Footnote 111:
Liber Zenorena, quoted by Fabricius, i. p. 108.
Footnote 112:
S. Methodius, jun., Revelationes, c. 3.
Footnote 113:
Eutychius, Patriarcha Alex., Annales.
Footnote 114:
Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi.
Footnote 115:
Historia Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock; Oxon. 1663, p. 4.
Footnote 116:
Ad Antiochum, quæst. 56.
Footnote 117:
Fabricius, i. p. 112.
Footnote 118:
Eisenmenger, i. p. 462.
Footnote 119:
Targum, i. p. 173.
Footnote 120:
Jalkut Chadasch, fol. 6, col. i.
Footnote 121:
Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi.
Footnote 122:
Ibid.
Footnote 123:
Ibid.
Footnote 124:
Eisenmenger, ii. p. 8.
Footnote 125:
Ibid., ii. p. 428.
Footnote 126:
Eisenmenger, ii. p. 455.
Footnote 127:
Tract. Avoda Sara.
Footnote 128:
Tabari, i. c. xix.
Footnote 129:
Antiq. Judæ., lib. i. c. 2.
Footnote 130:
Excerpta Chronologica, p. 2.
Footnote 131:
Gen. iv. 15.
Footnote 132:
Cosmas Indopleustes, Cosmographia, lib. v.
Footnote 133:
D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, _sub voce_ Cabil, i. p. 438.
Footnote 134:
Neue Ierosolymitanische Pilger-fahrt. Von P. F. Ignat, von
Rheinfelden. Würtzburg, 1667. P. ii. p. 8.
VII.
THE DEATH OF ADAM.
According to a Mussulman tradition, Adam was consoled for the loss of
Abel by the discovery of how to make wheat-bread. The story is as
follows:—
The angel Gabriel was sent out of Paradise to give him the rest of the
wheat-grains Eve had plucked from the forbidden tree, together with two
oxen, and various instruments of husbandry. Hitherto he had fed on roots
and berries, and had known nothing of sowing grain; acting under
Gabriel’s directions, he ploughed the land, but the plough stuck, and
Adam impatiently smote one of the oxen, and it spoke to him and said,
“Wherefore hast thou smitten me?”
Adam replied, “Because thou dost not draw the plough.”
“Adam!” said the ox, “when thou wast rebellious, did God smite thee
thus?”
“O God!” cried Adam to the Almighty, “is every beast to reproach me, and
recall to me my sin?”
Then God heard his cry, and withdrew from beasts the power of speech,
lest they should cast their sin in the teeth of men.
But as the plough was still arrested, Adam dug into the soil, and found
that the iron had been caught by the body of his son Abel.
When the wheat was sprung up, Gabriel gave Adam fire from hell, which
however he had previously washed seventy times in the sea, or it would
have consumed the earth and all things thereon. In the beginning,
wheat-grains were the size of ostrich eggs, but under Edris (Enoch) they
were no bigger than goose eggs; under Elias they were the size of hen’s
eggs; under Christ, when the Jews sought to slay him, they were no
larger than grapes; it was in the time of Uzeir (Esdras) that they
diminished to their present proportions.
After Adam and Eve had been instructed in all that appertained to
agriculture, Gabriel brought them a lamb and showed Adam how to slay it
in the name of God, how to shear off the wool, and skin the sheep. Eve
was instructed in the art of spinning and weaving by the angel, and she
made of the wool, first a veil for herself, and then a shirt for her
husband.
The first pair brought up their grandsons and great grandsons, to the
number of 40,000 according to some, and 70,000 according to others, and
taught them all that they had learned of the angel.
After the death of Abel, and after Cain had been slain by the avenging
angel, Eve bore a third son, named Seth, who became the father of the
race of the prophets.
Finally, when Adam had reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the
Angel of Death appeared under the form of a goat, and ran between his
legs.
Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, “God has given me one thousand
years; wherefore comest thou now?”
“What!” exclaimed the Angel of Death, “hast thou not given seventy years
of thy life to the prophet David?”
Adam stoutly denied that he had done so. Then the Angel of Death drew
the document of transfer from out of his beard, and presented it to
Adam, who could no longer refuse to go.
His son Seth washed and buried him, after that the angel Gabriel, or,
according to some accounts, Allah himself, had blessed him: Eve died a
year later.
Learned men are not agreed as to the place of their burial; some
traditions name India, others the Mount Kubeis, and others again,
Jerusalem—God alone knows![135]
Tabari says that Adam made Seth his testamentary executor.
