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Rabbinic tradition in Genesis Rabbah says that Adam wore garments of light that made him shine like a heavenly being. The Dead Sea Scrolls Community Rule shares this tradition, promising the righteous will receive the restored “glory of Adam.”
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1QS
Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls
5 God will then purify every deed of man with His truth; He will refine for Himself the human frame by rooting out all spirit of injustice from the bounds of his flesh. He will cleanse him of all wicked deeds with the spirit of holiness; like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth to cleanse him of all abomination and injustice. And he will be plunged into the spirit of purification, that he may instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the wisdom of the sons of heaven to the perfect of way. For God has chosen them for an everlasting Covenant and all the glory of Adam will be theirs. There will be no more lies and all the works of injustice will be put to shame.
Date: 160 B.C.E. - 100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis Rabbah 20:12
Aggadah
Rabbinic
“The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of hide [or], and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). In Rabbi Meir’s Torah, they found that “garments of or” was written. These are the garments of Adam the first man, that were similar to the common rue, broad at the bottom and narrow at the top. Rabbi Yitzḥak Ravya says: They were as smooth as a fingernail and as pretty as jewels. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It was like the thin linen garments that come from Beit She’an. [And they were called] garments of hide because they adhered to the skin. Rabbi Elazar said: Goat hides. Rabbi Aivu said: Garments that cover the skin. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Hare hides. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Hides with their wool. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Radiant hides. And the firstborn sons would use them. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: They were camel wool and hare wool. [And they were called] “garments of hide” because they were garments that come from hide. Rabbi Levi said: The Torah teaches you proper conduct: Eat according to your means, wear clothing that is less than your means, and dwell in a place that is more than your means. Eat according to your means – “From every tree of the garden you may eat” (Genesis 2:16). Wear clothing that is less than your means –“The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife [garments of hide].” And dwell in a place that is more than your means – as two people resided in the entire world.
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The final reward of the righteous is also expressed as “the glory of Adam,” in 1QS 4:22-3. The same motif is found in 1QHa 4:14-15 and in CD 3:20, which also says that the elect will live for a thousand generations. 4QpPsa (4Q171) 3:1-2 says that those who return from the wilderness will live for a thousand generations and that they and their descendants forever will possess all the inheritance of Adam. Crispin Fletcher-Louis has pointed out that Adam was associated with the divine glory qua image of God ... Genesis Rabbah 20:12 reports that Rabbi Meir read Gen 3:21 to say that God dressed Adam and Eve in “garments of light” rather than garments of skin. But the glory was lost when Adam was expelled from the garden. The glory of Adam, then, may coincide with the majestic raiment of light promised in 1QS 4 ..."
Collins, John J.
"The Angelic Life" in Seim, Turid Karlsen and Økland, Jorunn. Metamorphoses: Resurrection, Body and Transformative Practices in Early Christianity
(p. 295) De Gruyter, 2009
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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