Life of Adam and Eve 49.3

Apocalypse of Moses
Pseudepigrapha

1 Six days after Adam's death, Eve knew her own death [was near], so she gathered together all her sons and daughters, who were Seth along with his thirty brothers and thirty sisters. Eve said to them all: 2 '"Hear me, my children, that I might recount for you how I and your father transgressed the precept of God. Michael the archangel said to us: 3 'On account of your conspiracies, our Lord will bring upon your race the wrath of his judgment, first by water, and second by fire. By these two will the Lord judge all the human race.' 4 But hear me, my children! Make tablets of stone, and other tablets of earth, and write on them my whole life, and that of your father, which you have heard from us and seen. 5 If he judges our race by water, the tablets of earth will dissolve, but the tablets of stone will endure. If, however, he judges our race by fire, the tablets of stone will be destroyed, but the tablets of earth will be fired." 6 When she had said all these things to her children, she stretched out her hand toward heaven, knelt upon the earth, worshipped God, and giving thanks, gave up her spirit.

2 Peter 3:7

New Testament

3 Above all, understand this: In the last days blatant scoffers will come, being propelled by their own evil urges 4 and saying, “Where is his promised return? For ever since our ancestors died, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water. 6 Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 Notes and References

"... While the flood in Genesis was a punishment for that time, literarily, it also served as an eschatological foreshadowing of future punishment in 1 Enoch 10–11; 83–84; 93.4; L.A.B. 3.9; Ant. 1.70 and CD 4.10–18.11 ... On its own, fire appears as an instrument of divine punishment and destruction of the wicked. Later, a belief in a second universal judgment by fire developed. The 1st century CE document Life of Adam and Eve (49.1–50.2) narrates the creation of a table of stone and a table of clay to serve as a warning of the two universal judgments to come. The second universal judgment is intended to be a time when the wicked will be vanquished and a new heaven and a new earth will emerge. When the idea of the second universal judgment by fire emerged, it became a way for God to achieve the purpose of ridding the world of evil ..."

Devivo, Jenny 2 Peter 2:4-16: The Redaction of the Biblical and Intertestamental References Dependent on Jude 5-11 and Their Overall Significance (p. 65) Loyola University Chicago, 2014

 User Comments

How old were Adam and Eve when they died?

Antonio, November 30, 2024, 11:40 am

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.