Texts in Conversation
In Genesis, Adam and Eve are naked and unashamed before they disobey God. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Genesis Rabbah say they glow with radiant light, like divine “melammu.” After their disobedience, they lose this glory.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 2:25
Hebrew Bible
23 Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become one family. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 2:25
Targum
23 And Adam said, 'This time, but never again will woman be created from man as this one had been created from me—bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. It is fitting to call this one woman, for she has been taken from man.' 24 Therefore a man shall leave and be separated from the bedroom of his father and of his mother, and he shall be united to his wife, and the two of them shall become one flesh. 25 And the two of them were wise, Adam and his wife, but they did not remain in their glory.
Date: 300–1200 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis Rabbah 12:6
Aggadah
Rabbinic
The outgrowths [toledot]” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: All toledot that are stated in the Torah are written defectively except for two: “These are the offspring [toledot] of Peretz…” (Ruth 4:18), and this one. Why are those [others] defective? Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Avin: They are corresponding to the six things that were taken away from Adam the first man [after he sinned]. They are: His radiance, his [eternal] life, his stature, the [extraordinary] produce of the earth, the [extraordinary] fruit of the tree, and the lights. His radiance, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “You alter his countenance and send him away” (Job 14:20). His life, from where is it derived? “For you are dust, [and to dust shall you return]” (Genesis 3:19). His stature, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The man and his wife hid” (Genesis 3:8). Rabbi Abahu said: At that moment, the stature of Adam the first man was reduced and [he] became a [mere] hundred cubits. The produce of the earth and the fruit of the tree, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “Cursed is the ground on your account” (Genesis 3:17).
Date: 500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Notes and References
"... Midrashic texts frequently use the words of Psalm 49:13 (“Man does not abide in his honor”) to prove that Adam was deprived of his glory when he was expelled from Eden; compare Genesis Rabbah 12:6; Avot d'Rabbi Natan A; b. Sanhedrin 38b; see also Genesis Rabbah 18:6. Cook maintains that Pseudo Jonathan’s version of our present verse was intended to prove that the sin of Adam and Eve was one of disobedience, not of sexual intercourse ..."
Michael Maher, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis, ArBib 1B (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992), 25.
* 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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