“When Adam was dead, Gabriel instructed Seth how to bury him, and
brought him the winding sheet out of heaven. And Gabriel said to Seth,
‘Thou art sole executor of thy father, therefore it is thy office to
perform the religious functions.’ Then Seth recited over Adam thirty
_Tebîrs_. Four of these _Tebîrs_ were the legal prayers, the others were
supererogatory, and were designed to exalt the virtues of Adam. Some say
that Adam was buried near Mecca on Mount Abui-Kubais.”[136]
According to the apocryphal “Life of Adam and Eve,” Adam before his
death called to his bedside all his sons and daughters, and they
numbered fifteen thousand males, and females unnumbered. Adam is said to
have been the author of several psalms; amongst others, Psalm civ.,
_Benedic anima mea_, and Psalm cxxxix., _Domine probasti_; as may be
gathered from the 14th, 15th, and 16th verses: “_My bones are not hid
from thee: though I was made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the
earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy
book were all my members written; which day by day were fashioned, when
as yet there was none of them._”
The Arabs say that when Adam dictated his last will and testament, the
angel Gabriel descended from heaven to receive it, accompanied by
sixty-two millions of angels, each provided with clean white sheets of
parchment and pens, and that the will was sealed by Gabriel.[137]
Tradition is not agreed as to the place of Adam’s burial. Khaithemah
says that Adam was buried near Mecca on Mount Abu-Kubais. But the
ancient Persians assert that he was buried in Ceylon, where his
sepulchre was guarded by lions at the time of the war of the
giants.[138]
But the most generally received tradition is this:—
The body of Adam was taken by Noah into the ark, and when the ark rested
on Ararat, Noah and his sons removed the body from it, and they followed
an angel who led them to the place where the first father was to lie.
Shem or Melchizedek—for they are one, as we shall see presently—being
consecrated by God to the priesthood, performed the religious rites; and
buried Adam at the centre of the earth, which is Jerusalem; but, say
some, he was buried by Shem along with Eve, in the cave of Machpelah, in
Hebron. But others relate that Noah on leaving the ark distributed the
bones of Adam among his sons, and that he gave the head to Shem, who
buried it in Jerusalem. Some, taking this mystically, suppose that by
this is meant the sin and punishment of Adam, which was transmitted to
all the sons of Noah, but that to Shem was given the head, the Messiah
who was to regenerate the world.[139] S. Basil of Seleucia says:
“According to Jewish traditions, the skull of Adam was found there
(_i.e._ on Golgotha), and this, they say, Solomon knew by his great
wisdom. And because it was the place of Adam’s skull, therefore the hill
was called Golgotha, or Calvary.”[140]
With this a great concourse of Fathers agree; whose testimony has been
laboriously collected by Gretser in his famous and curious book “De
Cruce.” And this tradition has become a favourite subject for artists,
who, in their paintings or sculptures, represent the skull of Adam at
the foot of the Cross of Christ.
The apocryphal “Testament of Adam” still exists.
The tomb of Eve is shown at Jedda. “On entering the great gate of the
cemetery, one observes on the left a little wall three feet high,
forming a square of ten to twelve feet. There lies the head of our first
mother. In the middle of the cemetery is a sort of cupola, where reposes
the navel of her body; and at the other extremity, near the door of
egress, is another little wall also three feet high, forming a
lozenge-shaped enclosure: there are her feet. In this place is a large
piece of cloth, whereon the faithful deposit their offerings, which
serve for the maintenance of a constant burning of perfumes over the
midst of her body. The distance between her head and feet is four
hundred feet. How we have shrunk since the creation!”[141]
The bones of Adam and Eve, says Tabari, were taken by Noah into the ark
with him, and were reburied by him.
This article may be fitly concluded with the epitaph of Adam, composed
by Gabriel Alvarez, and published by him in his “Historia Ecclesiæ
Antediluvianæ,” Madrid, 1713.
“Here lies, reduced to a pinch of dust, he who, from a pinch of
dust, was formed to govern the earth,
ADAM,
the son of None, the father of All, the stepfather of All
and of himself.
Having never wailed as a child, he spent his life in weeping,
the result of penitence.
Powerful, Wise, Immortal, Just,
he sold for the price of disobedience, power, wisdom, justice,
immortality.
Having abused the privilege of Free-will, which weapon
he had received for the preservation of Knowledge and Grace,
by one stroke he struck with death himself and all the human race.
The Omnipotent Judge
who in His Justice took from him righteousness, by His Mercy
restored it to him whole again:
by whose goodness it has fallen out, that we may
call that crime happy, which obtained such and so great
A Redeemer.
