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176
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
176

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Adam

Piper, "Symbolik iler C'liristliclu'ii Kirclie," 90, 4()9). H. Mi'ir (second cciitury) liiis the tnidition that God made Aduiu of the dust jfiithered from the whole world; iiiid Uuli (third century) says: "His head was made of earth from the Holy Land; his main body, from Babylonia; and the various members froui dilTcreut lamls " (ISanh. 3Hi( el seq. compare Gen. li. viii. Midr. Teh. cx..i.. .j; and Tun., Pe,

kude,

3.

end).

There are, however, two points of view regarding man's nature presented in the two Biblical stories and they are Ijrought out more of man's creation forcibly in the llag.iradah, and still more so in the "Both worhls, heaven older Hellenistic literature. and earth, were to have a share in man's creation; lience the host of an.gels were consulted by the Lord when He sjiid, Let us make man " (Gen. i. 26. Gen. K. viii.). But Two

"

'

Natures in

Ihe old

Adam.

to

ha.iriradists

dwell on the

loved

irlory of

especially

God's

tirsi

created before his fall. He was "like one of the angels " (Slavonic Book trf Enoch, xx.. 11 compare Christian Book of Adam, i. 10; also Fa pias in Geu. H. xxi. I'irke H. El. xii. Ex. H. xxxii. "His body reached from Targ. Ycr. Gen. iii. 22). earth to heaven [or from one end of the world to the other] before .sin caused him to sink" (Hag. 12i(. Sanh. 38/', compare also Philo. "Creation of "He was of the WorUl," ed. ^Mangey. i. 33, 47). extreme beauty and sunlike brightness "(15. B. HHn). "His skin was a bright garment, shining like liis nails when he sinned this brightness vanished, and he appeared naked " (Tarer. Yer. Gen. iii. 7; Gen. T{. xi.

Adam

and Eve,

make man

in

xxxvii.).

When God

said:

our image," the angels

in

"Let us heaven.

Idled with iealousy. said: "What is man that Thou creature full of falsehood, luitreil, Ihiukest of him'? and strife! " But Love pleaded in his favor; and the Lord spoke: "Let truth spring forth from

A

Far the eaith!" (Gen. H. viii.; Midr. Tell. viii.). older, and blended with Babylonian mytholo.gy (Isa. and Eve, xiv. 12), is the story preserved in

Adam

the Slavonic Book of Enoch, xxxi. 3-t> (com])arc Bereshit Habbati, ed. Epstein, p. 17; Pirkc 1{. El. Chronicle of .lerahmeel. xxii. and Koran, xiii. sura ii. 34; xv. 30). according to which all the angels were conuiianded by Jlichael the archangel to pay homage to the image of God; whereupon all bowed before Adam except Satan, who, in ])uuishnient for his rebelliousness, was hurled from his heavenly heights to the depth of the abyss, w hile liis vacant throne was reserved for Adam, to be given to him at the time of the future resurrection. Henceforth. Satan became the enemy of man, ap]iearing to him in the guise of an angel of light to seduce liim somewhat modified mid(compare II Cor. xi. 14). rashic legend (Gen U. viii.) relates that the angels were .so tilled with wonder and awe at the sight of Adam, the image of God. that they wanted to pay homage to him and cry " Holy " But the Ijord caused sleep to fall u])on him so that he l;iy like a coqise. and the Lord said: "Cease ye from man. whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to In; accounted of?" (Isa. ii. 22). Another version (Pirke H. El. xi. Tan., Pckude, 3) is that all other creatures, marveling at Adam's greatness, prostrated themselves before him, taking him to be their creator: whereon he pointed upward to God, exclaiming: "The Lord rcigneth. He is clothed with majesty!" (Ps. xciii. 1). Still, the Book of Wisdom (ii.'23, 24) seems to allude to the older Icirend when saying. "God createil man for immortality, but through the envy of Satan death entered the world" (compare Josephus, "Ant." i. 1. ^ 4: Ab. R. N. i. Gen. R.

