Midrash sur La Genèse 3:23

And the Lord God took Adam and his wife and placed them into the garden of Eden, to till it ‎and watch over it.‎ And he commanded them and said unto them : From all the trees of the garden ye may freely ‎eat; but from the tree of know ledge of good and evil ye shall not eat; for on the day that ye ‎eat thereof ye shall surely die.‎ And after the Lord had blessed and instructed them, he withdrew from them ahigh, and Adam ‎and his wife dwelt in the midst of the garden according to the commandment of the Lord, ‎which he commanded them.‎ And the serpent which the Lord had created upon the earth, came unto them anxious to ‎mislead them to trespass upon the commandment of God which he had commanded them.‎ And he beguiled the woman and persuaded her to eat from the fruit of the tree of ‎knowledge.‎ And the woman hearkened unto the voice of the serpent.‎ And she transgressed the word of God and she took from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of ‎good and of evil and she ate, and she took thereof and gave to her husband also, and he ate.‎ And thus both, Adam and his wife, trespassed upon the commandment of God which he ‎commanded them, and God knew it, and his wrath kindled against them and he cursed them.‎ And the Lord God, on that very day, drove them away from the garden of Eden, to till the ‎ground whence they have been taken, and they went and dwelt on the east side of the ‎garden of Eden.‎

Rabbi Abbahu began: “But they, like men [ke’adam], have violated the covenant” (Hosea 6:7) – this is Adam the first man. The Holy One blessed be He said: I brought Adam the first man into the Garden of Eden, I commanded him, and he violated My command. I sentenced him to banishment and expulsion, and I lamented him with eikha. I brought him into the Garden of Eden, as it is stated: “He placed him in the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 2:15). I commanded him, as it is stated: “The Lord God commanded the man saying.… [but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat]” (Genesis 2:16–17). He violated My command, as it is stated: “Have [you eaten] from the tree from which I commanded you [not to eat?]” (Genesis 3:11). I sentenced him to banishment, as it is stated: “He banished the man” (Genesis 3:24). I sentenced him to expulsion, as it is stated: “The Lord [God] sent him from the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:23). I lamented him with eikha, as it is stated: “He said to him: Where are you [ayeka]” (Genesis 3:9); it is written eikha.¹¹Ayeka and eikha are each spelled alef, yod, kaf, heh. Thus, it is as though God used the word eikha, how, regarding Adam, as if to say: How did this come to be, just as the first word of Lamentations is how [eikha].
His descendants, too, I brought into the Land of Israel, as it is stated: “I brought you into a fruitful land” (Jeremiah 2:7). I commanded them, as it is stated: “Command the children of Israel” (Leviticus 24:2). They violated My command, as it is stated: “All Israel has violated your Torah” (Daniel 9:11). I sentenced them to banishment, as it is stated: “From My house I will banish them” (Hosea 9:15). I sentenced them to expulsion, as it is stated: “Send them from My presence and let them go” (Jeremiah 15:1). I lamented them with: “How does…sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1).

R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina: the Holy One joined together thirteen bridal canopies for the first Adam in the Garden of Eden, as written (in Ezek. 28:13): YOU WERE IN EDEN, THE GARDEN OF GOD; EVERY STONE THAT IS PRECIOUS WAS YOUR COVERING: <(1) CARNELIAN, (2) CHRYSOLITE, AND (3) MOONSTONE, (4) BERYL, (5) ONYX AND, (6) JASPER, (7) SAPPHIRE, (8) TURQUOISE, AND (9) EMERALD, AND (10) GOLD>. Resh Laqish said: Eleven, and the Rabbis say: Ten. But they do not disagree (as to the verse, only over the number of canopies). The one who makes <a total of> thirteen for him makes (1) EVERY STONE, (2) THAT IS PRECIOUS, and (3) YOUR COVERING <to be the extra> three. The one who makes <a total of> eleven for him makes <EVERY STONE THAT IS PRECIOUS WAS YOUR COVERING as a whole to be the extra> one. The one who makes <a total of> ten for him does not make <these words> to be an <extra> one. Then after all this praise <comes> (Gen. 3:19): FOR DUST YOU ARE, AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN. (Eccl. 8:1, cont.:) AND THE RADIANCE OF HIS FACE IS CHANGED. When <Adam> said (in Gen. 3:12): THE WOMAN THAT YOU PUT WITH ME, SHE GAVE ME <FRUIT FROM THE TREE, AND I ATE>. Even so did the Holy One change his face and drive him from the Garden of Eden, as it is written (in Gen. 3:23): SO THE LORD GOD SENT HIM AWAY FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

