The Book of the Generations of Adam

1

He said: The one who is born under the sign of Libra on Sunday, in the [hour] of Jupiter or the Moon—when he is born in these two hours, he is only born as a small [child], and yellow, and he will have a sign on the fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet, or [he will have] an additional digit on his hands or feet. And this man will be swift. And he will have three lines in the crowns of his forehead, and the one in the middle will split into three. And [if] his lines will be broad, he will be one of the good ones. And at the age of seven months and ten days he will be sick, and one will put [warm] water upon him, and everyone who sees him will say that he will not escape from this pain, afflictions and [injuries]. [ . . . ] And at the age of five years, iron . . . upon him and cut a bit of his flesh, and for a few days he will have pain, until he will recover. At the age of seven years he will fall from the roof and break his head, but he will not die. At the age of eight years he will enter the [school]house of his master and he will learn Torah, Prophets and Scriptures. At the age of seventeen years, he will leave the Bible school and go to the tannaim, and he will study the Mishnah and Halakhot more than his fellows. And when he studies the Order of Nashim, he will acquire silver and gold. At the age of twenty-nine years he will go and marry a woman, the beginning of whose name is Ḥet, of the daughters of the [dignitaries] of the generation, who possesses great wealth. And twin sons will be born to him, and at the age of sixty-six he will have many illnesses, so that due to his sickness he will reach the gates of death. And three sons and daughters will mourn and bewail him. End of the chapter. [ . . . ]

The one who is [born] on Monday in the [hour] of Jupiter or the Moon will be a leader or a sage, and he will take two wives, and with another one he will get children for a third time. And he will have three daughters from the appropriate wife. And one of them will perish while being a bride. And at the age of fifty-seven years, he will be in charge of the treasures of the king or in charge of the king’s palace, and all the men of the country will obey [the words of] his mouth. At the age of seventy he will die. The one who is born on Monday under the sign of Leo or Aries in the [hour] of the Moon, [when] he is born, he will kill [?]‌ the moon. At the age of five years, he [will] fall ill in bed, and at the age of seven years, cataracts will befall his eyes [ . . . ]

The one who is born on Tuesday in the sign of Scorpio or Leo, when he was born before the seventh day, a day of the node of the moon . . . , but when he reaches the fifth day in a good state, he will be good. And he will marry a wife at the age of nineteen years, and the beginning of her name will be Heh. And he and she will come from a good [family]. At the age of fifty years, he will get tumescences on his flesh, and he will be cured by an Arab woman, and she will be a whore. And [he will get this illness] one month every year, until he will reach eighty-six years. And until eight years will become full, [he] will not learn the Torah, but afterwards, whatever his fellows will learn in two days, he will learn in one day. And there will be struggles, disputes and words at his wedding. And at the age of twenty-three years, a son will be born to him and he will grow. [ . . . ]

And the one who is born on Wednesday in the sign of Leo or in the sign of Venus, he has a radiant face, and his lips are like roses, and his eyes are high, and he will be [very] wise, but his heart will not yet be opened. And at the age of seven, he will fall down a ladder or into the mud, on Monday or Tuesday. He will break his ankle, and he will be confused until the age of thirty years. [ . . . ]

2

Prepare your heart to understand all that is there in the rooms above. For there is the fire [esh] and the water [mayim] in the firmament of [Shamayim] above Wilon, and between the water and the firmament hang the wheel of the sun and the moon, and within it the servants of the Holy One are serving, and the Ḥashmal1 and the lightning are between them. And between them there are fire and water, and between the [water] and the water there is fire. And between the fire . . . Above [Shamayim] there is [Sheḥaqim], and in Sheḥaqim there are millstones standing and [grinding] manna for the righteous for the future to come. And [above] Sheḥaqim I looked and I saw [Zevul]. And I saw a prince bound with a very [large] rope. And I [watched] and I discerned the [image] of the Holy City and an altar correctly [erected], and a palace founded, and about this scripture says: I have verily built a house of Zevul, etc. (1 Kings 8:13).

Source: CUL T-S K21.95L + T-S K21.88; JTS ENA 962.20 + ENA 508.

Translated by Reimund Leicht and Joseph Yahalom.

Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

[Ḥashmal is an enigmatic Hebrew term that appears in Ezekiel.—Ed.]

Credits

Unknown, The Book of the Generations of Adam, trans. Reimund Leicht and Joseph Yahalom, in Reimund Leicht and Joseph Yahalom, “Sefer Zeh Sefer Toledot Adam: An Unknown Esoteric Midrash on Genesis 5:1 from the Geonic Period,” Ginzei Qedem, vol. 4 (2008): 9–82 (50–54, 75). With the gracious permission of Dr. Albert D. and Mrs. Nancy Friedberg, The Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society (FJMS) and The Friedberg Genizah Project (FGP).

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

Engage with this Source

The Book of the Generations of Adam (Sefer toledot Adam) is a midrashic work on Genesis 5:1 (“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him”). This work describes the celestial realms and the angels, and its cosmology displays significant affinities to the Hekhalot corpus (mystical literature that likely emerged in late talmudic and early geonic Babylonia) and often reflects talmudic traditions about these subjects as well. The first of these two excerpts predicts events in a person’s life by the time of their birth, and the second describes a portion of the heavens, alluding to the discussion in b. Ḥagigah 12b (“Resh Lakish said: [There are] seven [firmaments] and they are: Wilon, Rakia, Sheḥakim, Zevul, Ma’on, Makhon, and Aravot”). The work seems to have been written in Babylonia, and it predicts the date of the arrival of the messiah in the year 938. Unbracketed ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.

Read more

You may also like