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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 40 of 293

First Adam and Eve: Chapter XXXVII

Forty-three days of penance do not redeem one hour of sin (v. 6).

1.THEN Adam said to Eve, “Seest thou not these figs and their leaves, with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright nature? But now, we know not what misery and suffering may come upon us from eating them.

2.“Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them, thou and I; and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life.”

3.Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did not eat of these figs.

4.But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: “O God, when we transgressed Thy commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our transgression, more than three hours.

5.“But on the evening Thou madest us come out of it. O God, we transgressed against Thee one hour, and all these trials and sorrows have come upon us until this day.

6.“And those days together with this the forty-third day, do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed!

7.“O God, look upon us with an eye of pity, and do not requite us according to our transgression of Thy commandment, in presence of Thee.

8.“O, God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life, that we may eat of it, and live, and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble, in this earth; for Thou art God.

9.“When we transgressed Thy commandment, Thou madest us come out of the garden, and didst send a cherub to keep the Tree of Life, lest we should eat thereof, and live; and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed.

10.“But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days, and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed.”

Asked of Guide

Why does Adam ask God to count forty-three days equal to one hour of sin?

Adam insists those forty-three days of penance and suffering have already been endured and pleads that their weight should make amends for the single hour of transgression when they ate the fruit. He argues that the loss of their “bright nature,” exile from the garden, and continuous suffering amount to a penance greater than the moment of disobedience.

Adam frames the request as practical mercy: he asks God to “make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour” so they might receive the Tree of Life again and escape ongoing misery. This mirrors themes in other early Jewish-Christian writings, like Genesis Apocryphon, where prolonged repentance seeks restoration of lost primordial life.

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