The 2nd half of the account of Adam and Eve's life after Eden that fills in the blanks in the biblical story, come to us from a variety of documents in Greek, Latin, Georgian, Armenian, Slavonic, and even Old Irish. Most of them are translations, either of each other or of original documents that have long been lost. Biography was an extremely popular literary genre during late Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd BC to 3rd CE), and legends of biblical figures were numerous.
The various versions are not entirely consistent with each other, making it difficult to pin down exactly what the original text was, when it was written, and in which language. By carefully combining the different versions, we get a pretty good sense of the text. It was probably written in Hebrew or Aramaic and we can date it approximately to the days of Jesus.
The text was supposedly written by Moses after he received the Tablets with the 10 Commandments.
Content of the Text : After being vanished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve go to the East and live there for 18 years and 2 months. Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel. Eve dreams that Cain drinks the blood of Abel, but that it then came out of his mouth. Cain kills Abel. Michael promises to Adam a new son, and Seth is born in place of Abel.
Adam begets 30 other sons and 30 daughters. As Adam falls sick and is in pain, all his sons and daughters come to him, and he briefly recounts to them the story of the Fall. Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Mercy (Tree of Life). On the way Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, which goes away when ordered by Seth. Michael refuses to give them the oil at that time, but promises to give it at the End of Time, when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What has you done? You have brought upon us great wrath which is death."
-Eve recounts to her sons and daughters the story of the Fall from her perspective: In the Garden, she is separated from Adam. She stays with the female animals and Adam with the male ones. The Devil persuades the male snake to rebel against Adam and his wife. At the hour the angels go up to worship the Lord, Satan disguises himself as an angel and speaks to Eve using the mouth of the serpent. The serpent seduces Eve, who swears to give the fruit to Adam to eat too. The serpent places in the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust. When Eve eats it, she discovers that she is naked. All the trees of the Garden lose their leaves. Only a Fig Tree, the plant she ate of, still has leaves, and she hides her shame with its leaves. Eve looks for Adam and deceives him. He also eats the forbidden fruit.
-Michael sounds a trumpet, and God enters the Garden mounted on the chariot of his Cherubim and preceded by the angels. His Throne is set where the Tree of Life is, and all the trees break out in blossoms. He calls Adam, who his because he was naked, and reproaches Adam, Eve and the serpent. When the angels are casting Adam out of paradise, he asks to be allowed to implore God, saying:"For I alone have sinned." He begs God to be allowed to eat of the Tree of Life. God refuses to give him the fruit of immortality, but promises, if Adam will keep from all evil, to raise him up in the Last Day and give him the fruit. Before being cast out, Adam is allowed to take sweet spices and seeds for his food.
-Adam lies sick and foretells that Eve will die shortly after. He asks Eve to pray, because they do not know whether God is angry with them or merciful. While Eve is praying on bended knee, the Angel of Humanity (probably Michael) comes and shows her the spirit of Adam gone from his body and ascending to God.
-The funeral of Adam is narrated with great richness of liturgical detail.
-A chariot of Light, borne by 4 bright eagles with Seraphim and angels, arrives where Adam's body lies. The 7 heavens are opened and Seth explains to his mother who are the 2 fearful figures in mourning: the sun and the moon, deprived of their light, because God is present. God has mercy on Adam, who is cleansed 3 times in water before being carried before God. God stretches out His Arm, and hands Adam over to Michael to be carried to the Third Heaven until the Last Day.
-The chariot and all the angels bear Adam's body to the Garden and lay him on the earth. Only Seth can see the scene. The body is covered with linen clothes and fragrant oil is poured on it. The body of Abel also, which until then the earth had refused to receive, is taken to the same place. Both bodies are buried in the place from which God took the clay to create Adam. God calls Adam, whose body answers from the earth. God promises Adam that he and everyone of his seed will rise again.
-Six days later, Eve asks to be buried near Adam and dies praying to the Lord. Three angels bury Eve near Adam, and Michael tells Seth never mourn on the Sabbath.
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