The First Book of Adam and Eve
days.
4 For he said within himself, "Now that when they had fulfilled the
forty days' fasting and praying, God would restore them to their former
state; but if He did not do so, He would still be favorable to them;
and even if He had not mercy on them, would He yet give them something
from the garden to comfort them; as already twice before."
5 Then Satan drew near the cave in this fair appearance, and said:--
6 "O Adam, get up, stand up, you and Eve, and come along with me, to a
good land; and don't be afraid. I am flesh and bones like you; and at
first I was a creature that God created.
7 And it was so, that when He had created me, He placed me in a garden
in the north, on the border of the world.
8 And He said to me, 'Stay here!' And I remained there according to
His Word, neither did I transgress His commandment.
9 Then He made a slumber to come over me, and He brought you, O Adam,
out of my side, but did not make you stay with me.
10 But God took you in His divine hand, and placed you in a garden to
the eastward.
11 Then I worried about you, for that while God had taken you out of my
side, He had not let you stay with me.
12 But God said to me: 'Do not worry about Adam, whom I brought out of
your side; no harm will come to him.
13 For now I have brought out of his side a help-meet* for him; and I
have given him joy by so doing.'"
14 Then Satan said again, "I did not know how it is you are in this
cave, nor anything about this trial that has come over you--until God
said to me, 'Behold, Adam has transgressed, he whom I had taken out of
your side, and Eve also, whom I took out of his side; and I have driven
them out of the garden; I have made them live in a land of sorrow and
misery, because they transgressed against Me, and have obeyed Satan.
And look, they are in suffering until this day, the eightieth.'
15 Then God said to me, 'Get up, go to them, and make them come to your
place, and suffer not that Satan come near them, and afflict them. For
they are now in great misery; and lie helpless from hunger.'
16 He further said to me, 'When you have taken them to yourself, give
them to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and give them to drink of
the water of peace; and clothe them in a garment of light, and restore
them to their former state of grace, and leave them not in misery, for
they came from you. But grieve not over them, nor repent of that which
has come over them.
17 But when I heard this, I was sorry; and my heart could not patiently
bear it for your sake, O my child.
18 But, O Adam, when I heard the name of Satan, I was afraid, and I
said within myself, I will not come out because he might trap me as he
did my children, Adam and Eve.
19 And I said, 'O God, when I go to my children, Satan will meet me in
the way, and war against me, as he did against them.'
20 Then God said to me, 'Fear not; when you find him, hit him with the
staff that is in thine hand, and don't be afraid of him, for you are of
old standing, and he shall not prevail against you.'
21 Then I said, 'O my Lord, I am old, and cannot go. Send Your angels
to bring them.'
22 But God said to me, 'Angels, verily, are not like them; and they
will not consent to come with them. But I have chosen you, because
they are your offspring and are like you, and they will listen to what
you say.'
23 God said further to me, 'If you don't have enough strength to walk,
I will send a cloud to carry you and set you down at the entrance of
their cave; then the cloud will return and leave you there.
24 And if they will come with you, I will send a cloud to carry you and
them.'
25 Then He commanded a cloud, and it bear me up and brought me to you;
and then went back.
26 And now, O my children, Adam and Eve, look at my old gray hair and
at my feeble state, and at my coming from that distant place. Come,
come with me, to a place of rest."
27 Then he began to cry and to sob before Adam and Eve, and his tears
poured on the ground like water.
28 And when Adam and Eve raised their eyes and saw his beard, and heard
his sweet talk, their hearts softened towards him; they obeyed him, for
they believed he was true.
29 And it seemed to them that they were really his offspring, when they
saw that his face was like their own; and they trusted him.
* The existence of the two words helpmeet and helpmate, meaning exactly
the same thing, is a comedy of errors. God's promise to Adam, as
rendered in the King James version of the Bible, was to give him an
help meet for him (that is, a helper fit for him). In the 17th century
the two words help and meet in this passage were mistaken for one word,
applying to Eve, and thus helpmeet came to mean a wife. Then in the
18th century, in a misguided attempt to make sense of the word, the
spelling helpmate was introduced. Both errors are now beyond recall,
and both spellings are acceptable.
Chapter LXI - They begin to follow Satan.
1 Then he took Adam and Eve by the hand, and began to bring them out of
the cave.
2 But when they had come a little ways out of it, God knew that Satan
had overcome them, and had brought them out before the forty days were
ended, to take them to some distant place, and to destroy them.
3 Then the Word of the Lord God again came and cursed Satan, and drove
him away from them.
4 And God began to speak to Adam and Eve, saying to them, "What made
you come out of the cave, to this place?"
5 Then Adam said to God, "Did you create a man before us? For when we
were in the cave there suddenly came to us a friendly old man who said
to us, 'I am a messenger from God to you, to bring you back to some
place of rest.'
6 And we believed, O God, that he was a messenger from you; and we came
out with him; and knew not where we should go with him."
