Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian)

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The tree of life as represented in Kabbalah, containing the Sephiroth.
The tree of life as represented in Kabbalah, containing the Sephiroth.
See also Tree of life for other cultural interpretations of the term, and Tree of life (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term.

The Tree of Life (Heb. עץ החיים Etz haChayim), in the Book of Genesis is a tree in the Garden of Eden whose fruit gives everlasting life, i.e. immortality. After eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the biblical account states that Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life. The passage reads that God set Cherubim to guard the entrance to the Garden, so that mankind would not eat of the tree and "Be Like Us".

“ And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22) ”

The wisest animal, the serpent, tempts the unwise Eve into partaking of the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil by suggesting that she would become as wise as God. God then fears that they will eat of the Tree of Life and thus banishes them from the Garden. The Genesis narrative of the banishment from the garden of Eden is balanced in the New Testament by the planting of the Tree of Life on mankind's side of the divide.

In the Book of Revelation, a Koine Greek phrase xylon zoës (ξύλον ζωής) is mentioned 3 times. This phrase, which literally means "wood of life" is translated in nearly every English bible version as "tree of life", see Revelation 2:7, 22:2, and 22:19.

The Tree of Life is represented in several examples of sacred geometry, and is central in particular to Kabbalah (the mystic study of the Torah) where it is represented as diagram of ten points . It is also a recurrent theme in many other religions.

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[edit] Analysis

Serpents, trees and fruit are important symbols in the religion of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. These symbols are also found in the Norse saga of the ash tree Yggdrasil, where the tree provides a magical springwater of knowledge. In opposition to the serpent (immortality), is the eagle and hawk. There is a similar mythology in China, where a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a bird and a dragon - in Chinese mythology, the dragon often represents immortality. James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough (1890) attempts to give a coherent unified account of a number of religious myths and symbols, whilst Ioan P. Couliano provides an analysis of the symbolism in The Tree of Gnosis (1991), and there are a multiplicity of interpretations existing concerning the Kabbalah Tree of Life (sephiroth).

It should be noted that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are distinguished (Genesis 2.9) and that prohibition of eating the fruit only concerns the latter (Gen. 2.17). That Adam or Eve could eat of the Tree of Life only becomes a concern to God after they have consumed fruit from the Tree of Knowledge (Gen. 3.22). Although with some variation, orthodox Judaism and Christianity have interpreted the Genesis 3 account, in its most basic form, as follows:

  • Genesis 2 ends with the creation of Adam and Eve and their blissful state of innocence (they are one flesh, v. 24; and not ashamed of their nakedness, v. 25).
  • Gen. 3.1 introduces the "crafty" serpent who speaks to Eve and creates doubt by questioning God's interdiction from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent states that its fruit would impart divine wisdom rather than death, specifically, that she would be like God (Gen. 3.5).
  • Eve is deceived and in turn deceives Adam. Their eyes are opened and their first reaction is shame (they proceed to cover their nakedness, v. 7), then fear (they flee God's presence, v. 8).
  • God converses with Adam and curses him, Eve and the serpent for their transgressions (Gen. 3.9-21). Only in Gen. 3.22 does God express concern about the Tree of Life and banishes Adam and Eve from Eden.

Many midrashim and other rabbinic commentaries have attempted to explicate and clarify the rather enigmatic creation account. Gnostic thought marks an important departure from this interpretation and often is its complete inversion. It views the serpent in a positive light, attributing to him benevolence toward humanity and portraying the God of creation (Elohim, later referred to as YHWH-Elohim) as evil, deceitful and selfish. YHWH in particular is portrayed as evil and considered a demiurge). In the Modern Era, Gnostic interpretations have made headway largely due to an increased interest in mysticism, esotericism and the gradual disintegration of orthodox authority. Milton offers the most ambiguous Eve, as she embodies both the rebel flair of Satan, whom the historical Milton is identifiable with, and also the loyalty owed to God. For Byron, she was a hero. To some followers of Kabbalah, the tree is a concealed version of the Kabbalistic tree, and the apples are the nodes of the Sephirot.

[edit] Interpretation within the Western Church

Until the Enlightenment, the Christian church generally gave biblical narratives of early Genesis the weight of historical narratives. In the City of God (xiii.20-21), Augustine offers great allowance for "spiritual" interpretations of the events in the garden, so long as such allegories do not rob the narrative of his historical reality. However, the allegorical meanings of the early and medieval church were of a different kind than those posed by Kant and the Enlightenment. Precritical theologians allegorized the genesis events in the service of pastoral devotion. Enlightenment theologians (culminating perhaps in Brunner and Niebuhr in the twentieth century) sought for figurative interpretations because they had already dismissed the historical possibility of the story.

Others sought very pragmatic understandings of the tree. In the Summa Theologica (Q97), Thomas Aquinas argued that the tree served to maintain Adam's biological processes for an extended earthly animal life. It did not provide immortality as such, for the tree, being finite, could not grant infinite life. Hence after a period of time, the man and woman would need to eat again from the tree or else be "transported to the spiritual life." The common fruit trees of the garden were given to offset the effects of "loss of moisture" (note the doctrine of the humors at work), while the tree of life was intended to offset the inefficiencies of the body. Following Augustine in the City of God (xiv.26), “man was furnished with food against hunger, with drink against thirst, and with the tree of life against the ravages of old age.”

John Calvin (Commentary on Genesis 2:8), following a different thread in Augustine (City of God, xiii.20), understood the tree in sacramental language. Given that humanity cannot exist except within a covenantal relationship with God, and all covenants use symbols to give us "the attestation of his grace", he gives the tree, "not because it could confer on man that life with which he had been previously endued, but in order that it might be a symbol and memorial of the life which he had received from God." God often uses symbols - He doesn’t transfer his power into these outward signs, but "by them He stretches out His hand to us, because, without assistance, we cannot ascend to Him." Thus he intends man, as often as he eats the fruit, to remember the source of his life, and acknowledge that he lives not by his own power, but by God’s kindness. Calvin denies (contra Aquinas and without mentioning his name) that the tree served as a biological defense again physical aging. This is the standing interpretation in modern Reformed theology as well.

[edit] Additional

The tree of life appears in the Book of Mormon in a revelation to Lehi (see 1 Nephi 8:10-12). It is symbolic of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:21-23) and sometimes understood as salvation and post-mortal existence.

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[edit] Jewish and Non-Jewish views

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