Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Like all creatures formed on the six days of creation, Adam came from
the hands of the Creator fully and completely developed. He was not
like a child, but like a man of twenty years of age.[21] The dimensions
of his body were gigantic, reaching from heaven to earth, or, what
amounts to the same, from east to west.[22] Among later generations of
men, there were but few who in a measure resembled Adam in his
extraordinary size and physical perfections. Samson possessed his
strength, Saul his neck, Absalom his hair, Asahel his fleetness of
foot, Uzziah his forehead, Josiah his nostrils, Zedekiah his eyes, and
Zerubbabel his voice. History shows that these physical excellencies
were no blessings to many of their possessors; they invited the ruin of
almost all. Samson's extraordinary strength caused his death; Saul
killed himself by cutting his neck with his own sword; while speeding
swiftly, Asahel was pierced by Abner's spear; Absalom was caught up by
his hair in an oak, and thus suspended met his death; Uzziah was
smitten with leprosy upon his forehead; the darts that killed Josiah
entered through his nostrils, and Zedekiah's eyes were blinded.[23]
The generality of men inherited as little of the beauty as of the
portentous size of their first father. The fairest women compared with
Sarah are as apes compared with a human being. Sarah's relation to Eve
is the same, and, again, Eve was but as an ape compared with Adam. His
person was so handsome that the very sole of his foot obscured the
splendor of the sun.[24]
His spiritual qualities kept pace with his personal charm, for God had
fashioned his soul with particular care. She is the image of God, and
as God fills the world, so the soul fills the human body; as God sees
all things, and is seen by none, so the soul sees, but cannot be seen;
as God guides the world, so the soul guides the body; as God in His
holiness is pure, so is the soul; and as God dwells in secret, so doth
the soul.[25]
When God was about to put a soul into Adam's clod-like body, He said:
"At which point shall I breathe the soul into him? Into the mouth? Nay,
for he will use it to speak ill of his fellow-man. Into the eyes? With
them he will wink lustfully. Into the ears? They will hearken to
slander and blasphemy. I will breathe her into his nostrils; as they
discern the unclean and reject it, and take in the fragrant, so the
pious will shun sin, and will cleave to the words of the Torah"[26]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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