Which book contains the claim that God gave Adam the laws in the beginning?

Which book contains the claim that God gave Adam the laws in the beginning?

• A. Genesis
• B. Deuteronomy
• C. Proverbs
• D. 2nd Esdras

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is where a specific claim about the origin of laws appears in biblical or related literature. Genesis shows God giving Adam a command in the Garden (not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), but it doesn’t describe this as a formal set of “laws given at the beginning.” Deuteronomy recounts the giving of the law to Moses and the people at Sinai, not Adam. Proverbs is wisdom literature and doesn’t address creation-era law-giving. 2 Esdras, an apocryphal text, contains a passage in which the author presents that God gave Adam the laws at the beginning. Because that exact claim is found there, that book is the source described in the question.

The idea being tested is where a specific claim about the origin of laws appears in biblical or related literature. Genesis shows God giving Adam a command in the Garden (not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), but it doesn’t describe this as a formal set of “laws given at the beginning.” Deuteronomy recounts the giving of the law to Moses and the people at Sinai, not Adam. Proverbs is wisdom literature and doesn’t address creation-era law-giving. 2 Esdras, an apocryphal text, contains a passage in which the author presents that God gave Adam the laws at the beginning. Because that exact claim is found there, that book is the source described in the question.