INCENSE REVISITED: REVIEWING T H E EVIDENCE

F O R INCENSE AS A CLUE T O T H E CHRISTIAN

PROVENANCE O F T H E
GREEK UFE OF ADAM AND EVE

by

PETER-BEN SMIT
Bern

Abstract

In her well-documented article "The Aromatic Fragrances of Paradise in the Greek

Life of Adam and Eve and the Christian Origin of the Composition," Nov Τ 46 (2004)
20-45, Rivka Nir offered a fresh interpretation of references to incense and other
aromatic substances in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve arguing that these are
clearly indicative of its Christian origins. The present contribution reviews Nir's
evidence for her conclusions, and argues in the opposite direction, suggesting that
this evidence is not always as relevant as Nir assumes and can therefore not be
the basis for the kind of conclusions Nir draws.

1. Introduction

Recently Rivka Nir has taken issue with De Jonge's and Tromp's
thesis that the incense-offering in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve
(GLAE) is not indicative of the Christian origin of this work.1 She
argues the opposite: the GLAE is very clearly Christian, and exactly
2
incense is the clue to this provenance. It seems, however, that the
evidence Nir presents is at times less than conclusive, and certainly
allows room for an interpretation which assumes a Jewish original,
which has later on been reworked by (a) Christian scribe(s) (cf. the tri­
angular seal in GLAE 42:1).

1
Rivka Nir, "The Aromatic Fragrances of Paradise in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve
and the Christian Origin of the Composition," NovT 46 (2004) 20-45; cf. Marinus de
Jonge/Johannes Tromp, The Life of Adam and Eve and Related Uterature (Guides to the
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha; Sheffield: Academic Press, 1997) 69-70.
2
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 22.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2004 Novum Testamentum XLVI, 4

Also available online - www.brill.nl
370 PETER-BEN SMIT

2. The Fragrances of Paradise

The first part of Nir's argument consists of a reference to the

history of interpretation of SoS. 4:14 and the names of the spices
which occur as the ingredients of incense in GLAE 29:6 (νάρδος και
κρόκος, κάλαμος και κιννάμωμον). Nir points out that these are not
the ingredients of the incense mentioned in the Old Testament (cf.
3
Ex. 30-.34-38), and argues that, since the garden in SoS. 4:14 was in
early Christianity interpreted as paradise, the ingredients of the incense
in the GLAE suggest a Christian origin. This is, however, not neces­
sarily so.
Nir appeals to a number of sources to prove her point regarding
the SoS. and paradise. First of all there are three church fathers:
Jerome (ca. 340-420), Procopius of Gaza (ca. 465-528) and Ephrem
the Syrian (ca. 306-373). All of them are relatively late to serve as the
basis for a tradition-historical claim about the provenance of incense
in the GLAE. Admittedly, there is a host of proposals for the dating
of the GLAE, but suggesting a date from the second century onwards
is certainly not impossible. Nir, however, prefers a date in the fourth
or fifth century, especially as the parallels she sees are relevant then. 4
Apart from the dating, it should be noted that all three writers are
prone to reflect exegetical traditions that were Jewish as well as Christian,
due to their context.5 The fourth Christian text, the Apocalypse of
Peter 16 (ca. 100-150, probably in Egypt) is a different case as it is
much closer in date, though in its ch. 16, SoS. 4 does not play any
role at all, rather the chapter depicts a sweet-smelling paradise, not
unlike 1 En. 30-32, 2 En. 8:1-3 and 2 Bar. 29:7.6 In connection with
this, it is worth noting that Nir claims that "[t]he early Jewish tradi­
tion did not excessively engage in depictions of the Garden of Eden;
it did not describe the Garden as a place celebrated for its spices and

