Azura (religious figure)
{{Short description|Character in the apocryphal Book of Jubilees}}
{{Other uses|Azura (disambiguation){{!}}Azura}}
{{Infobox person
|name= Azura
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|relatives=Aclima (sister)
Cain (brother)
Abel (brother)
Seth (brother)
|spouse= Seth
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|parents= Adam and Eve
}}
Azura (also Âzûra{{efn|"Azura" was considered Abel's twin in some traditions, and the Book of Jubilees tells us that Abel was born 71–77 A.M., while "Âzûra" in the Book of Jubilees (who was claimed to be Seth's wife), was born 134–140 A.M. This may indicate Azura and Âzûra were two separate figures.}}, Aclima, or Balbira) was the daughter of Adam and Eve, the twin of Abel, and both the wife and sister of Seth, as described in chapter 4 of the Book of Jubilees.{{cite book|last1=Amaru|first1=Betsy|title=The Empowerment of Women in the Book of Jubilees|date=1999|page=17}}{{Cite web |title=The Wesley Center Online: The Book Of Jubilees |url=https://wesley.nnu.edu/sermons-essays-books/noncanonical-literature/noncanonical-literature-ot-pseudepigrapha/the-book-of-jubilees/ |access-date=2016-07-19 |website=wesley.nnu.edu}} In an effort to explain where Cain and Abel acquired wives, some traditional sources stated that each child of Adam and Eve was born with a twin who became their mate.
Azura
In Muslim tradition, Abel was born with a twin sister named Azura, and Cain with a twin sister named Aclima. Adam wished Cain to marry Abel's twin sister and Abel to marry Cain's. However, Cain wished to marry Aclima rather than Azura. Adam proposed to refer the question to God by means of a sacrifice, and God rejected Cain's sacrifice, signifying his disapproval of Cain's marriage to Aclima. Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy.Brewer, E. Cobham. "Brewer's dictionary of phrase and fable." (1894).{{cite book |last1=Brewer |first1=Cobham |title=Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |date=2001 |page=197}}"[https://archive.org/stream/dictionnairedes01coll#page/n151/mode/2up Cain]", Dictionnaire des sciences occultes (Encycloedie Theologique Vol. 48), ed. Jacques Paul Migne, cols. 297–298.
Some sources in the Eastern Orthodox traditions give the name Azura to Cain's twin sister.Burrington, Gilbert. An Arrangement of the Genealogies in the Old Testament and Apocrypha: To which are Added, from the Same Authorities, a Selection of Single Names, and Chronological Tables of the Kings of Egypt, Syria, and Assyria: with Notes Critical, Philological, and Explanatory; and Copious Indexes, in Two Volumes. Vol. 1. Rivington, 1836.
Aclima
In another Muslim tradition, Aclima was Abel's twin sister, while Cain's twin sister was named Lusia.{{cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Margaret |title=Apocrypha Arabica |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=11}}
Balbira
In the Jewish work Seder Hadorot, Abel's twin sister is called Balbira.[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=24645&st=&pgnum=41&hilite= Seder Hadorot 8a][https://books.google.com/books?id=6uK5pa3R4d8C&pg=PA51&dq=Balbira+Abel Abarbanel Gen. 4,1 as cited by Codex Judaica]
See also
Notes
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References
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{{Adam and Eve}}
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Category:Children of Adam and Eve
Category:Women in the Old Testament apocrypha
Category:Mythological people involved in incest
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