Biblical legends. From Adam and Eve to mighty Samson

Compiled by

Vladimir Leonov

ISBN 978-5-4483-2689-9

Created in the intellectual publishing system Ridero

World creation.

You know how everything goes dark at night when all the lights are off. The whole world was once in such darkness. Then there was no grass, no trees, no beautiful flowers, no birds, not even sky and earth, but the whole universe was darkness and chaos. However, God did not want things to remain this way, and He created this wonderful world. We know that nothing is created by itself. The world around us, filled with harmony and beauty, testifies to its great and wise Creator. The Holy Book of the Bible describes the creation of the world according to the Word of God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep: and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning: one day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water. And God created the firmament; and he separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And so it became. And God called the firmament heaven. And it was evening. and it was Morning: the second day. And God said: Let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And so it became. And God called the dry land earth, and the collection of waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth produce green grass, grass yielding seed, and a fruitful tree bearing fruit according to its kind, in which is its seed on the earth.” And so it became. And the earth brought forth grass, grass yielding seed according to its kind, and trees. bearing fruit, in which is its seed according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening. and it was morning: the third day.”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; And let them be lamps in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth. And so it became. And God created two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars; And God placed them in the firmament of heaven to give light to the earth. And rule the day and the night, and separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening. and it was Morning: the fourth day. And God said: Let the water bring forth living things; and let the birds fly over the earth, across the firmament of heaven. And God created the great fish and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning: the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds, cattle and creeping things and wild beasts of the earth after their kinds. And so it became. And God created the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” The whole earth. created by the Word of the almighty Creator, illuminated by the radiance of the gentle sun, breathed peace and wondrous beauty. But this was not the end of creation. God decided to create people so that they would live in this beautiful world and have communication with their Creator.

Old Testament

Jacob had twelve sons. Most of all of them he loved Joseph, the best and kindest. One day Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful robe, and Joseph's brothers were angry with him and envied him.

One day Joseph had a dream about how he and his brothers were knitting sheaves in a field, and his brothers’ sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. Another time he saw in a dream that the sun, moon and stars of heaven bowed to him. The brothers became even more angry with Joseph.

One day, when the brothers went to a distant pasture with flocks of sheep, Joseph's father sent Joseph to visit them. The brothers, seeing him, decided to punish him: they took off his beautiful clothes and threw him into a deep hole.

At this time, merchants with a caravan passed by. The brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to merchants for 20 silver coins. Then they stained his clothes with the blood of a slaughtered goat and brought them to his father with the words:

- This is what we found. Isn't this Joseph's clothing?

Jacob thought that a wild beast had killed Joseph and wept bitterly for him.

The merchants took Joseph to Egypt and sold him there to one of the courtiers of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The owner fell in love with the smart and handsome Joseph, trusted him, and made him the manager of the house, the chief of his servants. But he had an evil and deceitful wife, she wanted Joseph to deceive her husband with her, and when he refused, she slandered him, and poor Joseph went to prison.

Soon, two courtiers ended up in the same prison - the one who poured wine for Pharaoh, and the one who served bread (butler and baker). One day, they both saw amazing dreams at night. Joseph explained them to them: Pharaoh would soon forgive one of them, and execute the other. And so it happened.

After some time, Pharaoh himself saw strange, mysterious dreams: once he saw that seven fat cows came out of the river, and then seven more thin cows came out, which ate the fat ones, but they themselves remained thin. And then he had a dream that seven full, beautiful ears grew, and behind them were seven empty ears, which destroyed the full ones, but themselves remained thin. No one could explain to Pharaoh his dreams.

Then the servant, to whom Joseph explained his dream in prison, told Pharaoh about it, and Joseph was called out of prison. He explained to Pharaoh the dreams that were incomprehensible to him. The dreams meant that there would be a good harvest for seven years, and there would be plenty of everything, and then there would be seven hungry years.

“It is necessary,” said Joseph, “during good years, to collect large reserves so that there is enough for the time of famine.”

Pharaoh liked Joseph's advice and instructed him to handle the matter himself. Thus, Joseph became a very important person in the Egyptian kingdom.

The years of a rich harvest have passed. Joseph had collected huge reserves, and a terrible famine began in neighboring countries, especially in the land of Canaan, where Joseph’s brothers lived. Old Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain there, but did not let his youngest son, Benjamin, go with them.

When the brothers were brought to Joseph, they did not recognize their poor brother in the important Egyptian nobleman. He immediately recognized them, but did not open up to them. He told them:

- You are probably spies - you came to spy on us.