7 Then God said to Adam, "See, that is the father of evil arts, who
brought you and Eve out of the Garden of Delights. And now, indeed,
when he saw that you and Eve both joined together in fasting and
praying, and that you came not out of the cave before the end of the
forty days, he wished to make your purpose vein, to break your mutual
bond; to cut off all hope from you, and to drive you to some place
where he might destroy you.
8 Because he couldn't do anything to you unless he showed himself in
the likeness of you.
9 Therefore he came to you with a face like your own, and began to give
you tokens as if they were all true.
10 But because I am merciful and am favorable to you, I did not allow
him to destroy you; instead I drove him away from you.
11 Now, therefore, O Adam, take Eve, and return to your cave, and
remain in it until the morning after the fortieth day. And when you
come out, go towards the eastern gate of the garden."
12 Then Adam and Eve worshipped God, and praised and blessed Him for
the deliverance that had come to them from Him. And they returned
towards the cave. This happened in the evening of the thirty-ninth day.
13 Then Adam and Eve stood up and with a fiery passion, prayed to God,
to give them strength; for they had become weak because of hunger and
thirst and prayer. But they watched the whole of that night praying,
until morning.
14 Then Adam said to Eve, "Get up, let us go towards the eastern gate
of the garden as God told us."
15 And they said their prayers as they were accustomed to do every day;
and they left the cave to go near to the eastern gate of the garden.
16 Then Adam and Eve stood up and prayed, and appealed to God to
strengthen them, and to send them something to satisfy their hunger.
17 But after they finished their prayers, they were too weak to move.
18 Then came the Word of God again, and said to them, "O Adam, get up,
go and bring the two figs here."
19 Then Adam and Eve got up, and went until they came near to the cave.
Chapter LXII - Two fruit trees.
1 But Satan the wicked was envious, because of the consolation God had
given them.
2 So he prevented them, and went into the cave and took the two figs,
and buried them outside the cave, so that Adam and Eve should not find
them. He also had in his thoughts to destroy them.
3 But by God's mercy, as soon as those two figs were in the ground, God
defeated Satan's counsel regarding them; and made them into two fruit
trees, that overshadowed the cave. For Satan had buried them on the
eastern side of it.
4 Then when the two trees were grown, and were covered with fruit,
Satan grieved and mourned, and said, "It would have been better to have
left those figs where they were; for now, behold, they have become two
fruit trees, whereof Adam will eat all the days of his life. Whereas I
had in mind, when I buried them, to destroy them entirely, and to hide
them forever.
5 But God has overturned my counsel; and would not that this sacred
fruit should perish; and He has made plain my intention, and has
defeated the counsel I had formed against His servants."
6 Then Satan went away ashamed because he hadn't thought his plans all
the way through.
Chapter LXIII - The first joy of trees.
1 But Adam and Eve, as they got closer to the cave, saw two fig trees,
covered with fruit, and overshadowing the cave.
2 Then Adam said to Eve, "It seems to me that we have gone the wrong
way. When did these two trees grow here? It seems to me that the
enemy wishes to lead us the wrong way. Do you suppose that there is
another cave besides this one in the earth?
3 Yet, O Eve, let us go into the cave, and find in it the two figs; for
this is our cave, in which we were. But if we should not find the two
figs in it, then it cannot be our cave."
4 They went then into the cave, and looked into the four corners of it,
but found not the two figs.
5 And Adam cried and said to Eve, "Did we go to the wrong cave, then, O
Eve? It seems to me these two fig trees are the two figs that were in
the cave." And Eve said, "I, for my part, do not know."
6 Then Adam stood up and prayed and said, "O God, You commanded us to
come back to the cave, to take the two figs, and then to return to you.
7 But now, we have not found them. O God, have you taken them, and
sown these two trees, or have we gone astray in the earth; or has the
enemy deceived us? If it be real, then, O God, reveal to us the secret
of these two trees and of the two figs."
8 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, "O Adam, when I
sent you to fetch the figs, Satan went before you to the cave, took the
figs, and buried them outside, eastward of the cave, thinking to
destroy them; and not sowing them with good intent.
9 Not for his mere sake, then, have these trees grown up at once; but I
had mercy on you and I commanded them to grow. And they grew to be two
large trees, that you be overshadowed by their branches, and find rest;
and that I made you see My power and My marvelous works.
10 And, also, to show you Satan's meanness, and his evil works, for
ever since you came out of the garden, he has not ceased, no, not one
day, from doing you some harm. But I have not given him power over
you."
11 And God said, "From now on, O Adam, rejoice on account of the trees,
you and Eve; and rest under them when you feel weary. But do not eat
any of their fruit or come near them."
12 Then Adam cried, and said, "O God, will You again kill us, or will
You drive us away from before Your face, and cut our life from off the
face of the earth?
13 O God, I beg you, if You know that there be in these trees either
death or some other evil, as at the first time, root them up from near
our cave, and with them; and leave us to die of the heat, of hunger and
of thirst.
14 For we know Your marvelous works, O God, that they are great, and