Bereishit: Adam and Chava pull a Yeshaya

In Bereishit 3:8:

וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶת-קוֹל ה אֱלֹקִים, מִתְהַלֵּךְ בַּגָּן--לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם; וַיִּתְחַבֵּא הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי ה אֱלֹהִים, בְּתוֹךְ עֵץ הַגָּן.
"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."

עֵץ הַגָּן is singular, so a hyper-literal translation would perhaps be that they his themselves inside a single tree in the garden, as opposed to amongst the trees in the garden. (We could expect the construct form עצי. Of course, the pshat, or literal level of the text, is that the term עֵץ הַגָּן is a collective noun, referring to a group in the singular.) My reaction was that one could say they pulled a Yeshaya, the prophet who according to one midrash, to hide from king Menashe, pronounced a Divine Name and was swallowed up by a cedar.

What is this midrash? It occurs in Bavli Yevamot 49b. The mishna on 59a said

איזהו ממזר...
ורבי יהושע אומר כל שחייבין עליו מיתת בית דין
אמר רבי שמעון בן עזאי מצאתי מגלת יוחסין בירושלים וכתוב בה איש פלוני ממזר מאשת איש לקיים דברי רבי יהושע

Who is a mamzer (bastard)? ... And Rabbi Yehoshua says all relashionships for which one is liable for it the death penalty of the court.
Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai said: I found a megillat yuchsin (scroll of geneology - geneological chart) in Yerushalayim, and written in it was the man Such and Such is a bastard from an adulterous with a married woman, to establish the words of Rabbi Yehoshua.

The gemara then cites a brayta which elaborates upon the contents of this megillat yuchsin.

א"ר שמעון בן עזאי כו':
תני שמעון בן עזאי אומר מצאתי מגלת יוחסין בירושלים
וכתוב בה איש פלוני ממזר מאשת איש
וכתוב בה משנת ר' אליעזר בן יעקב קב ונקי
וכתוב בה מנשה הרג את ישעיה
אמר רבא מידן דייניה וקטליה
אמר ליה משה רבך אמר (שמות לג) כי לא יראני האדם וחי
ואת אמרת (ישעיהו ו) ואראה את ה' יושב על כסא רם ונשא
משה רבך אמר (דברים ד) מי כה' אלהינו בכל קראנו אליו
ואת אמרת (ישעיהו נה) דרשו ה' בהמצאו
משה רבך אמר (שמות כג) את מספר ימיך אמלא
ואת אמרת (מלכים ב כ) והוספתי על ימיך חמש עשרה שנה
אמר ישעיה ידענא ביה דלא מקבל מה דאימא ליה ואי אימא ליה אישוייה מזיד
אמר שם איבלע בארזא
אתיוה לארזא ונסרוה
כי מטא להדי פומא נח נפשיה
משום דאמר (ישעיהו ו) ובתוך עם טמא שפתים אנכי יושב
מכל מקום קשו קראי אהדדי
ואראה את ה' כדתניא כל הנביאים נסתכלו באספקלריא שאינה מאירה משה רבינו נסתכל באספקלריא המאירה דרשו ה' בהמצאו הא ביחיד הא בצבור ויחיד
אימת אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה אלו עשרה ימים שבין ראש השנה ליום הכפורים
את מספר ימיך אמלא תנאי היא דתניא את מספר ימיך אמלא
אלו שני דורות זכה משלימין לו לא זכה פוחתין לו דברי ר' עקיבא וחכמים אומרים זכה מוסיפים לו לא זכה פוחתין לו אמרו לו לרבי עקיבא הרי הוא אומר והוספתי על ימיך חמש עשרה שנה אמר להם משלו הוסיפו לו תדע שהרי נביא עומד ומתנבא (מלכים א יג) הנה בן נולד לבית דוד יאשיהו שמו ועדיין לא נולד מנשה ורבנן מי כתיב מחזקיה לבית דוד כתיב אי מחזקיה נולד אי מאינש אחרינא

We learnt: Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai says: I found a megillat yuchsin in Yerushalayim and written on it was the man Such and Such is a bastard from an adulterous relationship with a married woman. And was written in it the Mishna of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov kav venaki, and was written in it Menashe killed Yeshaya.
Rava said, he judges judgings and killed him. He (Menashe) said to him(Yeshaya):

• Moshe your teacher said (Shemot 33) "For a man shall not see me and live" And You said (Yeshaya 6) "and I say Hashem sitting on a high exalted throne."