3
See for the following Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 22-27.
4
For a short discussion, see De Jonge/Tromp, Life, 75-77. See Nir, "Aromatic
Fragrances," 45 for her dating.
5
Cf. in general Günter Stemberger, "Exegetical Contacts between Christians and
Jews," in: Magne Saebo (ed.), Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. TL· History of Interpretation 1
(Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996) 569-86, esp. 577-85; further, in the
same volume: Lucas van Rompay, "The Christian Syriac Tradition of Interpretation,"
612-41.
6
Christian or nearly Christian texts according to Nir: "In my opinion, the Old
Testament pseudepigrapha constitutes one literary section that in its theological orien-
tation reveals great affinity to the Christian sources (. . .)," (Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances,"
25 n. 18), but affinity is not the same as being Christian.
 ONCE AGAIN: T H E INCENSE-OFFERING IN GLAE 371

fragrant aromas, not did it link the spices mentioned in Song of Songs
4:14 with the burning of incense or with the Garden of Eden."7 This
is only partly correct. First of all there is a number of texts that does
refer to the trees of paradise as possessing a wonderful smell indeed
(cf. 1 En. 24:3-4, 25:45, 29-32, 4 Es. 6:42-44 and 2 Bar. 29), and
these texts are certainly not, as Nir seems to argue, only Christian.8
Apart from this these traditions are rooted in the wisdom literature,
which is certainly pre-Christian, and in which fragrances do play a
role of importance.9 The incense in GLAE fits into this pattern very
well indeed. Another Jewish tradition, not referred to by Nir is found
in MidrTeh. 23:4,10 where the encampment of the Israelites in the
desert is described in paradisiacal terms, explicitly referring to SoS.
4:11-15, as part of a larger exegetical tradition, describing the wilder-
ness wanderings of Israel as a return to paradise.11 The situation might
therefore be slightly more complicated than Nir would like: there are
Jewish texts about the fragrances of paradise and there are descrip-
tions from Jewish sources referring to the SoS. describing paradisiacal
circumstances.

3. The Tree of Life

The tree (of life) in GLAE 9:3, 13:2, 28 is for Nir another indica-
tion for the clear Christian nature of the tradition of the spice as
the tree of life is connected with fragrances in other texts (cf. 1 En.
24-25, 2 En. 5:1-6, Gospel of Nicodemus 19), as it is supposedly
identified with Christ in the Gospel of Nicodemus 19 and 24.12 This
claim, however, already considerably weakened by the fact that the

7
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 26.
8
Cf. the argument in her book TL· Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption
in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (Atlanta: SBL, 2003), e.g. on pp. 132-7.
9
Cf. Ulrike Bechmann, "Duft im Alten Testament," in: Joachim Kügler (ed.), Die
Macht der Nase (SBS 187; Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2000) 49-98, esp.
91-98.
10
Dating the Midrash Tehillim remains notoriously difficult. Cf. Esther M. Menn,
"Praying King and Sanctuary of Prayer I: David and the Temple's Origins in Rabbinic
Psalms Commentary (Midrash Tehillim)," JJS 52 (2001) 1-26, esp. 7. See also Hermann
L. Strack/Günter Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1992) 322-3. But it is not impossible that early materials are included.
11
Germain Bienaimé, "Un Retour du Paradis dans le Désert de l'Exode selon une
tradition juive," in: Louis Derousseaux (ed.), La Création dans l'Orient Ancien (Paris: Cerf,
1987) 429-49, esp. 442-6.
12
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 27-30.
372 PETER-BEN SMIT

tree in the GLAE does not smell, does not find the support it needs
in the Gospel of Nicodemus either: in ch. 19 Christ is the bringer of
the healing ointment, but, according to ch. 24, the identification seems
to be between two trees: the one in in the midst of the garden (cf.
Gen. 3:3, explicitly not the tree of life, cf. Gen. 3:22!), and the cross
of Christ, not between Christ and a tree. The reference to the Acts
of Thomas 157 is not justified either:13 there the parallel is between
the salvific properties of the cross and that of oil, both depending on
Jesus' conference of "grace" on both items. All this does certainly not
amount to the conclusion that the incense offering in the GLAE can
only be understood against the background of Christian concepts and
beliefs.
From a methodological point of view it is interesting that it is not
a problem for Nir that in TestAd. 3:6, where also spices from par-
adise surface, these are not the same as those mentioned in SoS. 4:14
and in the GLAE, but rather those in Matt. 2:11, thereby constitut-
ing a direct link with a Christian text, whereas she is at pains to point
out that the ingredients of the incense in the GLAE differ from those
mentioned in Ex. 30:34-38 and for that reason can hardly be Jewish
of origin.

