Come back with us; we are angels of God.\nGod sent us to you, to show you another field of corn, better than\nthat; and beyond it is a fountain of good water, and many trees, where\nyou shall live near it, and work the corn field to better purpose than\nthat which Satan has consumed.'\n

commentary

67:11.Adam thought that he was true, and that they were angels who talked\nwith him; and he went back with them.\n

commentary

67:12.Then Satan began to lead astray Adam and Eve eight days, until they\nboth fell down as if dead, from hunger, thirst, and faintness. Then he\nfled with his hosts, and left them. \n

commentary

68:1.Then God looked at Adam and Eve, and at what had come over them from\nSatan, and how he had made them perish.\n

commentary

68:2.God, therefore, sent His Word, and raised up Adam and Eve from their\nstate of death.\n

commentary

68:3.Then, Adam, when he was raised, said, 'O God, You have burnt and\ntaken from us the corn You have given us, and You have emptied out the\nbucket of water. And You have sent Your angels, who have caused us to\nlose our way from the corn field. Will You make us perish? If this be\nfrom you, O God, then take away our souls; but punish us not.'\n

commentary

68:4.Then God said to Adam, 'I did not burn down the wheat, and I did not\npour the water out of the bucket, and I did not send My angels to lead\nyou astray.\n

commentary

68:5.But it is Satan, your master who did it; he to whom you have\nsubjected yourself; my commandment being meanwhile set aside. He it\nis, who burnt down the corn, and poured out the water, and who has led\nyou astray; and all the promises he has made you were just a trick, a\ndeception, and a lie.\n

commentary

68:6.But now, O Adam, you shall acknowledge My good deeds done to you.'\n

commentary

68:7.And God told His angels to take Adam and Eve, and to bear them up to\nthe field of wheat, which they found as before, with the bucket full of\nwater.\n

commentary

68:8.There they saw a tree, and found on it solid manna; and wondered at\nGod's power. And the angels commanded them to eat of the manna when\nthey were hungry.\n

commentary

68:9.And God admonished Satan with a curse, not to come again, and destroy\nthe field of corn.\n

commentary

68:10.Then Adam and Eve took of the corn, and made of it an offering, and\ntook it and offered it up on the mountain, the place where they had\noffered up their first offering of blood.\n

commentary

68:11.And they offered this offering again on the altar they had built at\nfirst. And they stood up and prayed, and besought the Lord saying,\n'Thus, O God, when we were in the garden, our praises went up to you,\nlike this offering; and our innocence went up to you like incense. But\nnow, O God, accept this offering from us, and don't turn us away,\ndeprived of Your mercy.'\n

commentary

68:12.Then God said to Adam and Eve, 'Since you have made this offering\nand have offered it to Me, I shall make it My flesh, when I come down\non earth to save you; and I shall cause it to be offered continually on\nan altar, for forgiveness and for mercy, for those who partake of it\nduly.'\n

commentary

68:13.And God sent a bright fire over the offering of Adam and Eve, and\nfilled it with brightness, grace, and light; and the Holy Ghost came\ndown on that offering.\n

commentary

68:14.Then God commanded an angel to take fire tongs, like a spoon, and\nwith it to take an offering and bring it to Adam and Eve. And the\nangel did so, as God had commanded him, and offered it to them.\n

commentary

68:15.And the souls of Adam and Eve were brightened, and their hearts were\nfilled with joy and gladness and with the praises of God.\n

commentary

68:16.And God said to Adam, 'This shall be to you a custom, to do so,\nwhen affliction and sorrow come over you. But your deliverance and\nyour entrance in to the garden, shall not be until the days are\nfulfilled as agreed between you and Me; were it not so, I would, of My\nmercy and pity for you, bring you back to My garden and to My favor for\nthe sake of the offering you have just made to My name.'\n

commentary

68:17.Adam rejoiced at these words which he heard from God; and he and Eve\nworshipped before the altar, to which they bowed, and then went back to\nthe Cave of Treasures.\n

commentary

68:18.And this took place at the end of the twelfth day after the\neightieth day, from the time Adam and Eve came out of the garden.\n

commentary

68:19.And they stood up the whole night praying until morning; and then\nwent out of the cave.\n

commentary

68:20.Then Adam said to Eve, with joy of heart, because of the offering\nthey had made to God, and that had been accepted of Him, 'Let us do\nthis three times every week, on the fourth day Wednesday, on the\npreparation day Friday, and on the Sabbath Sunday, all the days of our\nlife.'\n

commentary

68:21.And as they agreed to these words between themselves, God was\npleased with their thoughts, and with the resolution they had each\ntaken with the other.\n

commentary

68:22.After this, came the Word of God to Adam, and said, 'O Adam, you\nhave determined beforehand the days in which sufferings shall come over\nMe, when I am made flesh; for they are the fourth Wednesday, and the\npreparation day Friday.\n

