On the Origin of the World 22

1When the archons realized that (Adam and Eve) had broken their commandments (to them), they came into Paradise and approached Adam and Eve with an earthquake and great threats, to see the result of the help they had received. Adam and Eve shook violently and hid beneath the trees in Paradise. The archons did not know where they were and said, “Adam, where are you?”

2He said, “Here I am. I hid because I was afraid of you and was embarrassed.” In their ignorance, they said to him, “Who told you about the embarrassment with which you have clothed yourself, unless you have eaten from that tree?”

3He said, “The woman you gave me—she gave it to me, and I ate.”

4Then they said to the woman: [] “What have you done?”

5She answered, “The teacher incited me, and I ate.”

6Then the archons approached the teacher. Because of him, their eyes grew foggy, and they were unable to do anything against him. Since they were powerless, they cursed him.

7After this, they approached the woman and cursed her and her descendants.

8After the woman, they cursed Adam and, because of him, the land and the crops as well. They cursed everything they had created. They possess no blessing. Good cannot result from evil.

9From that day on, the authorities truly realized that there was something more powerful than they were.

10They knew only that their commandments had not been obeyed. Tremendous jealousy entered the world solely because of the deathless man.

11When the archons realized that their Adam had gained a different kind of knowledge, they wanted to test him. They gathered every tame animal, the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of heaven, and brought them before Adam to learn what he would call them. When he saw them, he gave names to their creatures.

12They became disturbed because Adam recovered from every test. They gathered together and devised schemes, saying, “Look at Adam! He has become like one of us, because he knows the difference between light and darkness. Perhaps now he will be deceived, as happened with the tree of knowledge, and will even approach the tree of life, eat from it, become deathless, and become lord. Then he will loathe and despise us and all our glory. He will condemn us together with our universe. Come, let us banish him [] from Paradise, down to the earth from which he was taken, so that from now on he will be unable to know anything beyond what we are capable of.” In this way, they banished Adam from Paradise together with his wife. But this act they committed was not enough for them. Instead, they became afraid.

13They entered (Paradise, approaching) the tree of life and enclosed it with large, fearsome beings—fiery living creatures called “Cherubin.” They placed a flaming sword among them, fearsomely and continuously turning, to prevent any earthly being from ever entering that place.

14Because the archons became jealous of Adam, they wanted to shorten their lifespans. They were unable to do so because of fate, which had been established from the beginning, for each one had been assigned a lifespan of 1,000 years in accordance with the orbit of the radiant bodies. Nevertheless, although the archons were unable to accomplish this, each of the perpetrators of evil subtracted ten years, and the full lifespan came to 930 years. These years pass in suffering, weakness, and malevolent disruption. This is how life has been from that day until the consummation of the age.