4. An Incense-Offering

The incense-offering in GLAE 33 is characterized by Nir as an

atonement offering. Though the incense is certainly used in the con-
text of a prayer for mercy, I am afraid I cannot see how the incense
could have an atoning function here: as Nir says as well, the forgive-
ness seems to be on the basis of Adam being God's image and the
work of God's hands (cf. GLAE 33:5, 35:2). That there occurs an
incense sacrifice as a parallel to the sacrifice of Christ in the Apocalypse
of Paul does not prove by its very existence that the sacrifice of Christ
is in view in the GLAE as well, and this is even less effectuated by
the reference to Ephrem the Syrian, Carmen Msibena 17, which, on its
own, does refer to incense, but not to Christ (the trio fasts-prayer-
incense suggests this apart from the fact that there is no reference to
Christ in the text). Why it should be a problem that animal sacrifices
are absent from the GLAE—certainly if one apparently assumes a date

13
One of the texts referred to by Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 30 n. 32; see for the
following Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 30-33.
 O N C E A G A I N : T H E I N C E N S E - O F F E R I N G IN GLAE 373

after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple as Nir presumably does—

is unclear as well.
I will leave the issue of the Christian or Jewish nature of the loca­
tion of paradise in the third heaven aside, as it has litde to do with
incense, though one would wonder what tradition Paul is referring to
in 2 Cor. 2:12: Jewish? Christian? Or would it not make historical
sense to discern between the two at this stage? That the Adam-Christ-
typology in the GLAE is one functioning without Christ (and there­
fore not quite like the Adam-Christ-typology in Paul's work!) need not
to be addressed here either. 14

5. The Burial of Adam

Nir returns to incense (or, rather, spices—no one is buried with

incense anywhere!) in the context of Adam's burial, arguing that it
offers clear parallels with the burial of Jesus as well as with early
Christian burial practice based on the latter. 15 However, any explicit
reference to the burial of Jesus in the GLAE seems to be lacking, but
it will be worth noting the points Nir is making. First of all she pre­
sents an exegesis of Mk. 14:3-7par./Jn. 12:3, by means of which she
claims that paradise is established on earth through Jesus' death, as
his sacrifice is symbolized by the spices of paradise, and this, together
with the tidings of the Gospel, will be spread to fill the entire world
(prooftext: Matt. 26:13). Even if the connection between Mk. 14:3-9
(as well as the parallels Matt. 26:6-13 and Lk. 7:36-50, see also Jn.
12:1-8) and Jesus' burial is obvious, the connection between this text
and the spices of paradise, which do not seem to play a role of impor­
tance in the synoptic tradition as well as with the early Christian mis­
sion, remains shrouded for me. 1 6 More interesting is the reference in
Jn. 19:38-40 to the μίγμα σμύρνης και αλόης, explicitly identified as
part of the burial customs of the Jews. Why the spices here are to be
interpreted in terms of 2 Cor. 2:14-16 and Eph. 5:2 as suggested by
Hoskyns 1940 commentary, who is quoted here approvingly by Nir,

14
Cf. however Otto Merk/Martin Meiser, Das Üben Adams und Evas (JSHRZ II.5;
Gütersloh: Gutersloher Verlagshaus, 1998) 767.
15
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 34-35, contra Merk/Meiser, Z¿fon, 767. The refer-
ences to early Christian burials are again relatively late: one in the work of John
Chrysostom (ca. 345-407), De S. Pelagta Horn I, PG 50, col. 583, and the Acta Sincera
S. Petri Akxandnni Episcopi, PG 18, col. 465, referring to a burial in 311. Cf. Also the
Itinerarium of Egeria 1:10 (4th century).
16
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 36.
374 PETER-BEN SMIT