commentary

68:23.But as to the first day, I created in it all things, and I raised\nthe heavens. And, again, through My rising again on this day, will I\ncreate joy, and raise them on high, who believe in Me; O Adam, offer\nthis offering, all the days of your life.'\n

commentary

68:24.Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

68:25.But Adam continued to offer this offering thus, every week three\ntimes, until the end of seven weeks. And on the first day, which is\nthe fiftieth, Adam made an offering as he was accustomed, and he and\nEve took it and came to the altar before God, as He had taught them. \n

commentary

69:1.Then Satan, the hater of all good, envious of Adam and of his\noffering through which he found favor with God, hastened and took a\nsharp stone from among the sharp iron stones; appeared in the form of a\nman, and went and stood by Adam and Eve.\n

commentary

69:2.Adam was then offering on the altar, and had begun to pray, with his\nhands spread before God.\n

commentary

69:3.Then Satan hastened with the sharp iron stone he had with him, and\nwith it pierced Adam on the right side, from which flowed blood and\nwater, then Adam fell on the altar like a corpse. And Satan fled.\n

commentary

69:4.Then Eve came, and took Adam and placed him below the altar. And\nthere she stayed, crying over him; while a stream of blood flowed from\nAdam's side over his offering.\n

commentary

69:5.But God looked at the death of Adam. He then sent His Word, and\nraised him up and said to him, 'Fulfil your offering, for indeed, Adam,\nit is worth much, and there is no shortcoming in it.'\n

commentary

69:6.God said further to Adam, 'Thus will it also happen to Me, on the\nearth, when I shall be pierced and blood and water shall flow from My\nside and run over My body, which is the true offering; and which shall\nbe offered on the altar as a perfect offering.'\n

commentary

69:7.Then God commanded Adam to finish his offering, and when he had ended\nit he worshipped before God, and praised Him for the signs He had\nshowed him.\n

commentary

69:8.And God healed Adam in one day, which is the end of the seven weeks;\nand that is the fiftieth day.\n

commentary

69:9.Then Adam and Eve returned from the mountain, and went into the Cave\nof Treasures, as they were used to do. This completed for Adam and\nEve, one hundred and forty days since their coming out of the garden.\n

commentary

69:10.Then they both stood up that night and prayed to God. And when it\nwas morning, they went out, and went down westward of the cave, to the\nplace where their corn was, and there rested under the shadow of a\ntree, as they were accustomed.\n

commentary

69:11.But when there a multitude of beasts came all around them. It was\nSatan's doing, in his wickedness; in order to wage war against Adam\nthrough marriage. \n

commentary

70:1.After this Satan, the hater of all good, took the form of an angel,\nand with him two others, so that they looked like the three angels who\nhad brought to Adam gold, incense, and myrrh.\n

commentary

70:2.They passed before Adam and Eve while they were under the tree, and\ngreeted Adam and Eve with fair words that were full of deceit.\n

commentary

70:3.But when Adam and Eve saw their pleasant expression, and heard their\nsweet speech, Adam rose, welcomed them, and brought them to Eve, and\nthey remained all together; Adam's heart the while, being glad because\nhe thought concerning them, that they were the same angels, who had\nbrought him gold, incense, and myrrh.\n

commentary

70:4.Because, when they came to Adam the first time, there came over him\nfrom them, peace and joy, through their bringing him good tokens; so\nAdam thought that they had come a second time to give him other tokens\nfor him to rejoice therewith. For he did not know it was Satan;\ntherefore he received them with joy and consorted with them.\n

commentary

70:5.Then Satan, the tallest of them, said, 'Rejoice, O Adam, and be glad.\nLook, God has sent us to you to tell you something.'\n

commentary

70:6.And Adam said, 'What is it?' Then Satan answered, 'It is a simple\nthing, yet it is the Word of God, will you accept it from us and do it?\nBut if you will not accept it, we will return to God, and tell Him that\nyou would not receive His Word.'\n

commentary

70:7.And Satan said again to Adam, 'Don't be afraid and don't tremble;\ndon't you know us?'\n

commentary

70:8.But Adam said, 'I do not know you.'\n

commentary

70:9.Then Satan said to him, 'I am the angel that brought you gold, and\ntook it to the cave; this other angel is the one that brought you\nincense; and that third angel, is the one who brought you myrrh when\nyou were on top of the mountain, and who carried you to the cave.\n

commentary

70:10.But as to the other angels our fellows, who bare you to the cave,\nGod has not sent them with us this time; for He said to us, 'You will\nbe enough'.'\n

commentary

70:11.So when Adam heard these words he believed them, and said to these\nangels, 'Speak the Word of God, that I may receive it.'\n

commentary

70:12.And Satan said to him, 'Swear, and promise me that you will receive\nit.'\n

