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The Ten Things Adam Lost and the Beast That Came for Seth

Adam lay dying and sent his wife and son to the gate of Eden for oil. On the road, an animal knocked Seth down and argued with Eve.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Beast at Seth's Throat
  2. What Adam Had Asked Them to Fetch
  3. The Account That Had Been Read Over Him
  4. Michael Answered at the Gate
  5. Three Days
The Ten Things Adam Lost and the Beast That Came for Seth Click for full size

The Beast at Seth's Throat

The animal came out of the brush and went straight for the boy.

Eve saw her son go down under it and screamed. Not for help. There was no one on that road to help. She screamed at the animal.

"You wicked beast. Are you not afraid to fight with the image of God? How was your mouth opened? How were your teeth made strong? Have you forgotten that you were put under his hand?"

The beast lifted its head off Seth and answered her.

"Your greed and your wailing are nothing to us, Eve. They are your own affair. The rule of the beasts began with you. How was your mouth opened to eat of the tree God told you not to eat? Our nature was changed on your account. You could not bear it if I began to reprove you."

Seth got to his feet. "Close your mouth. Be silent. Stand away from the image of God until the day of judgment."

"I stand away from the image of God," the beast said, and it turned and went back to its lair.

What Adam Had Asked Them to Fetch

They were on that road because Adam was dying and had sent them.

He had lain in the hut with his sons around him and groaned out loud. "What shall I do? I am in great distress."

Eve had wept over him. "My lord Adam, get up and give me half of your trouble and I will carry it. This came on you because of me. It is on my account that you are worn down with toil."

He did not give her half. He gave her an errand. Go with Seth to the edge of paradise, put earth on your heads, weep, and ask God to send His angel in and bring back oil from the tree out of which the oil flows. He wanted to be anointed. He wanted the pain to stop.

So the two of them walked toward the gate of the garden their family had been thrown out of, to beg for a little of what grew inside it.

The Account That Had Been Read Over Him

Adam had lost ten things by then, and he had been living inside all ten of them for a very long time.

The clothing of light was stripped off him by God's own hand. His bread would come to him in sorrow. The food that had been good would turn bad in his mouth. His children would wander from land to land and not settle. His body would run with sweat. He would carry the evil inclination inside him for the rest of his life. In death his body would be handed over to the worms. The animals would hold power over him and could kill him. His days would be few and full of trouble. And at the end of them he would stand and give an account of everything he had done on the earth.

The eighth count had just introduced itself on the road to paradise, with its teeth in his son's shoulder.

Michael Answered at the Gate

Seth and Eve reached the edge of the garden and wept there and asked for the oil of mercy. God sent the archangel Michael, and Michael would not give it.

"Do not wear yourself out with prayers about the tree that flows with oil. It is not yours now. It comes at the end of the times. Then all flesh will be raised up from Adam onward, everyone who belongs to the holy people, and the delights of paradise will be given to them, and God will be in the middle of them, and they will not sin in front of His face again, because the evil heart will be taken out of them and they will be given a heart that understands what is good."

Then he gave Seth the other thing he had come to say.

"Go back to your father. The term of his life is finished. He will live three days from today and then he will die. When his soul goes out of him, you will see how terrible that is."

Michael left. Seth had asked for oil and was carrying home a date.

Three Days

They came back to the hut where Adam was lying. He looked at his wife.

"Eve, what have you done to us? You have brought this great anger down on us, and the anger is death."

Then he told her to call the children, and the children's children, all of them, and to tell them exactly how the two of them had transgressed. Not the version that spared anyone. The manner of it.

Two of the ten were still ahead of him. The worms, and the accounting. He wanted the family in the room before he went to give it.

AdamEdenDivine PunishmentCreationDeathYetzer HaraExile
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From the tradition

Sources

2 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 2:66Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

It is often remembered as a single act, a moment of disobedience and then… exile. But according to some traditions, the consequences for Adam were far more layered and, frankly, quite grim.

Losing not just paradise, but everything that made you you.

The Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation by Louis Ginzberg, paints a rather bleak picture. It suggests that Adam's punishment was actually tenfold. Ten distinct and devastating blows that reshaped not only his life, but the lives of all of his descendants.