• Moshe your teacher said (Devarim 4:8),כִּי מִי-גוֹי גָּדוֹל, אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ אֱלֹקִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו, כַּה אֱלֹקֵינוּ, בְּכָל-קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו, "For what great nation is there, that hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is whensoever we call upon Him?" {note that the actual words cited leaves out some of the middle words.}
  And You said (Yeshaya 54) "Seek out Hashem when he is to be found."
  
  
• Moshe your teacher said (Shemot 23:26) לֹא תִהְיֶה מְשַׁכֵּלָה וַעֲקָרָה, בְּאַרְצֶךָ; אֶת-מִסְפַּר יָמֶיךָ, אֲמַלֵּא. "None shall miscarry, nor be barren, in thy land; the number of thy days I will fulfil." {thus connoting that man will live out his alloted years.}
  And You said (2 Kings 20:6) {to King Chizkiyahu} וְהֹסַפְתִּי עַל-יָמֶיךָ, חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה, "And I will add unto thy days fifteen years"
  

Yeshaya said: I know about him that he will not accept what I tell him {in answer to his contradictions} and if I answer him I will make him into a deliberate sinner.
He said the Divine name and was swallowed up in a cedar tree.
{King Menashe called for woodcutters and } they came to the cedar tree and cut it.
When they reached his mouth Yeshaya's soul rested.
Because he {maligned Israel, when he} said (Yeshaya 6) "and I dwell amongst a people of unpure lips."
Even so, these verses do indeed contradict one another!

• "And I saw Hashem" - as the brayta says, all the prophets saw in a non-lucid speculum {window glass}; Moshe saw in a lucid speculum.
  {That is, this statement that no one can see Hashem and live, with Moshe as an exception, goes on the clearer prophetic vision of Hashem. But the vision of all the prophets allows for this "seeing" of Hashem, in a non-lucid vision.}
  

• "Seek out Hashem when He is to be found." - one is as a single individual, and one is when in a group. And the individual, when? Rav Nachman cited Rabba bar Avua: these are the 10 days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.

• "The number of your days I will fulfill" - this is a matter of tanaitic dispute!for a brayta said: "The number of your days I will fulfill" - these are the days alloted to man at the time of his birth. If he merits it he fills out these days; if he does not merit it {years} are taken away. These are the words of Rabbi Akiva. And the Sages say if he merits years are added to him; if he does not merit years are taken away. They said to him, to Rabbi Akiva - behold it states in 2 Kings 20:6: And I will add on to your years. He replied to them, of his
  
  {King Chizkiyahu's} own years he added to him.
  
  {That is, he was originally slated to live at least another 15 years, but lost those due to lack of merit, and is now being informed that he will get 15 years, but those are part of those allotted to him when he was born.}
  
  You should know this, for the prophet stood and prophesied in 1 Kings 13: "Behold a son is born to the House of David; Yoshiyahu is his name." and Menashe {father of Yoshiyahu} had not yet been born.
  
  {That is, this is an earlier prophesy, and for it to be fulfilled Menashe would need to be born, so we see the original plan was for him to live longer, father Menashe, who would in turn father Yoshiyahu.}
  
  And the Sages {who argue on Rabbi Akiva} - does the verse {in 1 Kings 13} say "to Chizkiyah?" It says "to the House of David." Either from Chizkiyah of from another man.
  

Is this a midrash? An historical account? A popular legend?

Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai, a 2nd century Amora, attests to the basic thought in in, but states straight-out that the material did not originate with him - he found it in a megillat yuchsin. Rava, an Amora, fills in the details. However, it is possible that not all the details are from Rava. Rava adds how he was killed and the objection to Isaiah's prophecy based on contradicting verses in Torah. However, the resolution of the contradictions does not seem to be from Rava, but rather supplied by the stama degemara. This matters in part because a lot of the Rabbinic flavor - resolutions based on various Tanaim and tanaaitic sources comes in the resolution as opposed to the questions.

There is a 1st century peice of pseudepigrapha called the Ascension (or the Martyrdom) of Isaiah. It has Christian components but also parts that scholars think are Jewish in origin. (See this article in Jewish Encyclopedia: Isaiah, Ascension of.) There is a part that parallels that part of the legend recounted by Rava.