commentary

70:13.Then Adam said, 'I do not know how to swear and promise.'\n

commentary

70:14.And Satan said to him, 'Hold out your hand, and put it inside my\nhand.'\n

commentary

70:15.Then Adam held out his hand, and put it into Satan's hand; when\nSatan said to him, 'Say, now--So true as God is living, rational, and\nspeaking, who raised the stars in heaven, and established the dry\nground on the waters, and has created me out of the four elements, and\nout of the dust of the earth--I will not break my promise, nor renounce\nmy word.'\n

commentary

70:16.And Adam swore thus.\n

commentary

70:17.Then Satan said to him, 'Look, it is now some time since you came\nout of the garden, and you know neither wickedness nor evil. But now\nGod says to you, to take Eve who came out of your side, and to marry\nher so that she will bear you children, to comfort you, and to drive\nfrom you trouble and sorrow; now this thing is not difficult, neither\nis there any scandal in it to you. \n

commentary

71:1.But when Adam heard these words from Satan, he sorrowed much, because\nof his oath and of his promise, and said, 'Shall I commit adultery with\nmy flesh and my bones, and shall I sin against myself, for God to\ndestroy me, and to blot me out from off the face of the earth?\n

commentary

71:2.Since, when at first, I ate of the tree, He drove me out of the\ngarden into this strange land, and deprived me of my bright nature, and\nbrought death over me. If, then, I should do this, He will cut off my\nlife from the earth, and He will cast me into hell, and will plague me\nthere a long time.\n

commentary

71:3.But God never spoke the words that you have said; and you are not\nGod's angels, and you weren't sent from Him. But you are devils that\nhave come to me under the false appearance of angels. Away from me;\nyou cursed of God!'\n

commentary

71:4.Then those devils fled from before Adam. And he and Eve got up, and\nreturned to the Cave of Treasures, and went into it.\n

commentary

71:5.Then Adam said to Eve, 'If you saw what I did, don't tell anyone; for\nI sinned against God in swearing by His great name, and I have placed\nmy hand another time into that of Satan.' Eve, then, held her peace,\nas Adam told her.\n

commentary

71:6.Then Adam got up, and spread his hands before God, beseeching and\nentreating Him with tears, to forgive him what he had done. And Adam\nremained thus standing and praying forty days and forty nights. He\nneither ate nor drank until he dropped down on the ground from hunger\nand thirst.\n

commentary

71:7.Then God sent His Word to Adam, who raised him up from where he lay,\nand said to him, 'O Adam, why have you sworn by My name, and why have\nyou made agreement with Satan another time?'\n

commentary

71:8.But Adam cried, and said, 'O God, forgive me, for I did this\nunwittingly; believing they were God's angels.'\n

commentary

71:9.And God forgave Adam, saying to him, 'Beware of Satan.'\n

commentary

71:10.And He withdrew His Word from Adam.\n

commentary

71:11.Then Adam's heart was comforted; and he took Eve, and they went out\nof the cave, to prepare some food for their bodies.\n

commentary

71:12.But from that day Adam struggled in his mind about his marrying Eve;\nafraid that if he was to do it, God would be angry with him.\n

commentary

71:13.Then Adam and Eve went to the river of water, and sat on the bank,\nas people do when they enjoy themselves.\n

commentary

71:14.But Satan was jealous of them; and planned to destroy them. \n

commentary

72:1.Then Satan, and ten from his hosts, transformed themselves into\nmaidens, unlike any others in the whole world for grace.\n

commentary

72:2.They came up out of the river in presence of Adam and Eve, and they\nsaid among themselves, 'Come, we will look at the faces of Adam and\nEve, who are of the men on earth. How beautiful they are, and how\ndifferent is their look from our own faces.' Then they came to Adam\nand Eve, and greeted them; and stood wondering at them.\n

commentary

72:3.Adam and Eve looked at them also, and wondered at their beauty, and\nsaid, 'Is there, then, under us, another world, with such beautiful\ncreatures as these in it?'\n

commentary

72:4.And those maidens said to Adam and Eve, 'Yes, indeed, we are an\nabundant creation.'\n

commentary

72:5.Then Adam said to them, 'But how do you multiply?'\n

commentary

72:6.And they answered him, 'We have husbands who have married us, and we\nbear them children, who grow up, and who in their turn marry and are\nmarried, and also bear children; and thus we increase. And if so be, O\nAdam, you will not believe us, we will show you our husbands and our\nchildren.'\n

commentary

72:7.Then they shouted over the river as if to call their husbands and\ntheir children, who came up from the river, men and children; and every\nman came to his wife, his children being with him.\n

commentary

72:8.But when Adam and Eve saw them, they stood dumb, and wondered at them.\n

commentary

72:9.Then they said to Adam and Eve, 'See all our husbands and our\nchildren? You should marry Eve, as we have married our husbands, so\nthat you will have children as we have.' This was a device of Satan to\ndeceive Adam.\n

