Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends
Then Eblis said, “Just as Thou didst turn me out of the right way, so
shall I pervert those whom Thou hast made.” Satan went to man and said
to him, “God has driven me out of Paradise, never to return there, and
He has taken from me the sovereignty of this world to give it to thee.
Why should we not be friends and associate together, and I can advise
thee on thy concerns?”
And Adam thought to himself, “I must be the companion of this one, but I
will make use of him.” So he suffered him to be his comrade.
The first act of treachery he did was this.
Every child Adam had by Eve died when born. Eve became pregnant for the
fourth time, and Eblis said to Adam, “I believe this child will be
good-looking and will live.”
“I am of the same opinion,” answered Adam.
“If my prophecy turns out right,” said the Evil One, “give the child to
me.”
“I will give it,” said Adam.
Now the child, when born, was very fair to look upon, and Adam, though
he repented of his rash promise, did not venture to break his word; so
he gave the child to Eblis, that is to say, he named it Abd-el-Hareth,
or Servant of Hareth, instead of Abd-Allah, Servant of God. And after
living two years it died.[90]
Thus Satan became an associate in the affairs of man.
But others tell the conclusion of the story somewhat differently. They
say that the child Abd-el-Hareth became the progenitor of the whole race
of Satyrs, nightmares, and hobgoblins.
Maimonides says that the Sabians attribute to Adam the introduction of
the worship of the moon, on which account they call him the prophet or
apostle of the moon.[91]
A large number of books are attributed to Adam. The passage in Genesis,
_This is the Book of the generations of Adam_,[92] led many to suppose
that Moses quoted from a book written by our first parent. That such an
apocryphal book did exist in after-times, appears from the fact of Pope
Gelasius in his decrees rejecting it as spurious. He speaks of it as
“the book which is called the Book of the generations of Adam or
Geneseos.” And the Rabbis say that this book was written by Adam, after
he had seen all his posterity brought out before him, as already
related. And this book, they say, Adam gave to Enoch.[93]
Beside this, there existed an Apocalypse of Adam, which is mentioned by
S. Epiphanius, who quotes a passage from it, in which Adam describes the
Tree of Life, which produced twelve kinds of fruit every year.[94] And
George Syncellus, in his Chronicle, extracts a portion of an apocryphal
Life of Adam.
Amongst the Revelations of S. Amadeus are found two psalms, which, in
vision, he heard had been composed by Adam. One was on the production of
Eve, the other is a hymn of repentance, a joint composition of the two
outcasts. It runs as follows:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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