Life of Adam and Eve

Current State of the OCP Text

The entire Greek text of the Life of Adam and Eve is presented here as it appears in C. von Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae (Leipzig: Mendelssohn, 1866; repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1966), 1-23. In addition, two editions of the Latin text are presented here. The first is W. Meyer’s edition, reprinted in Denis, Concordance latine, 545-548. The second is Mozley’s edition, published in J.H. Mozley, “The ‘Vita Adae’,” Journal of Theological Studies 30 (1928-1929): 121-149.

While von Tischendorf’s Greek text provides a fair impression of the document's contents and wording, it is seriously flawed as a reconstruction of the earliest possible text. It has been superceded, first by Nagel's provisional edition and now by the excellent edition of Tromp (see below). The latter should be consulted in the course of detailed work on the Greek tradition.

W. Meyer’s 1878 critical edition of the Latin Life of Adam and Eve was based primarily on manuscripts found in Munich, the oldest of which is dated to the ninth century; it remains the edition most commonly cited by scholars and formed the primary basis for M. D. Johnson's translation in the OTP. In 1928-1929 J. H. Mozley published an edition of the Latin Life of Adam and Eve based primarily on one 14th century manuscript (Arundel 326). Although Mozley’s apparatus notes variant readings found in other Latin manuscripts located in Britain, his printed text departs from readings found in the Arundel manuscript only about 14 times.

The two Latin texts published here have been thoroughly proofread, but Tischendorf’s Greek text has not. It should be used with caution until further notice. Work on a full critical apparatus for the Greek and Latin texts has not yet begun. Note, too, that the verse numbers (which are lacking in Tischendorf’s text) have not yet been inserted into the Greek text. As of version 1.1, however, the Greek and Latin evidence may now be viewed in parallel for easy comparison. The evidence in other languages (Coptic, Slavonic, Armenian, Georgian) still waits to be encoded.

For more information on the complex textual history of this literature, see Michael E. Stone, A History of the Literature of Adam and Eve (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992).

Bibliography

Greek Text

• Johannes Tromp, The Life of Adam and Eve in Greek: A Critical Edition (PVTG 6; Leiden: Brill, 2005).
• ** Now the best available text.
• John R. Levison, Texts in Transition: The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (SBLEJL 16; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000).
• ** While not exactly a critical edition, Levison's volume presents four distinct text forms in running form, arranged in parallel columns.
• G. A. Anderson and M. E. Stone, A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve (Rev. ed.; SBLEJL 5; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1999).
• ** A convenient edition which presents the Greek and Latin texts side-by-side, along with translations of the Armenian, Georgian, and Slavonic. The Greek text is that of Nagel (repr. in Denis).
• Thomas Knittel, Das griechische 'Leben Adams und Evas' (TSAJ 88; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002).
• ** Includes critical editions of selected passages which together make up the bulk of the Life of Adam and Eve (5-28; 31-37; 41:1-42:2). Heavily dependent on Nagel's text.
• D. A. Bertrand, La Vie grecque d'Adam et Eve (Recherches intertestamentaires 1; Paris, 1987).
• ** A true critical edition of the Greek text. Intensively eclectic, geared largely toward producing a smooth, translatable text.
• Denis, Concordance, 815-18.
• ** Prints the provisional text produced by M. Nagel. While this text was a major step forward from Tischendorf's edition, it was never intended to represent the earliest form of the Life of Adam and Eve. Nagel included several passages which he considered clearly secondary, keeping in mind the need for a concordance to include the fullest possible text. Nagel was killed in 1984 before completing his planned critical edition.
• J. L. Sharpe, "Prolegomena to the Establishment of the Critical Text of the Greek Apocalypse of Moses" (2 vols.; Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1969).
• ** Includes a collation of readings from a large number of manuscripts. Unfortunately these are presented as "alterations" to Tischendorf's flawed text. This work was the basis of Johnson's translation in the OTP.
• M. R. James, Apocrypha Anecdota: A Collection of Thirteen Apocryphal Books and Fragments, Now First Edited from Manuscripts (T&S 2.3; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1893), 138-145.
• A. M. Ceriani, "Apocalypsis Moysi in medio mutila," in Psuscula et fragmenta miscella magnam partem apocrypha. Monumenta sacra et profana 5 (Milano, 1868), 19-24.
• **Includes a transcript of ms D.
• Tischendorf, C. von, Apocalypses apocryphae Moses, Esdrae, Pauli, Iohannis, item Mariae dormitio, additis evangeliorum et actuum apocryphorum supplementis (Leipzig, 1866; repr. Hildesheim, 1966), x-xii, 1-23.
• ** A seriously flawed critical text. Tischendorf's running text is based almost entirely on one ms (a) which he seems to have selected more-or-less at random and which is not now considered particularly reliable as a witness of an early text form. Tischendorf's apparatus is also unreliable, particularly since he confused the readings of mss b and c.

Latin Text

• G. A. Anderson and M. E. Stone, A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve (Rev. ed.; SBLEJL 5; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1999).
• ** A convenient edition which presents the Greek and Latin texts side-by-side, along with translations of the Armenian, Georgian, and Slavonic. The Latin text is that of Lechner-Schmidt.
• A.-M Denis, ed., Concordance latine des pseudépigraphes d’Ancien Testament. Concordance, corpus des textes, indices (Corpus christianorum. Thesaurus patrum latinorum. Supplementum; Turnhout: Brepols, 1993), 545-552.
• ** Reprints the text of Meyer.
• W. Lechner-Schmidt, Wortindex der lateinisch erhaltenen Pseudepigraphen zum Alten Testament (Texte und Arbeiten zum Neutestamentlichen Zeitalter 3; Tübingen: Francke, 1990), 233-239.
• ** A new edition of the Latin which remains substantially similar to the text of Meyer.
• J.H. Mozley, “The ‘Vita Adae’,” Journal of Theological Studies 30 (1928-1929): 121-149.
• ** Based primarily on one 14th century manuscript (Arundel 326). Although Mozley’s apparatus notes variant readings found in other Latin manuscripts located in Britain, his printed text departs from readings found in the Arundel manuscript only about 14 times.
• W. Meyer, “Vitae Adae et Evae,” Abhandlungen der königlich bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophische-philologische Klasse 14.3 (1878): 185-220.
• ** Based primarily on manuscripts found in Munich, the oldest of which is dated to the ninth century. This remains the edition most commonly cited by scholars.

For further bibliography, see DiTommaso, Bibliography, 163-96.

Sigla Used in the Text

+ +	Plus signs: In Meyer's Latin text these surround word which are judged to be dubious.

Copyright Information

All three texts of the Life of Adam and Eve presented here (Tischendorf, Meyer, and Mozley) are in the public domain. Before using this or any other OCP text for another purpose, please click on the "copyright and permissions" link in the "help and information" menu at top to read the policy on re-use and re-publication.