In this electronic presentation, the text used is based on Stone's edition of Penitence of Adam. That text was prepared in accordance with the editorial principles customary in that series and so it is basically an exact copy of a single manuscript, with all of its imperfections.

However, since the Penitence of Adam does not in any one manuscript in full andsince it is corrupt at a number of points we have diverged from a pure diplomatic edition. Where corruptions occur in the text and a preferable reading was preserved in one of the other manuscripts, that readings has been introduced into the text and, presented between double guillemets. The variants of the apparatus criticus of the printed edition are not included in the text or concordance.

In the original edition in 1981, the text was divided into chapters following the system commonly employed for the Latin and Greek versions of the primary Adam book. In the present text, verse divisions have been added. These follow those used in the Synopsis of the Adam books edited by Anderson and Stone. A few refinements have been introduced into the verse numbering, and these are in accordance with the system adopted in the electronic edition of the Synopsis, also being edited by Anderson and Stone. The first chapter number corresponds to the chapters of the Latin Vita Adae et Evae, the last number is the verse number and the middle number, if such exists, is the corresponding chapter of Apocalypsis Mosis.

In general, the Penitence of Adam was characterized as "another version of the Adam book, most probably translated into Armenian from Greek," which "must take its place alongside the Greek and Latin versions as a major witness to the Adam book. …." The conclusion was also reached that this work may, on occasion preserve a more primitive text than do the Latin or Greek versions.

The manuscripts are:

This work is closely related to the Georgian Book of Adam, which was translated and published after the publication of the Armenian version. J.-P. Mahé made a comparative study of the two and his results are set forth below. Our study to date has uncovered no special relationship between the Armenian Penitence of Adam and any of the other numerous Armenian Adam books.

The text of the complete Georgian primary Adam book was published by K‘urc‘ikidze based on five manuscripts, and her text was translated into French by Mahé in 1981. Mahé posited the existence of an Armenian intermediary for this work, although in private communication he has since indicated that his view on this is not immutable. An English translation of the Georgian version, based on an improved text, has been prepared by Mahé and is published by Anderson and Stone in their electronic synopsis and in the second edition of the printed Synopsis.

The Concordance given here is that published by M.E. Stone, Texts and Concordances of the Armenian Adam Literature (Society of Biblical Literature: Early Judaism and its Literature, 12; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996).