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In the Life of Adam and Eve, Satan disguises himself as an angel to deceive Eve. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul describes a similar tradition not found in the Hebrew Bible, where Satan also disguises himself as an angel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Life of Adam and Eve 9:1
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 Eighteen days passed; then Satan was angry and took on the brightness of angels, and went to Eve at the Tigris River, and found her weeping, 2 and the devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began to weep and said to her: 'Come out of the river and stop lamenting. Stop grieving and moaning now. 3 Why are you and your husband Adam anxious? The Lord God has heard your groaning and has accepted your penitence, and all of us angels have pleaded on your behalf and appealed to the Lord; 4 and he has sent me to bring you out of the water and give you the nourishment which you had in paradise, and for which you are crying out. 5 Now come out of the water and I will take you to the place where your food has been made ready.'
Date: 20–50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Corinthians 11:14
New Testament
10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The pseudepigraphal Life of Adam and Eve and the Apocalypse of Moses also have several parallels in the writings of the New Testament. For example ... Compare the understanding of death as the separation of soul and body in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 and the appearance of Satan in the brightness of an angel in 2 Corinthians 11:14, with Life of Adam and Eve 9:1; Apocalypse of Moses 17:1 ..."
Lee Martin McDonald, "The Scriptures of Jesus" in Charlesworth, James H. (ed.) Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perceptions: The Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2007), 845.
* 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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