The first scene in the pardoning
takes place in the heavenly sanctuary. The incense symbolizes the offering of
prayers, incense fills the heavens as do the many prayers of the angels. The
scene ends with the words, ‘Holy Jael, forgive, for he is your image and the
work of your (holy) hands’ (33). The next scene, according to MS. A, contains a
description of the two mysteries who are pleading on behalf of Adam (34).
In the next scene the intercession
of the angels is the predominant activity (35-36). Eve sees the seven heavens
opened, Adam on his face, ‘and all the holy angels are with him praying for him
. . . ‘ When Eve sees two ‘dark-skinned persons assisting at the prayer for
your father’, Seth explains that they are the moon and sun which ‘fall down and
pray for my father Adam’.
The intercession is successful:
Seth is interrupted by trumpets and an angelic cry, ‘Blessed be the glory of
the LORD over his works; he has had mercy on Adam, the work of his hands’ (37).
After Adam is purified in the Lake of Acheron, Michael brings him to the third
heaven until the great and fearful day which God will establish for the world.
Therefore, although Adam faced death with uncertainty, he receives mercy now as
the result of angelic intercession. (John R. Levison, Portraits of Adam in
Early Judaism: From Sirach to 2 Baruch [Journal for the Study of the
Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series 1; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1988], 171-72, emphasis added)
Other indications that this takes
place in the heavenly sanctuary include: the ascension of Adam’s spirit (32),
Michael’s command that Eve take her eyes off earthly things and place them on
heavenly ones (32), the fact that the smoke fills the heavens and not a room
(33), and Eve’s command to Seth to see the seven heavens opened (35). The
presence of the Seraphim, the golden censers and three golden bowls, the
chariot (which items elsewhere the ApMos are associated with the Cherubim [22,
38]), the holy throne (37), the altar (of incense), and incense are indications
that this scene takes place in the holy of holies. (Ibid., 231 n. 12)
