Eve
In the expanded narratives of primeval history found within the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Jasher, the first woman stands at the center of humanity’s transition from divine order to earthly frailty. These texts elaborate on her formation from Adam’s rib on the sixth day of creation, presenting her not merely as a companion but as an essential counterpart whose actions shape the subsequent course of generations. Jubilees 2–3 situates her within a carefully ordered chronology of the Garden, where she and Adam dwell for seven years before the transgression, underscoring a period of innocence that heightens the gravity of their eventual expulsion. The account of the temptation receives particular attention in these sources. Jubilees 3:17–25 recounts how the serpent approached her while Adam was absent, employing deceptive speech that led to the consumption of the forbidden fruit and the subsequent covering with fig leaves. Jasher 1 expands this episode with additional dialogue, illustrating her role as the initial recipient of the serpent’s counsel and her subsequent persuasion of Adam. Within the broader Enochian tradition, this event is understood as the origin point for the corruption that later intensifies through the descent of the Watchers, framing her choice as the first rupture in the cosmic harmony that Enoch’s visions seek to restore. Her identity as mother further illuminates her significance across these writings. Jubilees 4 details the births of Cain, Abel, and Seth, recording the names she bestows and the distinct lineages that emerge from each son. Jasher 2 similarly traces these generations, noting the sorrow that accompanies Cain’s birth and the hope invested in Seth. In the Enochian corpus, this maternal lineage connects directly to the genealogy leading to Enoch himself, positioning her as the ancestral root from which both the righteous line and the spread of iniquity descend. These portrayals invite readers to consider how her story establishes the enduring tension between obedience and transgression that animates the apocalyptic worldview of the period.
Biography
- Occupation
- First Woman
- Era
- Creation / Antediluvian
Did You Know?
Eve was formed from Adam's rib as a helpmeet.
She was the first to be tempted by the serpent and to eat the forbidden fruit.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Creation of Eve
The Book of Jubilees 3:1-7
God causes a deep sleep to fall on Adam and takes one of his ribs to form Eve, declaring that man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.
1nd on the six days of the second week we brought, according to the word of God, unto Adam all the beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on the earth, and everything that moves in the water, according to their kinds, and according to their types: the beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third day; and all that which moves on the earth on the fourth day; and that which moves in the water on the fifth day.
The Temptation and Fall
The Book of Jasher 1:10-15
The serpent deceives Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. She gives it to Adam. Their eyes are opened; they sew fig leaves and hide from God.
10nd the serpent enticed and persuaded the woman to eat from the tree of knowledge, and the woman hearkened to the voice of the serpent, and she transgressed the word of God, and took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she ate, and she took from it and gave also to her husband and he ate. 11.
Eve's Sorrow and Legacy
The Book of Jubilees 4:1-2
Eve bears Cain and Abel. After Abel's murder she bears Seth. She laments the loss of her sons and the consequences of the fall.
1nd in the third week in the second jubilee she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth she gave birth to her daughter Awan. And in the first (year) of the third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice of Abel, and did not accept the offering of Cain. And he slew him in the field: and his blood cried from the ground to heaven, complaining because he had slain him. And the Lord reproved Cain because of Abel, because he had slain him, and he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of his brother, and he cursed him upon the earth. And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables, 'Cursed is ,he who smites his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and heard say, So be it; and the man who has seen and not declared (it), let him be accursed as the other.' And for this reason we announce when we come before the Lord our God all the sin which is committed in heaven and on earth, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere. And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years, and in the fourth year of the fifth week they became joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Seth; for he said 'GOD has raised up a second seed unto us on the earth instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.' And in the sixth week he begat his daughter Azura. And Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of 10, his son Enoch. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she bare yet nine sons. And in the fifth week of the fifth jubilee Seth took Azura his sister to be his wife, and in the fourth (year of the sixth 12,13 week) she bare him Enos. He began to call on the name of the Lord on the earth. And in the seventh jubilee in the third week Enos took Noam his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his name Kenan. And at the close of the eighth jubilee Kenan took Mualeleth his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth jubilee, in the first week in the third year of this week, and he called his name Mahalalel. And in the second week of the tenth jubilee Mahalalel took unto him to wife DinaH, the daughter of Barakiel the daughter of his father's brother, and she bare him a son in the third week in the sixth year, and he called his name Jared, for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth. And in the eleventh jubilee Jared took to himself a wife, and her name was Baraka, the daughter of Rasujal, a daughter of his father's brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee, and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called his name Enoch. And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years as we made (them), known to him. And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations. And in the twelfth jubilee, in the seventh week thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Edna, the daughter of Danel, the daughter of his father's brother, and in the sixth year in this week she bare him a son and he called his name