Life of Adam and Eve
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Life of Adam and Eve, also known, in its Greek version, as the Apocalypse of Moses, is a Jewish pseudepigraphical group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to worship Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection.
The ancient versions of the Life of Adam and Eve are: the Greek Apocalypse of Moses, the Latin Life of Adam and Eve, the Slavonic Life of Adam and Eve, the Armenian Penitence of Adam, the Georgian Book of Adam, and one or two fragmentary Coptic versions. These texts are usually named as Primary Adam Literature to distinguish them from subsequent related texts, such as the Cave of Treasures that includes what appears to be extracts.
They differ greatly in length and wording, but for the most part are derived from a single source that has not survived, and contain (except for some obvious insertions) no undeniably Christian teaching. Each version contains some unique material, as well as variations and omissions.
While the versions were composed from the early third to the fifth century, the literary units in the work are considered to be older and predominantly of Jewish origin. There is wide agreement that the original was composed in a Semitic language.
See also
For other pseudepigraphical works about Adam and Eve, see
For other non-canonical works referenced in the Bible, see