Here is a link to the full text of the Ascension of Isaiah. The parallel portion:

CHAPTER 3

1. AND Belchira recognized and saw the place of Isaiah and the prophets who were with him; for he dwelt in the region of Bethlehem, and was an adherent of Manasseh. And he prophesied falsely in Jerusalem, and many belonging to Jerusalem were confederate with him, and he was a Samaritan.

2. And it came to pass when Alagar Zagar, king of Assyria, had come and captive, and led them away to the mountains of the medes and the rivers of Tazon;

3. This (Belchira), whilst still a youth, had escaped and come to Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, but he walked not in the ways of his father of Samaria; for he feared Hezekiah.

4. And he was found in the days of Hezekiah speaking words of lawlessness in Jerusalem.

5. And the servants of Hezekiah accused him, and he made his escape to the region of Bethlehem. And they persuaded...

6. And Belchira accused Isaiah and the prophets who were with him, saying: `Isaiah and those who are with him prophesy against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah that they shall be laid waste and (against the children of Judah and) Benjamin also that they shall go into captivity, and also against thee, O lord the king, that thou shalt go (bound) with hooks and iron chains':

7. But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah.

8. And Isaiah himself hath said: `I see more than Moses the prophet.'

9. But Moses said: `No man can see God and live'; and Isaiah hath said: `I have seen God and behold I live.'

10. Know, therefore, O king, that he is lying. And Jerusalem also he hath called Sodom, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem he hath declared to be the people of Gomorrah. And he brought many accusations against Isaiah and the prophets before Manasseh.

11. But Beliar dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the princes of Judah and Benjamin and of the eunuchs and of the councillors of the king.

12. And the words of Belchira pleased him [exceedingly], and he sent and seized Isaiah.

...

CHAPTER 5

ON account of these visions, therefore, Beliar was wroth with Isaiah, and he dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and he sawed him in sunder with a wooden saw.

2. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, Belchira stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because of Isaiah.

3. And Belchira, with the aid of Mechembechus, stood up before Isaiah, [laughing] deriding;

4. And Belchira said to Isaiah: 'Say, "I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise the ways of Manasseh are good and right.

5. And the ways also of Belchira and of his associates are good."

6. And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder.

7. But Isaiah was (absorbed) in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them (not).

8. And Belchira spake thus to Isaiah: "Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their hearts, and I will compel Manasseh and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence thee.

9. And Isaiah answered and said: "So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accused be thou and all they powers and all thy house.

10. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body."

11. And they seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wooden saw.

12. And Manasseh and Belchira and the false prophets and the princes and the people [and] all stood looking on.

13. And to the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in sunder: "Go ye to the region of Tyre and Sidon; for for me only hath God mingled the cup."

14. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain.

It stands to reason then that Rava was citing the well known legend, or else midrash, to explain what Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai found in the megilla.

If it is just popular legend, we would not expect any scriptural basis. If it is midrash we expect some pasuk. The encyclopedia article I cited above mentions 2 Kings 21:16. But that verse, and the next, simply read:

טז וְגַם דָּם נָקִי שָׁפַךְ מְנַשֶּׁה, הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד, עַד אֲשֶׁר-מִלֵּא אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם, פֶּה לָפֶה--לְבַד מֵחַטָּאתוֹ אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת-יְהוּדָה, לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי ה.

יז וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי מְנַשֶּׁה וְכָל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, וְחַטָּאתוֹ אֲשֶׁר חָטָא: הֲלֹא-הֵם כְּתוּבִים, עַל-סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים--לְמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה.

16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

The reference to shedding innocent blood could be a veiled reference to this incident, but really if it is midrash we should expect something in the verse that can be interpreted to give each of the specific details of the story. At least that is my experience with almost every other I've experienced. A general bloodshed reference does not a midrash make, or justify.

I would suggest that if it is midrash, perhaps it is the וְגַם דָּם נָקִי שָׁפַךְ מְנַשֶּׁה, "Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood," plus מִלֵּא אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם, פֶּה לָפֶה, which literally means filling Jerusalem with blood from mouth to mouth. This could be taken as a reference to Yeshaya dying when the saw reached his mouth. Finally, the reference to the fact, in the next verse, that there are more condemnatory details in the book of Chronicles of the kings of Judah makes the verse beg to be expanded, especially in a megillat yuchsin which might be related in geneological attitude to a Divrei HaYamim.