commentary

72:10.Satan also thought within himself, 'God at first commanded Adam\nconcerning the fruit of the tree, saying to him, 'Eat not of it; else\nof death you shall die.' But Adam ate of it, and yet God did not kill\nhim; He only decreed on him death, and plagues and trials, until the\nday he shall come out of his body.\n

commentary

72:11.Now, then, if I deceive him to do this thing, and to marry Eve\nwithout God's permission, God will kill him then.'\n

commentary

72:12.Therefore Satan worked this apparition before Adam and Eve; because\nhe sought to kill him, and to make him disappear from off the face of\nthe earth.\n

commentary

72:13.Meanwhile the fire of sin came over Adam, and he thought of\ncommitting sin. But he restrained himself, fearing that if he followed\nthis advice of Satan, God would put him to death.\n

commentary

72:14.Then Adam and Eve got up, and prayed to God, while Satan and his\nhosts went down into the river, in presence of Adam and Eve; to let\nthem see that they were going back to their own world.\n

commentary

72:15.Then Adam and Eve went back to the Cave of Treasures, as they\nusually did; about evening time.\n

commentary

72:16.And they both got up and prayed to God that night. Adam remained\nstanding in prayer, yet not knowing how to pray, by reason of the\nthoughts in his heart regarding his marrying Eve; and he continued so\nuntil morning.\n

commentary

72:17.And when light came up, Adam said to Eve, 'Get up, let us go below\nthe mountain, where they brought us gold, and let us ask the Lord\nconcerning this matter.'\n

commentary

72:18.Then Eve said, 'What is that matter, O Adam?'\n

commentary

72:19.And he answered her, 'That I may request the Lord to inform me about\nmarrying you; for I will not do it without His permission or else He\nwill make us perish, you and me. For those devils have set my heart on\nfire, with thoughts of what they showed us, in their sinful apparitions.\n

commentary

72:20.Then Eve said to Adam, 'Why need we go below the mountain? Let us\nrather stand up and pray in our cave to God, to let us know whether\nthis counsel is good or not.'\n

commentary

72:21.Then Adam rose up in prayer and said, 'O God, you know that we\ntransgressed against you, and from the moment we transgressed, we were\nstripped of our bright nature; and our body became brutish, requiring\nfood and drink; and with animal desires.\n

commentary

72:22.Command us, O God, not to give way to them without Your permission,\nfor fear that You will turn us into nothing. Because if you do not\ngive us permission, we shall be overpowered, and follow that advice of\nSatan; and You will again make us perish.\n

commentary

72:23.If not, then take our souls from us; let us be rid of this animal\nlust. And if You give us no order respecting this thing, then sever\nEve from me, and me from her; and place us each far away from the other.\n

commentary

72:24.Then again, O God, if You separate us from each other, the devils\nwill deceive us with their apparitions that resemble us, and destroy\nour hearts, and defile our thoughts towards each other. Yet if it is\nnot each of us towards the other, it will, at all events, be through\ntheir appearance when the devils come to us in our likeness.' Here Adam\nended his prayer. \n

commentary

73:1.Then God considered the words of Adam that they were true, and that\nhe could long await His order, respecting the counsel of Satan.\n

commentary

73:2.And God approved Adam in what he had thought concerning this, and in\nthe prayer he had offered in His presence; and the Word of God came to\nAdam and said to him, 'O Adam, if only you had had this caution at\nfirst, before you came out of the garden into this land!'\n

commentary

73:3.After that, God sent His angel who had brought gold, and the angel\nwho had brought incense, and the angel who had brought myrrh to Adam,\nthat they should inform him respecting his marriage to Eve.\n

commentary

73:4.Then those angels said to Adam, 'Take the gold and give it to Eve as\na wedding gift, and promise to marry her; then give her some incense\nand myrrh as a present; and be you, you and she, one flesh.'\n

commentary

73:5.Adam obeyed the angels, and took the gold and put it into Eve's bosom\nin her garment; and promised to marry her with his hand.\n

commentary

73:6.Then the angels commanded Adam and Eve to get up and pray forty days\nand forty nights; when that was done, then Adam was to have sexual\nintercourse with his wife; for then this would be an act pure and\nundefiled; so that he would have children who would multiply, and\nreplenish the face of the earth.\n

commentary

73:7.Then both Adam and Eve received the words of the angels; and the\nangels departed from them.\n

commentary

73:8.Then Adam and Eve began to fast and pray, until the end of the forty\ndays; and then they had sexual intercourse, as the angels had told\nthem. And from the time Adam left the garden until he wedded Eve, were\ntwo hundred and twenty-three days, that is seven months and thirteen\ndays.\n

commentary

73:9.Thus was Satan's war with Adam defeated. \n

commentary

74:1.And they lived on the earth working in order to keep their bodies in\ngood health; and they continued so until the nine months of Eve's\npregnancy were over, and the time drew near when she must give birth.\n

