Will of Adam
The Mussulman claims that our forefather, Adam, left a will, and that seventy legions of angels brought him sheets of paper and quill pens, nicely nibbed, all the way from Paradise, and that the Archangel Gabriel set his seal as a witness.
It may be added, however, that the authenticity of this will has not been established.
Will of Noah
It is claimed that Noah left a will, but of course this is an apocrypha. It is said that he divided his landed possessions, the globe, into three shares, one for each son. America was not included in this division for obvious reasons.
Will of Job
There exists a very curious and ancient testament of Job, which was discovered and published by Cardinal Mai in 1839; it relates many details which we may look for in vain in the Canonical Book. In it Job’s faithful wife, when reduced to the utmost poverty, sold the hair of her head to procure bread for her husband.
Will of Jacob
Jacob, the third of the Hebrew Patriarchs, died in Egypt at the age of 147, but was buried by his sons in the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron, in Palestine, the traditional burial place of the Prophets and other Biblical characters of their time.
It can be stated that the very earliest reference to an actual testamentary disposition is by the words of this Patriarch: