Eve (Lost Apocrypha, p.8)
[supplement by R.A.Kraft]:

One of the shortest entries in Lost Apocrypha is that for "Eve."\1/

\1/The treatment of relevant women in Lost Apocrypha is perhaps worth a brief note. In addition to "Eve," there is an entry for "NOAH: NORIA HIS WIFE" following the treatment of Noah by himeslf. Asenath/Aseneth does not get a separate entry, although in connection with "Joseph," MRJ expounds his theory that the "Prayer(s) of Aseneth" is a substitute title for the "Prayer of Joseph" (which does have its own entry). There are no separate treatments of Susanna or Judith or the Maccabean martyr/mother ("Martha Shamuni" ?) or of the Sibylline Oracles (but see xiv, 12, 101). Otherwise, he does mention the Acts of St Katherine (p.33) and "Queen Mary's Prayer-book" (13f) among relevant sources to explore.

In this case MRJ has allowed himself to touch an area he normally avoids -- and explicitly excludes from ANT -- the gnostic Christian use of Jewish scriptural names and traditions. This now becomes especially relevant in the post Nag Hammadi discoveries era, with the larger problem of "gnostic" use of "Jewish" materials brought to the fore. Thus our new entry for "Eve" should provide some guidance into those materials, one way or another. But on the "pseudepigrapha" side of things, DiTommaso has no entry for "Eve," apart from "Adam," and does not seem to have a sub-entry under "Adam" for this "Gospel of Eve" -- at least not that could be located through the table of contents (unfortunately, DiTommaso lacks an index). On the "NTA" side, although Hennecke-Schneemelcher includes a section on "Gospels under the names of holy women" within the larger entry for "Other Gnostic Gospels and Related Literature" (by H.-C. Puech, revised by B.Blatz), this "Eve" material is not mentioned there. Denis does include a brief notice, in discussing Epiphanius' evidence, and refers also to E.Preuschen's Antilegomena: Die Reste der ausserkanonischen Evangelien und urchristlichen U%berlieferungen (Giessen 1901, 1905\2) no.19.\2/

\2/Albert-Marie Denis, Introduction aus Pseudépigraphes Grecs d'Ancien Testament (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha 1; Leiden: Brill 1970) 302.

We have here a good example of material that seems to fall helplessly between the conventional "OT" and "NT" categories -- not unlike various other items represented in Lost Apocrypha and ANT -- and hopefully by paying closer attention to it we may be able to throw further light on its origins and development. Eve is not an insignificant figure in the Nag Hammadi texts, and the way she is treated in some of these materials (e.g. the Apocalypse of Adam,), suggests that the description found in Epiphanius is not all that remote from what may well have been pre-Christian Jewish traditions that focused on Eve, despite MRJ's rather cursory dismissal.

The first edition of The Nag Hammadi Library in English, ed James M. Robinson (NY: Harper & Row 1977) includes a convenient index that unfortunately was dropped from later editions. Eve appears numerous times (designated here by codex.item[title of the item].lines):

• 2.1[Apocryphon of John].24.15 Eve is seduced by the chief archon and begets two sons, Yave and Eloim (Cain and Abel) [see also the version in 4.1.38.4-6]
• 2.3[Gospel of Philip].68.23 death is produced when Eve is separated from Adam;
  ...70.20 man and woman must become (re)united in the bridal chamber.
• 2.4[Hypostasis of the Archons].91.31, 34 Spirit woman gives Adam life, archons lust after her, but she escapes by becoming a tree; carnal woman eats and gives Adam to eat, and they are separate/naked, expelled, give birth to Cain and Abel, then Seth, then Norea the virgin (91.34ff); Eve resists the archons; she cries for help and Eleth the archangel comes to her aid, etc.
  
• 2.5[Origin of the World].113.33ff Eve the first virgin begets androgynous man; she is also called Zoe [Life], daughter of Sophia [Wisdom]; she gives Adam life; archons want to impregnate Eve and deceive Adam, she laughs, becomes the tree of knowledge; the imitation Eve then is defiled by the archons, gives births, and acts out the fall story, etc.
  
• 5.5[Apocalypse of Adam].64.ff Originally Eve was one with Adam and together they were more glorious than the creator god, but became divided , lost knowledge and glory -- Adam reveals to Seth the knowledge necessary for ultimate restoration and redemption.
• 9.1[Melchizedek].10.1 True Adam and true Eve [broken lines].
• 9.3[Testimony of Truth].46.3,8 Episode of eating from the tree (standard biblical tale).

This sort of material deserves closer scrutiny in the "new (electronic) James."

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