Tree of the knowledge of good and evil

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life.

Genesis 2 narrates that God places the first man and woman in a garden with trees of whose fruits they may eat, but forbids them to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." When, in Genesis 3, a serpent persuades the woman to eat from its forbidden fruit and she also lets the man taste it, God expels them from the garden and thereby from eternal life.

The phrase in Hebrew: טוֹב וָרָע, tov wa-raʿ, literally translates as good and evil. This may be an example of the type of figure of speech known as merism, a literary device that pairs opposite terms together in order to create a general meaning, so that the phrase "good and evil" would simply imply "everything." This is seen in the Egyptian expression evil-good, which is normally employed to mean "everything." In Greek literature, Homer also uses the device when he lets Telemachus say, "I know all things, the good and the evil" (Od.20:309-10).[1]

This interpretation may partially contradict the text itself wherein God permits the consumption of every other tree in the garden, which could indicate a variety of knowledge available to the first humans (Genesis 2:16). It is further complicated by the act of the Creation of Man, wherein God gives Adam the "breath of life" from his own divine spirit, possibly indicating that humans are endowed with special knowledge as a condition of their existence (Genesis 1:26; 2:7). The Garden of Eden might represent a state of naivete that would not be possible without an incomplete or misinformed view of the world, implying primitive knowledge (Genesis 2:8). The mandate to "subdue" the earth would not be possible without some knowledge of nature (Genesis 1:28).

That humans are said to be created in God's image implies they are separate from the other animals intellectually or physically (Genesis 1:26). The fact that God speaks to the first humans but not to the other animals seems to indicate they understand language (Genesis 1:28-30). Genesis 2:19-20 refers to the invention of nouns as part of humanity's lingual development. The declaration that no animal other than Woman was found suitable as a helper to Adam could be a sign that the first man seeks an intelligent consort (Genesis 2:20).

Furthermore, the Serpent who says that eating the forbidden fruit will result in knowing "good and evil" (Genesis 3:5) is described as a trickster (Genesis 3:1) who misleads Eve about the sort of wisdom the fruit will impart (Genesis 3:6). The consumption of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil does not result in the first humans understanding any scientific principle, but rather their vulnerability in nature, symbolized by nakedness. Adam and Eve are said to hide from God because of their nakedness, indicating that they understand their vulnerability to punishment for violating the precept (Genesis 3:10).

Symbolically, the passages that follow from the eating of the fruit may refer to efforts to address their vulnerability first peacefully (fig leaves) (3:7), then by means of violence (animal pelts) (3:21). The punishments of God refer to the burden of foreseeing problems before they develop, symbolized by the "curse of the ground" or the hard work of agricultural, and the pain of giving birth to children with a large braincase (Genesis 3:16-19).

However, if tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, this phrase does not necessarily denote a moral concept. This view is held by several scholars.[1][2][3] Given the context of disobedience to God, other interpretations of the implications of this phrase also demand consideration. Robert Alter emphasizes the point that when God forbids the man to eat from that particular tree, he says that if he does so, he is "doomed to die." The Hebrew behind this is in a form regularly used in the Hebrew Bible for issuing death sentences

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