commentary

74:2.Then she said to Adam, 'The signs placed in this cave since we left\nthe garden indicate that this is a pure place and we will be praying in\nit again some time. It is not appropriate then, that I should give\nbirth in it. Let us instead go to the sheltering rock cave that was\nformed by the command of God when Satan threw a big rock down on us in\nan attempt to kill us with it.\n

commentary

74:3.Adam then took Eve to that cave. When the time came for her to give\nbirth, she strained a lot. Adam felt sorry, and he was very worried\nabout her because she was close to death and the words of God to her\nwere being fulfilled: 'In suffering shall you bear a child, and in\nsorrow shall you bring forth a child.'\n

commentary

74:4.But when Adam saw the distress in which Eve was, he got up and prayed\nto God, and said, 'O Lord, look at me with the eye of Your mercy, and\nbring her out of her distress.'\n

commentary

74:5.And God looked at His maid-servant Eve, and delivered her, and she\ngave birth to her first-born son, and with him a daughter.\n

commentary

74:6.The Adam rejoiced at Eve's deliverance, and also over the children\nshe had borne him. And Adam ministered to Eve in the cave, until the\nend of eight days; when they named the son Cain, and the daughter\nLuluwa.\n

commentary

74:7.The meaning of Cain is 'hater,' because he hated his sister in their\nmother's womb; before they came out of it. Therefore Adam named him\nCain.\n

commentary

74:8.But Luluwa means 'beautiful,' because she was more beautiful than her\nmother.\n

commentary

74:9.Then Adam and Eve waited until Cain and his sister were forty days\nold, when Adam said to Eve, 'We will make an offering and offer it up\nin behalf of the children.'\n

commentary

74:10.And Eve said, 'We will make one offering for the first-born son and\nthen later we shall make one for the daughter.' \n

commentary

75:1.Then Adam prepared an offering, and he and Eve offered it up for\ntheir children, and brought it to the altar they had built at first.\n

commentary

75:2.And Adam offered up the offering, and asked God to accept his\noffering.\n

commentary

75:3.Then God accepted Adam's offering, and sent a light from heaven that\nshown on the offering. Adam and his son drew near to the offering, but\nEve and the daughter did not approach it.\n

commentary

75:4.Adam and his son were joyful as they came down from on the altar.\nAdam and Eve waited until the daughter was eighty days old, then Adam\nprepared an offering and took it to Eve and to the children. They went\nto the altar, where Adam offered it up, as he was accustomed, asking\nthe Lord to accept his offering.\n

commentary

75:5.And the Lord accepted the offering of Adam and Eve. Then Adam, Eve,\nand the children, drew near together, and came down from the mountain,\nrejoicing.\n

commentary

75:6.But they returned not to the cave in which they were born; but came\nto the Cave of Treasures, in order that the children should go around\nin it, and be blessed with the tokens brought from the garden.\n

commentary

75:7.But after they had been blessed with these tokens, they went back to\nthe cave in which they were born.\n

commentary

75:8.However, before Eve had offered up the offering, Adam had taken her,\nand had gone with her to the river of water, in which they threw\nthemselves at first; and there they washed themselves. Adam washed his\nbody and Eve hers also clean, after the suffering and distress that had\ncome over them.\n

commentary

75:9.But Adam and Eve, after washing themselves in the river of water,\nreturned every night to the Cave of Treasures, where they prayed and\nwere blessed; and then went back to their cave, where their children\nwere born.\n

commentary

75:10.Adam and Eve did this until the children had been weaned. After\nthey were weaned, Adam made an offering for the souls of his children\nin addition to the three times every week he made an offering for them.\n

commentary

75:11.When the children were weaned, Eve again conceived, and when her\npregnancy came to term, she gave birth to another son and daughter.\nThey named the son Abel and the daughter Aklia.\n

commentary

75:12.Then at the end of forty days, Adam made an offering for the son,\nand at the end of eighty days he made another offering for the\ndaughter, and treated them, as he had previously treated Cain and his\nsister Luluwa.\n

commentary

75:13.He brought them to the Cave of Treasures, where they received a\nblessing, and then returned to the cave where they were born. After\nthese children were born, Eve stopped having children. \n

commentary

76:1.And the children began to grow stronger and taller; but Cain was\nhard-hearted, and ruled over his younger brother.\n

commentary

76:2.Often when his father made an offering, Cain would remain behind and\nnot go with them, to offer up.\n

commentary

76:3.But, as to Abel, he had a meek heart, and was obedient to his father\nand mother. He frequently moved them to make an offering, because he\nloved it. He prayed and fasted a lot.\n

commentary

76:4.Then came this sign to Abel. As he was coming into the Cave of\nTreasures, and saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he asked\nhis parents, Adam and Eve, to tell him about them and asked, 'Where did\nyou get these from?'\n