Thenceforth Free-will, which he in happiness used to
bring forth Misery, is used in Misery to bring forth
Happiness.
For if we, partakers of his pernicious inheritance, partake
also of his penitential example, and lend our ears
to salutary counsels,
Then we (who by our Free-will could lose ourselves) can be saved
by the grace of the Redeemer, and the co-operation of our
Free-will.
The First Adam Lived to Die;
The Second Adam Died to Live.
Go, and imitate the penitence of the First Adam;
Go, and celebrate the goodness of the Second Adam.”
Footnote 135:
Weil, pp. 40-3.
Footnote 136:
Tabari, i. c. xxxiii.
Footnote 137:
Colin de Plancy, p. 78.
Footnote 138:
Herbelot, i. p. 95.
Footnote 139:
Moses bar Cepha. Commentarius de Paradiso, P. i. c. 14. Fabricius, i.
p. 75.
Footnote 140:
S. Basil Seleuc., Orat. xxxviii.
Footnote 141:
Lettre de H. A. D., Consul de France en Abyssinie, 1841.
VIII.
SETH.
When Seth had ascended the throne of his father, says Tabari, he was the
greatest of the sons of Adam. Every year he made the pilgrimage to the
Kaaba, and he ruled the world with equity, and everything flourished
during his reign. At the age of fifty he had a son; he called his name
Enoch and named him his executor. He died at the age of nine
hundred.[142]
Seth and the other sons of Adam waged perpetual war against the Divs, or
giants, the sons of Kabil, or Cain.
Rocail was another son of Adam, born next after Seth.
He possessed, says the Tahmurath Nâmeh, the most wonderful knowledge in
all mysteries. He had a genius so quick and piercing, that he seemed to
be rather an angel than a man.
Surkrag, a great giant, son of Cain, commanded in the mountains of Kaf,
which encompass the centre of the earth. This giant asked Seth to send
him Rocail, his brother, to assist him in governing his subjects. Seth
consented, and Rocail became the vizier or prime minister of Surkrag, in
the mountains of Kaf.
After having governed many centuries, and knowing, by divine revelation,
that the time of his death drew nigh, he thus addressed Surkrag: “I am
about to depart hence and enter on another existence; but before I
leave, I wish to bequeath to you some famous work, which shall
perpetuate my name into remote ages.”
Thereupon Rocail erected an enormous sepulchre, adorned with statues of
various metals, made by talismanic art, which moved, and spake, and
acted like living men.[143]
According to the Rabbinic traditions, Seth was one of the thirteen who
came circumcised into the world. The rest were Adam, Enoch, Noah, Shem,
Terah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.[144]
The book Schene Luchôth says that the soul of righteous Abel passed into
the body of Seth, and afterwards this same soul passed into Moses; thus
the law, which was known to Adam and in which Abel had been instructed,
was not new to Moses.[145]
The Little Genesis says, that Seth was instructed by the angels in what
was to take place in the world; how its iniquity was to grow, and a
flood was to overwhelm it; and how the Messiah would come and restore
all things. Seth was remarkable for the majesty and beauty of his
appearance, as he had inherited much of the loveliness of unfallen man.
He married his sister Azur, or, according to others, Noræa or Horæa.
Suidas, under the heading ‘Σήδ,’ says: “Seth was the son of Adam: of
this it is said, the sons of God went in unto the daughters of men; that
is to say, the sons of Seth went in unto the daughters of Cain. For in
that age Seth was called God, because he had discovered Hebrew letters,
and the names of the stars; but especially on account of his great
piety, so that he was the first to bear the name of God.”
Theodoret thus refers to the verse,—“_And to Seth, to him also there was
born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the
name of the Lord_,” or as our marginal reading is, “_then began men to
call themselves by the name of the Lord_.” “Aquila interpreted it thus,
‘then Seth began to be called by the name of the Lord.’ These words
intimate his piety, which deserved that he should receive the sacred
name; and he was called God by his acquaintance, and his children were
termed the sons of God, just as we are called Christians after
Christ.”[146]
The origin of this tradition seems to be the fact that Seth was the name
of an ancient Egyptian deity, at first regarded as the giver of light
and civilization, but afterwards identified with Typhon by the
Egyptians, who considered Seth to be the chief god of the Hyksos or
shepherd kings; and in their hatred of these oppressors, the name of
Seth was everywhere obliterated on their monuments, and he was regarded
as one with the great adversary, Typhon; and was represented as an ass,
or with an ass’s head.[147]
Abulfaraj, in his history, says that Seth discovered letters, and that,
desirous to recover the Blessed Life, he and his sons went to Mount
Hermon, where they served God in piety and continence, and associated
not with the people of the land, nor took to themselves wives; wherefore
they were called the sons of God.[148]
Flavius Josephus relates that after the things that were to take place
had been revealed to Seth,—how the earth was to be destroyed, first with
water and then with fire,—lest those things which he had discovered
should perish from the memory of his posterity, he set up two pillars,
one of brick, the other of stone, and he wrote thereon all the science
he had acquired, hoping that, in the event of the brick pillar perishing
by the rain, the stone one would endure.[149]
Freculphus adds that Jubal assisted the sons of Seth in engraving on the
columns all that was known of the conduct and order of the heavens, and
all the arts then known.[150]
The stone pillar was to be seen, in the time of Josephus, in Syria.