remains unclear to me. It does work on the level of intertextual pos-

sibility but not on that of literary and tradition-historical likelihood.17
This, however, becomes a cornerstone of Nir's interpretation, whereas
it is much more likely to interpret the reference to the spices in terms
of kingship.18 Even if the two spices from Jn. 19:39 occur in SoS. 4:14
as well, this does not mean that the text is referring to paradise imme-
diately, let alone to any sacrifices of incense. Even on the level of the
texts Nir refers to, her proposed Adam-Christ-typology (somehow with-
out Christ, then, in the GLAE) does not work as smoothly as she
might want to.19 To be sure, both Jesus and Adam are buried in
shrouds, in itself not uncommon (cf. Mk. 15:46, Matt. 27:59, GLAE
40:1-2), but Adam gets a number of them and they come from heaven.
The anointing of Adam's dead body (GLAE 40:2) is not the same
thing as the prophetic anointing of Jesus when he is alive and well
(Jn. 12:1-8, Mk. 14:3-9, Matt. 26:6-13 and Lk. 7:36-50). With Adam,
there is no explicit reference to a new grave, though it might be implied
in 40:7, but cf. Mk. 15:46par. It is simply not true that "Like in the
burial of Jesus, the spices that were brought to Adam were used to
prepare his body for burial,"20 as the incense from the beginning of
GLAE does not play a role here; neither is Jesus in Jn. 19:38-42 explic-
itly anointed, even if it is treated with spices. Apart from this, both
John and the author of the GLAE might have had recourse to the
same practices in antiquity. Arguing that the spices used at the burial
of Jesus are the same as those the Letter to the Ephesians is speak-
ing of in 5:1-2 is just too allegorical, as there seems to be a clear
difference between a sacrifice or a martyrium and a burial. To what
extent Adam in the GLAE is related to early Christian martyrs (where
is his martyrium?) is another unanswered question.21 Neither is it, in
my view, allowed to implement elements from the Wirkungsgeschichte of
Acts 2:1-4, a text which does not contain any reference to any fra-
grances whatsoever, and then take recourse to the Cave of Treasures (at
the earliest written in the 4th century) chs. 62 and 69.22 Nir's discus-
sion of the use of incense in the Early Church is another thing, and

17
Cf. Edwyn Clement Hoskyns, TL· Fourth Gospel vol. 2 (London: Faber, 1940) 638;
idem, The Fourth Gospel (2nd ed.; London: Faber, 1947) 536.
18
Cf. e.g. Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John. A Commentary vol. 2 (Peabody:
Hendrickson, 2003) 1163.
19
See for this and for the following Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 37-39.
20
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 37.
21
Though Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 40-42.
22
Nir, "Aromatic Fragrances," 41.
 O N C E A G A I N : T H E I N C E N S E - O F F E R I N G IN GLAE 375

cannot be treated here, though one might take into account that the
"spiritualization" of incense was widespread, and that texts such as
Apoc. 5:3, 8:3 should at least be viewed in the polemic between the
imperial cult and the heavenly cult in the Apocalypse of John also, if
not primarily. They need not constitute references to the use of incense
in the Christian liturgy at the turn of the century.23

6. Conclusion

Stopping here, I would like to add that I did not mean to argue
that (parts of the GLAE)24 are not Christian. The lake of Acheron for
example has indeed more a Christian-platonic background than any-
thing else, and so might the triangular seal on Adam's grave in 42:1,
as well as the chs. 31-37 of the GLAE be Christian indeed. The only
issue is, that incense cannot prove this as conclusively as Nir pro-
poses.25 One of the scholars whose thesis Nir discusses, for example,
has found, on less speculative grounds that one need not necessarily
assume a pre-Christian version of the GLAE as well.26

23
Cf. also Kugler, Du Macht, 134-41.
24
Cf. Marinus de Jonge, "The Literary Development of the Life of Adam and Eve"
in: Gary Anderson/Michael Stone/Johannes Tromp (eds.), Literature on Adam and Eve
(SVTP 15; Leiden: Brill, 2000) 239-49.
25
Cf. Marinus de Jonge/L. Michael White, "The Washing of Adam in the Acherusian
Lake (Greek Life of Adam and Eve 37,3) in the Context of Early Christian Notions of
the Afterlife," in: John T. Fitzgerald/Thomas H. Olbrecht/L. Michael White (eds.),
Early Christianity and Classical Culture (NovTSup. 110; FS. Abraham J. Malherbe; Leiden:
Brill, 2003) 609-35.
26
Cf. Marinus de Jonge, "The Christian Origin of the Greek Life of Adam and Eve"
in: Anderson/Stone/Tromp, Literature on Adam and Eve, 347-63, taking as his starting
point the patristic attention for God's mercy to Adam and Eve (p. 351).
 ^ s
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