ADAM'S PENITENCE
"So he drove out the man" (Gen. 3:24). Driving out (i.e.) and he went forth outside the garden of Eden (and he abode) on Mount Moriah, for the gate of the garden of Eden is nigh unto Mount Moriah. Thence He took him and thither He made him return to the place whence he was taken, as it is said, "To till the ground from whence he was taken" (Gen. 3:23).

And now lest he send his hand: Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said, "It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, opened an opening of repentance for him: 'and now' - and 'and now' is always [referring to] repentance, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), 'And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, etc.' And it states, 'lest'; and 'lest' is always [meaning], no (such that Adam refused to repent). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'He will also send his hand and eat from the Tree of life - it is a wonder; if he will eat, he will live forever!' Therefore, 'And the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden.' Once He sent him away, He began to lament, 'Behold, man.'"

Rav Naḥman began: “Oh, Ariel, Ariel” (Isaiah 29:1) – lion, mighty lion.¹¹⁰He understands the term Ariel to mean mighty lion [ari el]. “The city where David encamped” (Isaiah 29:1) – the city in which David encamped, a city in which no one other than David encamped,¹¹¹The city became the everlasting capital city of the Davidic kingdom. the city that David made his royal fortress. “Add year to year, festivals [ḥagim] will come around [yinkofu]” (Isaiah 29:1) – a year began and a year departed, but they did not ascend on the pilgrimage festivals. The roads were growing thorn bushes [higim]. That is what is written: “Ḥagim yinkofu.”¹¹²Ḥagim yinkofu is expounded to mean that travelers would have to remove the thorns [yinkofu higim]. “I will distress Ariel” (Isaiah 29:2) – Rabbi Nisa of Caesarea said: From here, that it had been a place of contentment for Israel. “There will be mourning and moaning” (Isaiah 29:2) – mortification upon mortification. “It will be for Me like Ariel” (Isaiah 29:2) – the second destruction will be like the first destruction. When they sinned they were exiled. When they were exiled, Jeremiah began lamenting over them, eikha.

Rabbi Pinḥas began: “If after these you will not heed Me…” (Leviticus 26:18). Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua: Rabbi Eliezer says: The Holy One blessed be He does not bring punishment upon Israel until He first warns them. That is what is written: “If after these.” Rabbi Yehoshua says: So Israel would not say: The blows have ceased; He has no others to bring upon us, the verse states: “If after these [ad],” if there are more [od] of these, He has other [punishments] and more like these to bring [upon you]. “I will punish you further, seven ways for your sins” (Leviticus 26:18) – You violated seven transgressions before Me; come and accept upon yourselves seven punishments. You violated seven transgressions before Me, so Jeremiah comes to recite lamentations over you which are seven alphabetic [acrostics], eikha.¹¹³The book of Lamentations contains three alphabetical acrostics, in chapters 1,2, and 4, each beginning with the word eikha. Additionally, chapter 3 contains a triple alphabetical acrostic. Chapter 5 is not written in an acrostic, but since it has twenty-two verses, which are the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the midrash refers to this too as alphabetical in the sense that it corresponds to the number of letters in the alphabet (Matnot Kehuna).

... The first man was driven out of the Garden and settled on Mount Moriah, because the gates of the Garden of Eden are close by Mount Moriah. From there He took him and to there He returned him to the place from which he was taken, as it says “Now the Lord God took the man…” (Bereshit 2:15) From where did He take him? From the place of the Holy Temple, and he settled outside of the Garden of Eden on Mount Moriah, as it says “…to till the soil, whence he had been taken.” (Bereshit 3:23)…