Anastasius of Sinai says that, when God created Adam after His image and
likeness, He breathed into him grace, and illumination, and a ray of the
Holy Spirit. But when he sinned, this glory left him, and his face
became clouded. Then he became the father of Cain and Abel. But
afterwards it is said in Scripture, “_He begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth_;” which is not said
of Cain and Abel; and this means that Seth was begotten in the likeness
of unfallen man and after the image of Adam in Paradise; and he called
his name Seth, that is, by interpretation, Resurrection, because in him
he saw the resurrection of his departed beauty, and wisdom, and glory,
and radiance of the Holy Spirit. And all those then living, when they
saw how the face of Seth shone with divine light, and heard him speak
with divine wisdom, said, He is God; therefore his sons were commonly
called the sons of God.[151]
As Seth was an ancient Egyptian Sun-god, the origin of the myth of his
shining face can be ascertained without difficulty.
To Seth were attributed several apocryphal writings.
Footnote 142:
Tabari, i. c. xxxiv.
Footnote 143:
D’Herbelot, i. p. 125, s. v. Rocail.
Footnote 144:
Midrash Tillim, fol. 10, col. 2.
Footnote 145:
Eisenmenger, i. p. 645.
Footnote 146:
Theodoret, Quæst. in Gen. xlvii.
Footnote 147:
Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, ed. Parthey; pp. 72, 88, and notes pp. 183,
238.
Footnote 148:
Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynast., ed. Pocock, p. 5.
Footnote 149:
Joseph. Antiq. Judaic., lib. i. c. 2.
Footnote 150:
Freculphus, Chron. lib. i. c. 12.
Footnote 151:
Anastasius Sinaita, Ὁδηγός, ed. Gretser, Ingolst. 1606, p. 269.
IX.
CAINAN SON OF ENOS.
“_And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: and Seth
lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons
and daughters: and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve
years: and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat
Cainan._”[152]
Alexander wrote many epistles to Aristotle, his preceptor, in which he
narrated what had befallen him in India. Amongst other things he wrote:
“After I had entered the Persian region, which is a province of India, I
arrived at some islands of the sea, and there I found men, like women,
who fed on raw fish, and spake a language very like Greek; they said to
me that there was in the island the sepulchre of a most ancient king,
who was called Cainan, son of Enos, and who ruled the whole world, and
taught men all kinds of knowledge, and had demons and all kinds of evil
spirits under his control. He, by his wisdom, understood that the
ever-blessed God would bring in a flood in the times of Noah; wherefore
he engraved all that was to take place on stone tables, which exist
there to this day, and are written in Hebrew characters. He wrote
therein that the ocean would, in that age, overflow a third part of the
world, which took place in the lifetime of Enos, the son of Seth, who
was the son of Adam, our first parent.
“In the same island, Cainan built a most extensive city, surrounded with
walls; and a great marble citadel, in which he treasured jewels and
pearls, and gold and silver in great abundance.
“Moreover, he erected a tower, very lofty, over a sepulchre for himself,
to serve as his monument. This tower can be approached by no man; for it
was built by astronomical art under the seven planets, and with magical
skill, so that every one who draws near the wall is struck down with
sudden death.”[153]
Footnote 152:
Gen. v. 6-9.
Footnote 153:
Pseudo Josephus Gorionides; ed. Clariss. Breithauptius, lib. ii. c.
18, p. 131.
X.
ENOCH.
1. THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH.
Enoch, or Edris,[154] as he is called by the Arabs, was born in
Hindostan, but he lived in Yemen. He was a prophet. In his days men
worshipped fire, being deceived by Eblis. When God sent Enoch to his
brethren to turn them from their false worship, they would not believe
him.