“No,” the brothers answered, “we are honest people.” My father had twelve brothers, but one died, and the youngest remained at home.

Joseph was glad to know that his father was alive. He gave the brothers some bread, but ordered them to prove that they were telling the truth by bringing their younger brother, only then would he give them the rest of the bread.

The brothers returned home with bread. However, the bread they brought quickly ran out. They had to go to Egypt again and, saddening their father, take Benjamin with them.

Now Joseph received them very graciously. He was so happy to see his younger, beloved brother that he went into another room and began to cry. He fed the brothers, gave them a lot of bread, and quietly put his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.

Before the brothers had gone far, Joseph’s servants caught up with them and said:

“Why did you steal our master’s favorite cup?” The brothers began to refuse and said:

- Search us, if the cup is found, let the one who has it die, and we will all be your slaves. They began to search and found the cup on Benjamin. The brothers were horrified, and everyone was forced to return to Joseph.

“We took this boy with us under our responsibility, and we cannot return without him.” Do me a favor, leave us all as your slaves, and let Benjamin go home. Otherwise, our father will die of grief,” they said.

Joseph realized that his brothers had changed for the better since they sold him into slavery. He could bear it no longer, and with tears opened himself to them. The brothers were at first afraid that he would want to take revenge on them for the evil they had done to him, but Joseph calmed them down.

- God turned the evil you did into good, without me you could have died of starvation. Go, tell your father that I am alive and I invite him to move to Egypt with me, along with all of you.

And the brothers rejoiced, and cried, and hugged, and asked Joseph for forgiveness. Joseph gave them rich gifts, and he sent a lot of good things with them to their father. Chariots followed the donkeys laden with gifts to bring their father to Joseph in Egypt. And Jacob went with all his family, with sons and daughters, and with grandsons, and with granddaughters, and with all his flocks, and they settled in Egypt, and it was good for them, and Joseph took care of them.

Creation of the first people.

“And God said: Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is on all the earth, and every tree that has fruit yielding seed: it shall be for you to eat; And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every thing that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food. And so it became. And God saw everything that He had created, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day. Thus are the heavens and the earth and all their hosts perfect. And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.” The man's name was Adam and the woman's name was Eve. The Lord created them beautiful and happy. They loved their Creator very much, and God loved them. The Lord gave them all created creation. for them to take care of her. Having blessed Adam and Eve, “the Lord planted a paradise in Eden, in the east; and he placed there the man whom he had created.” The Lord instructed them to cultivate and maintain this garden. Adam and Eve were in constant communication with their Creator. In the picture you see that their eyes are turned to God - that's why they are happy. When our eyes and hearts are directed towards the Lord, we also become happy. —— *Why did God say: “Let us create?” Because God is one in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the First Book of Moses, at the creation of man, God says in the plural: “Let us create.” - Page 1 -

• To the begining
• Back
• 1
• Forward
• In the end

Additional Information

In 1888 in Kazan, Archpriest Al. Smirnov published two texts:

1. "The Book of Enoch. Historical-critical research" (master's thesis, issue I, Kazan, 1888) [25] - from German, published together with comments;
2. The Book of Enoch in Russian translation, Kazan, 1888[26] with reference to the magazine “Orthodox Interlocutor”, No. 9 p. 120—140; No. 10 p. 218-246; No. 11 p. 397-412; No. 12 p. 449—482[27] — text without comments:
   included in the collection: Tanlevsky I. R.
   The Book of Enoch.
   Sefer Yetzirah - Book of Creation. - M.: “Bridges of Culture / Gesharim”, 2002. - 374 p. ISBN 5-93273-103-6 [ source not specified 732 days
   ];
3. included in the collection: Book of Afterlife Visions. - St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2006. - ISBN 5-367-00063-0 [ source not specified 732 days
   ];
4. There is an audiobook of the translation[28].

The text consists of 20 chapters, which are grouped into 5 parts:

1. The Mystical Journey of Enoch (contains chapters 1-5);
2. The Three Parables of Enoch (contains chapters 6-12);
3. About the heavenly bodies (contains chapters 13-14);
4. Two Visions of Enoch (contains chapters 16-17);
5. Instruction for Children (contains chapters 18-20)[29].

The essence of the work is that 200 angels landed on Mount Hermon, took earthly women as wives and gave birth to giants and magicians, after which the Earth, overflowing with sinners, was subjected to the Flood (chapters 6-10, according to Smirnov’s edition) [ source not specified 735 days

].
In the canonical book of Genesis, these beings are called the sons of God
(Genesis 6:2).

