The Greek Life of Adam and Eve by John R. Levison (review)

Reviewed by: The Greek Life of Adam and Eve by John R. Levison J. R. C. Cousland john r. levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2023). Pp. xxiv + 1, 235. 230. The appearance of Levison's commentary is notable for several reasons: it is the first commentary on the Greek Life of Adam and Eve (GLAE; formerly known as the Apocalypse of Moses) that has appeared in English. Along with Jan Dochhorn's recent German commentary (Die Apokalypse des Mose: Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar TSAJ 106; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), it admirably covers a document that has hitherto been largely overlooked. Second, it is massive. At 1, 235+ pages, it is more than double the length of Doch-horn's commentary, which, at 500+ pages is itself compendious. Third, it can rightly be regarded as a culmination of L. 's research for the last forty years, much of which has centered on the Greek Life and its orbit. Apart from its imposing size and comprehensiveness, the most distinctive feature of End Page 392 L. 's commentary is its format. It is obvious that considerable forethought went into its conception and structure. At 170 pages, the preliminary introduction amounts to a book in itself, addressing in detail the spectrum of issues posed by the Greek Life. The commentary proper, which follows thereafter, offers customized approaches that have clearly been specifically formulated with the Greek Life in mind. The commentary divides the Greek text into brief segments, each of which is followed by a careful and comprehensive presentation of its textual variants, laid out verse by verse. These variants offer the reader a scholarly treasure trove of diverse readings, all now readily available at one's fingertips. After the Textual Notes comes L. 's own English translation of the Greek Life, followed by a listing of relevant parallel passages in the Latin, Armenian, Georgian, and Slavonic versions. The ensuing segment, entitled Biblical Precedent, provides a synopsis of the Greek Life in English paralleled by English versions of the MT, the LXX, and occasionally other germane texts. This synopsis allows for easy comparison of the versions, and highlights how consistently the Greek Life of Adam and Eve is at variance with its antecedents in Genesis. L. then highlights and discusses each of these differences in detail. Only then does he move on to the commentary proper and examine each segment of the text. These segments of commentary also constitute a scholarly treasure trove, not only for their insightful focus on biblical, pseudepigraphical, and classical sources, but also for their extensive analysis of Greek and Hebrew terminology. These analyses amount in some instances to substantial word studies, leading L. to the realization that "the literature of Second Temple Judaism rather than scripture itself, provides a key foreground for the interpretation of GLAE" (p. 914). Levison's essential takeaway is that the Greek Life of Adam and Eve can be effectively divided into four distinct (and alliterative) categories: patrimony, pain, paraenesis and pardoning (p. 3). Patrimony refers to the consolidation of Adam's line, including the choice of Seth over Cain. Pain deals with the human condition, such as the recurrent affliction experienced by Adam when he sickens and dies. The account of the protoplasts, particularly in the Testament of Eve (chaps. 15–30), serves as paraenesis and ethical instruction to all of Adam and Eve's children, including humanity in general. Finally, pardoning focuses on the ultimate forgiveness of the sinful couple. Here, L. rightly discounts the presence of a doctrine of the "fall" in the Greek Life, maintaining instead that the work is chiefly concerned to explain the painful and short existence of humans: "The focus of GLAE is not on what was but what is: a world ruled by the violence of animals and brothers alike, a world of uncertainty and fear, a world of pain, disease, and death" (p. 611). As indicated above, the primary goal of this commentary is to situate the Greek Life of Adam and Eve in the context of its day. L. is reluctant, however, to press the contextual evidence too far, especially with regard to the. . .