Idolatry began in the times of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, and it spread
to such an extent that, when Noah was born, there were not eighty
persons who worshipped the true, and living, and only God. Jared fought
Satan, the prince of demons, and captured him, and led him about in
chains wherever he went.
Enoch knew how to sew, and was an accomplished tailor. He was the first
to put pen to paper; he wrote many books. He had in his possession the
books of Adam, and for ten years, instead of sleeping, he spent the
night in reading them.
He instructed men in the art of making garments; Enoch showed them how
to cut out the skins to the proper shape, and to sew them together; and
how to make shoes to protect their feet.
And then, when the people had derived this great blessing from him, they
were ready to listen to his books; and he read to them the books of
Adam, and endeavoured thereby to bring them back to the knowledge of the
true God.
When he had spent many years in prayer, the Angel of Death desired to
make a compact of friendship with him. He took on him a human form and
approached him, saying, “I am the Angel of Death, and I desire thy
friendship. On account of thy great piety, thou mayest make me a request
which I shall accomplish.”
Enoch answered, “I desire that thou shouldst take my soul.”
The angel replied, “I have not come to thee for this purpose; thy time
is not yet arrived at its appointed close.”
Then Enoch said, “It is well; but take my soul away for a little space,
and then return it to my body, if God so wills.”
The angel said, “I cannot do this without God’s consent.” But he
presented the supplications of Enoch before Allah, and God, knowing what
was the design of Enoch, granted the prayer.
Then Azrael bore away the soul of Enoch, and at the same instant the
Eternal One restored it to him. After this, Enoch continued to praise
and pray to God; and the Angel of Death became his friend, and often
came to visit him.
Years passed, and Enoch said one day to the angel, “Oh, my friend! I
have yet a request to make.”
Azrael answered, “If I can grant it, I will do so readily.”
Enoch said, “I would see Hell, for I have undergone death, and I know
its sensations. I would know now the torments of the lost.”
But the angel answered, “This I cannot grant without permission from the
Almighty.”
God heard the prayer of Enoch, and He suffered Azrael to accomplish what
the prophet had desired. Then the Angel of Death bore away Enoch, and
showed him the seven stages of Hell, and all the torments inflicted
there on sinners: after that he replaced him where he was before.
After some while had elapsed, Enoch again addressed Azrael, and said, “I
have another request to make.”
The angel answered, “Say on.”
Then said Enoch, “I desire to see the Paradise of God, as I have seen
Hell.”
Azrael replied, “I cannot grant thy petition without the consent of
God.”
But the All-Merciful, when he heard the request of his servant,
consented that it should be even as he desired. So the angel bore Enoch
into Paradise. And when they had reached the gates, the keeper, Ridhwan,
refused to open, saying to Enoch, “Thou art a man, and no man can enter
Paradise who has not tasted death.”
Then Enoch replied, “I also have tasted death; the soul that I have will
dwell eternally with me; God has resuscitated me from death.”
Ridhwan, however, said, “I cannot do this thing and admit thee without
the order of God.”
Then the order arrived from Allah, and the angel of the gate refused no
more; so Enoch entered; but before Enoch and Azrael passed the gates,
Ridhwan said to the prophet, “Go in, and behold Paradise, but be speedy
and leave it again, for thou mayst not dwell there till after the
Resurrection.”
Enoch replied, “Be it so;” and he went in and viewed Paradise, and came
out, as he had promised; and as he passed the threshold of the door he
turned and said to the angel, “Oh, Ridhwan! I have left something in
there; suffer me to run and fetch it.”
But Ridhwan refused; and a dispute arose between them.
Enoch said, “I am a prophet; and God has sent me thirty books, and I
have written them all, and I have never revolted against God. In those
books that God sent me, I was promised Paradise. If it be necessary that
I should have undergone death, I have undergone it. If it be necessary
that I should have seen Hell, I have seen it. Now I am come to Paradise,
and that is my home; God has promised it to me, and now that I have
entered I will leave it no more.”
The dispute waxed hot, but it was terminated by the order of God, who
bade Ridhwan open the gate and re-admit Enoch into Paradise, where he
still dwells.[155]
2. THE BOOK OF ENOCH.
The Book of Enoch, quoted by S. Jude in his Epistle, and alluded to by
Origen, S. Augustine, S. Clement of Alexandria, and others of the
Fathers, must not be passed over.
The original book appears from internal evidence to have been written
about the year 110 B.C.[156] But we have not the work as then written;
it has suffered from numerous interpolations, and it is difficult always
to distinguish the original text from the additions.