CHAPTER I

The crystal sea, God commands Adam, expelled from Eden, to live in the Cave of Treasures.

1 On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun-rising, one finds nothing but water, that encompasses the whole world, and reaches to the borders of heaven.

  1. And to the north of the garden there is a sea of water, clear and

    pure to the taste, unlike anything else; so that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into the depths of the earth.

  2. And when a man washes himself in it, he becomes clean of the

    cleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness -- even if he were dark.

  3. And God created that sea of his own good pleasure, for He knew what

    would come of the man He would make; so that after he had left the garden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the earth. Among them are righteous ones who will die, whose souls God would raise at the last day; when all of them will return to their flesh, bathe in the water of that sea, and repent of their sins.

  4. But when God made Adam go out of the garden, He did not place him on

    the border of it northward. This was so that he and Eve would not be able to go near to the sea of water where they could wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, erase the transgression they had committed, and be no longer reminded of it in the thought of their punishment.

  5. As to the southern side of the garden, God did not want Adam to live

    there either; because, when the wind blew from the north, it would bring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of the garden.

  6. Wherefore God did not put Adam there. This was so that he would not

    be able to smell the sweet smell of those trees, forget his transgression, and find consolation for what he had done by taking delight in the smell of the trees and yet not be cleansed from his transgression.

  7. Again, also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs

all things in a way that He alone knows -- He made our father Adam live in the western border of the garden, because on that side the earth is very broad.

  1. And God commanded him to live there in a cave in a rock -- the Cave

    of Treasures below the garden.