commentary

76:5.Then Adam told him all that had befallen them. And Abel felt deeply\nabout what his father told him.\n

commentary

76:6.Furthermore his father, Adam, told him of the works of God, and of\nthe garden. After hearing that, Abel remained behind after his father\nleft and stayed the whole of that night in the Cave of Treasures.\n

commentary

76:7.And that night, while he was praying, Satan appeared to him under the\nfigure of a man, who said to him, 'You have frequently moved your\nfather into making offerings, fasting and praying, therefore I will\nkill you, and make you perish from this world.'\n

commentary

76:8.But as for Abel, he prayed to God, and drove away Satan from him; and\ndid not believe the words of the devil. Then when it was day, an angel\nof God appeared to him, who said to him, 'Do not cut short either\nfasting, prayer, or offering up an offering to your God. For, look,\nthe Lord had accepted your prayer. Be not afraid of the figure which\nappeared to you in the night, and who cursed you to death.' And the\nangel departed from him.\n

commentary

76:9.Then when it was day, Abel came to Adam and Eve, and told them of the\nvision he had seen. When they heard it, they grieved much over it, but\nsaid nothing to him about it; they only comforted him.\n

commentary

76:10.But as to the hard-hearted Cain, Satan came to him by night, showed\nhimself and said to him, 'Since Adam and Eve love your brother Abel so\nmuch more than they love you, they wish to join him in marriage to your\nbeautiful sister because they love him. However, they wish to join you\nin marriage to his ugly sister, because they hate you.\n

commentary

76:11.Now before they do that, I am telling you that you should kill your\nbrother. That way your sister will be left for you, and his sister will\nbe cast away.'\n

commentary

76:12.And Satan departed from him. But the devil remained behind in\nCain's heart, and frequently aspired to kill his brother. \n

commentary

77:1.But when Adam saw that the older brother hated the younger, he\nendeavored to soften their hearts, and said to Cain, 'O my son, take of\nthe fruits of your sowing and make an offering to God, so that He might\nforgive you for your wickedness and sin.'\n

commentary

77:2.He said also to Abel, 'Take some of your sowing and make an offering\nand bring it to God, so that He might forgive you for your wickedness\nand sin.'\n

commentary

77:3.Then Abel obeyed his father's voice, took some of his sowing, and\nmade a good offering, and said to his father, Adam, 'Come with me and\nshow me how to offer it up.'\n

commentary

77:4.And they went, Adam and Eve with him, and they showed him how to\noffer up his gift on the altar. Then after that, they stood up and\nprayed that God would accept Abel's offering.\n

commentary

77:5.Then God looked at Abel and accepted his offering. And God was more\npleased with Abel than with his offering, because of his good heart and\npure body. There was no trace of guile in him.\n

commentary

77:6.Then they came down from the altar, and went to the cave in which\nthey lived. But Abel, by reason of his joy at having made his\noffering, repeated it three times a week, after the example of his\nfather Adam.\n

commentary

77:7.But as to Cain, he did not want to make an offering, but after his\nfather became very angry, he offered up a gift once. He took the\nsmallest of his sheep for an offering and when he offered it up, his\neyes were on the lamb.\n

commentary

77:8.Therefore God did not accept his offering, because his heart was full\nof murderous thoughts.\n

commentary

77:9.And they all thus lived together in the cave in which Eve had brought\nforth, until Cain was fifteen years old, and Abel twelve years old. \n

commentary

78:1.Then Adam said to Eve, 'Behold the children are grown up; we must\nthink of finding wives for them.'\n

commentary

78:2.Then Eve answered, 'How can we do it?'\n

commentary

78:3.Then Adam said to her, 'We will join Abel's sister in marriage to\nCain, and Cain's sister to Abel.\n

commentary

78:4.The said Eve to Adam, 'I do not like Cain because he is hard-hearted;\nbut let them stay with us until we offer up to the Lord in their\nbehalf.'\n

commentary

78:5.And Adam said no more.\n

commentary

78:6.Meanwhile Satan came to Cain in the figure of a man of the field, and\nsaid to him, 'Behold Adam and Eve have taken counsel together about the\nmarriage of you two; and they have agreed to marry Abel's sister to\nyou, and your sister to him.\n

commentary

78:7.But if it was not that I love you, I would not have told you this\nthing. Yet if you will take my advice, and obey me, I will bring to\nyou on your wedding day beautiful robes, gold and silver in plenty, and\nmy relations will attend you.'\n

commentary

78:8.Then Cain said with joy, 'Where are your relations?'\n

commentary

78:9.And Satan answered, 'My relations are in a garden in the north, where\nI once meant to bring your father Adam; but he would not accept my\noffer.\n

commentary

78:10.But you, if you will receive my words and if you will come to me\nafter your wedding, you shall rest from the misery in which you are;\nand you shall rest and be better off than your father Adam.'\n

commentary

78:11.At these words of Satan Cain opened his ears, and leaned towards his\nspeech.\n