The relationship of these texts with the text consisting of 108 chapters is the subject of research.

Notes

1. AM Henry
   .
   The Book of Enoch Explained, Religion for Breakfast
   , YouTube (August 27, 2020). Retrieved August 30, 2021.
2. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
3. Source.
4. Text without indication of translator and publication.
5. Text of the publication, available at the link, p. 7.
6. ↑ 12
   Source.
7. Source 2, with reference to “Shamash” Magazine No. 2, 4.
8. Link 3.
9. Fahlbusch, E.; Bromiley, G. W. The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P-Sh
   page 411, ISBN 0-8028-2416-1 (2004).
10. “We may note especially that 1:1, 3-4, 9 allude unmistakably to Deuteronomy 33:1-2 (along with other passages in the Hebrew Bible), implying that the author, like some other Jewish writers, read Deuteronomy 33- 34, the last words of Moses in the Torah, as prophecy of the future history of Israel, and 33:2 as referring to the eschatological theophany of God as judge.” Bauckham, Richard, Professor of Theology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. The Jewish world around the New Testament: collected essays.
    1999 Art. 276.
11. “1.9 In 'He comes with ten thousands of His holy ones the text reproduces the Massoretic of Deut.33,2 in reading ATAH = erchetai, whereas the three Targums, the Syriac and Vulgate read ATIH, = met'autou. Here the LXX diverges wholly. The reading ATAH is recognized as original. The writer of 1-5 therefore used the Hebrew text and presumably wrote in Hebrew." RHCharles, Professor of Ancient Greek, Trinity College, Dublin Book of Enoch: Together with a Reprint of the Greek Fragments
    London 1912, p.lviii.
12. “The introduction.. picks up various biblical passages and re-interprets them, applying them to Enoch. Two passages are central to it The first is Deuteronomy 33:1 .. the second is Numbers 24:3-4" Michael E. Stone Professor of Armenian Studies and Gail de-Nura Professor of Religious Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Selected studies in pseudepigrapha and apocrypha with special reference to the Armenian Tradition (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha No. 9) p.422.
13. Vanderkam, J. C. Department of Philosophy and Religion, North Carolina State University. 1 Enoch: A New Translation
    . Fortress Minneapolis 2004.
14. There is no mention of the Book of Adam in the available texts in chapter 33.
15. “In his reading of 1 Enoch Jude does not use the present tense used in the Greek version we have of 1 Enoch and in the LXX of Deut 33:2” Peter H. Davids, Professor of Biblical Theology, St. Stephen's University, Canada. The letters of 2 Peter and Jude. Grand Rapids 2006.
16. Jenkyn, William
    An exposition upon the epistle of Jude: delivered in Christ-Church, London 1839 “How Jude came by, or whence he received, the prophecy of Enoch. 3. … the book of Enoch was preserved by Noah in the ark and brought forth after the flood” Art. 300.
17. Landon, Charles
    A text-critical study of the Epistle of Jude. — University of Sheffield, England. — 1996. — Page 35.
18. Bauckham, Richard
    Jude and the relatives of Jesus in the early church. — 2004 “It seems that Jude took the attribution of 1 Enoch 1:9 to Enoch seriously” art. 225.
19. Bauckham, Richard, Professor of Theology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
    Jude, 2 Peter Word Biblical Commentary. — Thomas Nelson Edinburgh, 1983.
20. Charles, J. D.
    Literary Strategy in the Epistle of Jude. — University of Scranton, Toronto 1993, art. 56, 83.
21. “προεφήτευσεν τούτοις” and not “προεφήτευσεν περὶ τούτῶν” See Wallace, Daniel Baird Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics
    , Grand Rapids 1996 Art. 140, 142.
22. Neyrey, Jerome H. Professor, Catholic University of Notre Dame
    2 Peter, Jude: a new translation with introduction and commentary. — Indiana, USA 1993 81.
23. Nickelsburg, George W. Professor of Religion, Iowa State University
    1 Enoch A Commentary. - Fortress. Minneapolis 2004.
24. Information about the edition, text similar in content to this edition, but containing links to the 2002 edition.
25. 1988 edition in the Russian State Library.
26. Text from the 1988 edition on Wikisource.
27. Scan of the publication.
28. Audiobook “The Book of Enoch” contains 20 chapters.
29. Text in Wikisource.