Editing Seth (section)

==Jewish tradition==
Seth figures in the [[biblical]] texts of the ''[[Life of Adam and Eve]]'' (the ''Apocalypse of Moses''). It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the [[Garden of Eden]] to their deaths. While the surviving versions were composed from the early third to the fifth century,<ref name="Johnson">{{cite book|first=M.D. |last=Johnson |chapter=Life of Adam and Eve, a new translation and introduction |editor1-first=J.H. |editor1-last=Charlesworth |title=the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha |volume= 2 |isbn=0-385-18813-7 |year=1985}}</ref>{{rp|252}} the literary units in the work are considered to be older and predominantly of [[Jew]]ish origin.<ref name="sparks">{{cite book |first=H.F.D. |last=Sparks |title=The Apocryphal Old Testament |isbn=0-19-826177-2 |year=1984 |page=143|publisher=Clarendon Press }}</ref> There is wide agreement that the original was composed in a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]]<ref name="Johnson"/>{{rp|251}} in the first century AD/CE.<ref name="Johnson"/>{{rp|252}} In the Greek versions, Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Mercy (i.e. the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of Life]]). On the way, Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, which goes away when ordered by Seth. [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] refuses to give them the oil at that time, but promises to give it at the [[Eschatology|end of time]], when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What hast thou done? Thou hast brought upon us great wrath which is death." (chapters 5–14) Later, only Seth can witness the taking-up of Adam at his funeral in a divine chariot, which deposits him in the Garden of Eden.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinn |first=Esther |title=The Quest of Seth for the Oil of Life |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1962 |isbn=978-0226700878}}</ref>

Genesis refers to Seth as the ancestor of [[Noah]] and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in the [[Great Flood]]. It is said{{by whom|date=April 2024}} that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the [[Kabbalah]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} The [[Zohar]] refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the Egyptians or Tsetsaudim" (Hebrew: [[tzaddikim|righteous ones]]).<ref>Zohar 1:36b</ref> According to [[Seder Olam Rabbah]], based on Jewish reckoning, he was born in 2130 BC [[Anno Mundi|AM]]. According to [[Aggadah]], he had 2 sons and many wives. According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he died in 1042 AM.