First, he lost his celestial clothing. God Himself, the story says, tore it away.

Then came the curse of labor: "in sorrow he was to earn his daily bread." No more effortless bounty, no more fruit falling right into his hands. Now, it was toil, sweat, and struggle just to survive.

And it gets worse. The food Adam ate, once pure nourishment, was now transformed "from good into bad" within his very body. A constant reminder of the Fall, a constant internal battle.

The punishment extends to his children, destined to wander from land to land.

Adam’s body itself was changed. He was now destined to exude sweat – another mark of hard labor and physical exertion.

Perhaps one of the most profound changes was the introduction of the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. Before, Adam was pure, driven only by good. Now, he had to contend with inner demons, with desires that could lead him astray. A constant internal struggle.

And the list continues: in death his body was to be a prey of the worms. Animals were to have power over him, even to the point of slaying him. His days were to be few and full of trouble.

And finally, the ultimate accounting: “in the end he was to render account of all his doings on earth." Imagine facing that final judgment, knowing the weight of your actions.

A far cry from the idyllic image of the Garden. But perhaps, in its darkness, it also reveals something profound about the human condition. We are fallen, yes, but we are also resilient. We struggle, we strive, and we are always called to account. And maybe, just maybe, that struggle is what makes us human.

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Apocalypse of Moses 9-14Life of Adam and Eve

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Books of Adam and Eve, trans. L. S. A. Wells, in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (1913) · Public Domain

A dying man asked his wife and son to walk to the edge of Paradise and beg for mercy. They came back with a prophecy -- and a death sentence.

Adam lay groaning on his bed, the seventy-two afflictions gnawing at his body. He could barely speak. "What shall I do?" he whispered. "I am in great distress."

Eve wept. "My lord Adam, rise up and give me half your suffering. Let me carry it. This happened because of me. Because of me you are tormented." But Adam would not hear of it. Instead, he sent her on a mission.

"Go with our son Seth toward Paradise. Put earth on your heads. Weep and pray that God will have mercy on me and send His angel to the garden -- to bring oil from the Tree of Life. If I can anoint myself with it, perhaps I will find rest from this agony."

So Seth and Eve set out toward Eden.

On the road, a wild beast lunged at Seth. Eve screamed: "Woe is me! On the day of resurrection, every sinner will curse me, saying: 'Eve did not keep the commandment of God!'" She turned to the beast and challenged it: "You wicked creature -- do you not fear to fight with one made in the image of God? How dare you open your mouth against him? You were made subject to us long ago!"

The beast spoke back. It was no ordinary animal. "This is not our concern, Eve -- your greed and your wailing belong to you. It was because of you that the rule of beasts was overturned. How was your mouth opened to eat from the tree that God forbade? Our very nature was transformed because of what you did. Do not blame us if we rise against you."

Seth silenced the beast with a single command: "Close your mouth. Stand off from the image of God until the Day of Judgment." And the beast obeyed. It bowed and slunk back to its lair.

Mother and son pressed on. They reached the gates of Paradise and knelt in the dust, weeping and praying for the Oil of Mercy.

God sent the archangel Michael. But Michael did not bring oil.

"Seth, man of God," Michael said, "do not exhaust yourself with prayers for the tree that flows with oil to anoint your father Adam. It shall not be given to you now. Only at the end of days. Then all flesh shall be raised -- from Adam to the last of the holy people. Then the delights of Paradise will be restored to them, and God will dwell in their midst. The evil inclination will be removed from their hearts, and they will be given a heart that understands only good and serves God alone."

A promise. Magnificent. But distant.

"Go back to your father," Michael continued. "The term of his life is fulfilled. He will live only three more days, and then he will die. When his soul departs, you will behold the terrifying scene of his passing."

The angel vanished. Seth and Eve returned to the hut where Adam lay. When he saw their faces, he knew. They had failed.

Adam turned to Eve. "What have you done to us? You have brought upon us a great wrath -- death itself, lording it over our entire race." Then his voice softened with one final request: "Call all our children and our children's children together. Tell them the manner of our transgression. Tell them everything."

Three days. That was all he had left. And in those three days, the whole story would have to be told.

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