commentary

78:12.And he did not remain in the field, but he went to Eve, his mother,\nand beat her, and cursed her, and said to her, 'Why are you planning to\ntake my sister to wed her to my brother? Am I dead?'\n

commentary

78:13.His mother, however, quieted him, and sent him to the field where he\nhad been.\n

commentary

78:14.Then when Adam came, she told him of what Cain had done.\n

commentary

78:15.But Adam grieved and held his peace, and said not a word.\n

commentary

78:16.Then on the next morning Adam said to Cain his son, 'Take of your\nsheep, young and good, and offer them up to your God; and I will speak\nto your brother, to make to his God an offering of corn.'\n

commentary

78:17.They both obeyed their father Adam, and they took their offerings,\nand offered them up on the mountain by the altar.\n

commentary

78:18.But Cain behaved haughtily towards his brother, and shoved him from\nthe altar, and would not let him offer up his gift on the altar; but he\noffered his own on it, with a proud heart, full of guile, and fraud.\n

commentary

78:19.But as for Abel, he set up stones that were near at hand, and on\nthat, he offered up his gift with a heart humble and free from guile.\n

commentary

78:20.Cain was then standing by the altar on which he had offered up his\ngift; and he cried to God to accept his offering; but God did not\naccept it from him; neither did a divine fire come down to consume his\noffering.\n

commentary

78:21.But he remained standing over against the altar, out of humor and\nmeanness, looking towards his brother Abel, to see if God would accept\nhis offering or not.\n

commentary

78:22.And Abel prayed to God to accept his offering. Then a divine fire\ncame down and consumed his offering. And God smelled the sweet savor\nof his offering; because Abel loved Him and rejoice in Him.\n

commentary

78:23.And because God was well pleased with him, He sent him an angel of\nlight in the figure of a man who had partaken of his offering, because\nHe had smelled the sweet savor of his offering, and they comforted Abel\nand strengthened his heart.\n

commentary

78:24.But Cain was looking on all that took place at his brother's\noffering, and was angry because of it.\n

commentary

78:25.Then he opened his mouth and blasphemed God, because He had not\naccepted his offering.\n

commentary

78:26.But God said to cain, 'Why do you look sad? Be righteous, that I\nmay accept your offering. Not against Me have you murmured, but\nagainst yourself.\n

commentary

78:27.And God said this to Cain in rebuke, and because He abhorred him and\nhis offering.\n

commentary

78:28.And Cain came down from the altar, his color changed and with a sad\nface, and came to his father and mother and told them all that had\nbefallen him. And Adam grieved much because God had not accepted\nCain's offering.\n

commentary

78:29.But Abel came down rejoicing, and with a gladsome heart, and told\nhis father and mother how God had accepted his offering. And they\nrejoiced at it and kissed his face.\n

commentary

78:30.And Abel said to his father, 'Because Cain shoved me from the altar,\nand would not allow me to offer my gift on it, I made an altar for\nmyself and offered my gift on it.'\n

commentary

78:31.But when Adam heard this he was very sorry, because it was the altar\nhe had built at first, and on which he had offered his own gifts.\n

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78:32.As to Cain, he was so resentful and so angry that he went into the\nfield, where Satan came to him and said to him, 'Since your brother\nAbel has taken refuge with your father Adam, because you shoved him\nfrom the altar, they have kissed his face, and they rejoice over him,\nfar more than over you.'\n

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78:33.When Cain heard these words of Satan, he was filled with rage; and\nhe let no one know. But he was laying wait to kill his brother, until\nhe brought him into the cave, and then said to him:--\n

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78:34.O brother, the country is so beautiful, and there are such\nbeautiful and pleasurable trees in it, and charming to look at! But\nbrother, you have never been one day in the field to take your pleasure\nin that place.\n

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78:35.Today, O, my brother, I very much wish you would come with me into\nthe field, to enjoy yourself and to bless our fields and our flocks,\nfor you are righteous, and I love you much, O my brother! But you have\nalienated yourself from me.'\n

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78:36.Then Abel consented to go with his brother Cain into the field.\n

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78:37.But before going out, Cain said to Abel, 'Wait for me, until I fetch\na staff, because of wild beasts.'\n

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78:38.Then Abel stood waiting in his innocence. But Cain, the forward,\nfetched a staff and went out.\n

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78:39.And they began, Cain and his brother Abel, to walk in the way; Cain\ntalking to him, and comforting him, to make him forget everything. \n

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79:1.And so they went on, until they came to a lonely place, where there\nwere no sheep; then Abel said to Cain, 'Behold, my brother, we are\ntired from walking; for we see none of the trees, nor of the fruits,\nnor of the flourishing green plants, nor of the sheep, nor any one of\nthe things of which you told me. Where are those sheep of thine you\ntold me to bless?'\n

