Garments of Adam

The Garments of Adam are the original coverings God made for Adam and Eve after the expulsion - which in Jasher's tradition pass through generations as objects of supernatural power, ultimately enabling Nimrod's dominion over animals and men. Jasher 7 describes how Ham stole the garments from Noah after the Flood, hid them, and eventually passed them to his grandson Nimrod. Wearing them, Nimrod gained power over all creatures and established the first post-flood empire. Their loss to Esau (who kills Nimrod in Jasher 27) symbolizes the transfer of worldly power. The garments represent the dangerous intersection of divine gift and human ambition. Within the interconnected tradition preserved across the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and the Book of Jasher, this concept resonates with broader patterns of divine order, human response, and cosmic consequence. The pseudepigraphal sources provide perspectives and details absent from other ancient texts, offering readers a more complete understanding of how ancient communities understood the relationship between heavenly realities and earthly experience. These expanded accounts invite sustained reflection on the enduring significance of this tradition within the larger framework of Second Temple Jewish thought and its influence on later religious imagination.

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Symbolizes: Supernatural Authority and Stolen Power

Key Chapters

The Book of Jasher 7 The Generations of Noah. The Garments of Skin made for Adam Stolen by Ham and they Descend to Nimrod the Mighty Hunter, who Becomes the King of the Wh... 9 min read The Book of Jasher 27 Esau slays Nimrod and Two of his Mighty Men. Returns Home weary from the Fight, and sells his Birthright for Value. 4 min read

Key Passages

Ham steals garments

The Book of Jasher 7:24-30

And the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush....

A²⁴nd the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush.

²⁵ For after the death of Adam and his wife, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to God, he gave them to Methuselah, his son. ²⁶ And at the death of Methuselah, Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until he went out of the ark. ²⁷ And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers. ²⁸ And when Ham begat his first born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days. ²⁹ And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments. ³⁰ And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth, yea, he was a mighty hunter in the field, and he hunted the animals and he built altars, and he offered upon them the animals before the Lord.

Esau kills Nimrod for them

The Book of Jasher 27:1-12

And Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt....

A¹nd Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt.

² And Nimrod king of Babel, the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day. ³ And Nimrod was observing Esau all the days, for a jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau all the days. ⁴ And on a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men. ⁵ And all his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself for Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness. ⁶ And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know him, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field. ⁷ And Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head. ⁸ And Esau fought a desperate fight with the two men that were with Nimrod, and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and smote them to death with his sword. ⁹ And all the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod's father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house. ¹¹ And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod's men, and he came unto his father's house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him. ¹² And he said unto his brother Jacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord.

Did You Know?

The garments gave Nimrod power over all animals - they recognized Adam's original authority.

Ham stole them from his father Noah while he was drunk after the Flood.

Nimrod's entire empire rests on this stolen supernatural authority, not legitimate rule.

Esau kills Nimrod specifically to obtain the garments - power as a physical object.

The tradition suggests divine gifts can be misused when obtained outside proper authority.