A

!

176

where the serpent

xviii.,

is

reprcsciitcd us

moved by

jealousy).

Adam in paradise had angels (agathoda-mons or serpents) to wait upon and dunce before him (Sauli. r,i)h. B. B. 7")./. Pirke K. El. xii.). He ute "angel's bread " (compare Ps. Ixxiii. 20; Yoma, T.W; Vita Adie Evie, t; 4). All creation bowed before him iii et awe. He was the light of the world (Yer. Sliab. ii. 5//); but sin depriveil hint of all glory. The earth and the heavenly bodies lost tlair brightness, which will <-ome buck only in the Messianic lime (Gen. U. xii. Vita Ada' ct Evie, j; 21 Philo, "Creation of the

K'.ilj). Death came upon God's day being a thousiuid

World." p. (!0; Zohar, .dam and all creution.

iii.

years (Ps. xc. 4). Adam was pennitted to live 930 years threescore and ten less than one thou.sand (Book of Jubilees, iv. 28, and Gen. R. xix.), .so that the statement "in the day that tli<iu eatesi thereof, thou shall surely die " might be fu Hi lied. The brutes no longer stood in awe of man as their ruler; instead, they attacked him. But while sin was The Fall, of fatal consei|iience, and the elTect of the poison of the seriient is still felt by all following generati(ms, unless they slKUild be released from it by the covenunt of Sinai ('Ab. Zarah, 22i; IV Book of Esdras; Apoc. Mosis, .xx. see articles Six and F.m.i.). the Jewish haggadists empli;i.size one point not mentioned in the Bilile. but of great doctrinal importance in comparison with the teachiu.ns of Paul and his followers. The deadly cfTcet of sin can be removed by repentance. Ilcnci", Adam is represented as a type of a penitent sinner. Thus, he is described in Vitu Ad;e et Ev.e, as well as by the rabliis of the .second century ('Er. 18//; 'Ab. Zarah, 8'( Ab. R. N. i. Pirke H. El), as undergoing a terrible ordeal while fasting, praying, and bathing in the river for seven and forty <lays (.seven weeks, Pirke R. El.), or twice seven weeks the .shortening of the days after Tishri being taken by Adam as a sign of God's wrath, until after the w inter .solstice the days again gicw longer, when he brought n .sacAnother view is that when ritice of thanksgivin.ir. Ihe sun rose Ihe following morning he olTered his thanksgiving, in which Ihe angels joined him. singing the Sabbath Psalm (Ps. xcii.). About Adam and Ihe one-horned ox (the Persian r/niirmurt/i), see Kohul, in "Z. I). M. G." xxv 78. n. 6. On account of the Sabbath the sun retained its brightness for the day but as darkness set in Adam was seized w ith fear, thinking of his sin. Then the Lord taught him how to make tire by striking stones together. Thenceforth Ihe tire is greete<l with a blessing at the close of each Salibalh day (Pesik. R. Pirke R. El. xx. similarly. Pes. .")4(/). xxiii. When Adam heard thecur.se, "Thou shalt eat of the herbs of the earth." he staggered, saying- "O Lord, must I and my ass eat out of the same manger?" Then the voice of God came reassuringly: " With the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread " There is comfort in work. The angels taught Adam the work of agriculture, all the trades, ami also howto work in iron (Book of .Jubilees, iii. 12; Gen. R. xxiv. Pes. '>-lii). The invention of writing was ascribed to Adam. On the day Adam covered his naked body for the first time, he behehl in clothing a mark of human dignity, and olTered God a thanksgivin ing f)f incense (Book of .Jubilees, iii. the Future 22). The irarments made bv God were not of skin, but of light (Gen. R. xx.), World. and robes of glory were made of the serpent's skin (Targ. Yer. Gen. iii. 21). Adam, "the first to enter Hades" (Sibylline Oracles, i. 81), was also the first to receive the promise of

!

Adam