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79:2.Then Cain said to him, 'Come on, and you shall see many beautiful\nthings very soon, but go before me, until I catch up to you.'\n

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79:3.Then went Abel forward, but Cain remained behind him.\n

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79:4.And Abel was walking in his innocence, without guile; not believing\nhis brother would kill him.\n

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79:5.Then Cain, when he came up to him, comforted him with his talk,\nwalking a little behind him; then he ran up to him and beat him with\nthe staff, blow after blow, until he was stunned.\n

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79:6.But when Abel fell down on the ground, seeing that his brother meant\nto kill him, he said to Cain, 'O, my brother, have pity on me. By the\nbreasts we have sucked, don't hit me! By the womb that bore us and\nthat brought us into the world, don't beat me to death with that staff!\nIf you will kill me, take one of these large stones and kill me\noutright.'\n

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79:7.Then Cain, the hard-hearted, and cruel murderer, took a large stone,\nand beat his brother's head with it, until his brains oozed out, and he\nwallowed in his blood, before him.\n

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79:8.And Cain repented not of what he had done.\n

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79:9.But the earth, when the blood of righteous Abel fell on it, trembled,\nas it drank his blood, and would have destroyed Cain because of it.\n

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79:10.And the blood of Abel cried mysteriously to God, to avenge him of\nhis murderer.\n

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79:11.Then Cain began at once to dig the ground wherein to lay his\nbrother; for he was trembling from the fear that came over him, when he\nsaw the earth tremble on his account.\n

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79:12.He then cast his brother into the pit he made, and covered him with\ndust. But the ground would not receive him; but it threw him up at\nonce.\n

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79:13.Again Cain dug the ground and hid his brother in it; but again the\nground threw him up on itself; until three times the ground thus threw\nup on itself the body of Abel.\n

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79:14.The muddy ground threw him up the first time, because he was not the\nfirst creation; and it threw him up the second time and would not\nreceive him, because he was righteous and good, and was killed without\na cause; and the ground threw him up the third time and would not\nreceive him, that there might remain before his brother a witness\nagainst him.\n

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79:15.And so the earth mocked Cain, until the Word of God, came to him\nconcerning his brother.\n

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79:16.Then was God angry, and much displeased at Abel's death; and He\nthundered from heaven, and lightnings went before Him, and the Word of\nthe Lord God came from heaven to Cain, and said to him, 'Where is Abel\nyour brother?'\n

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79:17.Then Cain answered with a proud heart and a gruff voice, 'How, O\nGod? Am I my brother's keeper?'\n

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79:18.Then God said to Cain, 'Cursed be the earth that has drunk the blood\nof Abel your brother; and as for you, you will always be trembling and\nshaking; and this will be a mark on you so that whoever finds you, will\nkill you.'\n

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79:19.But Cain cried because God had said those words to him; and Cain\nsaid to Him, 'O God, whosoever finds me shall kill me, and I shall be\nblotted out from the face of the earth.'\n

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79:20.Then God said to Cain, 'Whoever finds you will not kill you;'\nbecause before this, God had been saying to Cain, 'I shall put seven\npunishments on anyone that kills Cain.' For as to the word of God to\nCain, 'Where is your brother?' God said it in mercy for him, to try and\nmake him repent.\n

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79:21.For if Cain had repented at that time, and had said, 'O God, forgive\nme my sin, and the murder of my brother,' God would then have forgiven\nhim his sin.\n

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79:22.And as to God saying to Cain, 'Cursed be the ground that has drunk\nthe blood of your brother.' That also, was God's mercy on Cain. For\nGod did not curse him, but He cursed the ground; although it was not\nthe ground that had killed Abel, and committed a wicked sin.\n

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79:23.For it was fitting that the curse should fall on the murderer; yet\nin mercy did God so manage His thoughts as that no one should know it,\nand turn away from Cain.\n

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79:24.And He said to him, 'Where is your brother?' To which he answered\nand said, 'I know not.' Then the Creator said to him, 'Be trembling and\nquaking.'\n

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79:25.Then Cain trembled and became terrified; and through this sign did\nGod make him an example before all the creation, as the murderer of his\nbrother. Also did God bring trembling and terror over him, that he\nmight see the peace in which he was at first, and see also the\ntrembling and terror he endured at the last; so that he might humble\nhimself before God, and repent of his sin, and seek the peace that he\nenjoyed at first.\n

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79:26.And in the word of God that said, 'I will put seven punishments on\nanyone who kills Cain,' God was not seeking to kill Cain with the\nsword, but He sought to make him die of fasting, and praying and crying\nby hard rule, until the time that he was delivered from his sin.\n

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79:27.And the seven punishments are the seven generations during which God\nawaited Cain for the murder of his brother.\n

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79:28.But as to Cain, ever since he had killed his brother, he could find\nno rest in any place; but went back to Adam and Eve, trembling,\nterrified, and defiled with blood. . . .

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