Forbidden fruit

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For other uses, see Forbidden fruit (disambiguation).
Adam tasting the forbidden fruit. Fresco from the cloister of the monastery of Cantauque (Provence).
Adam tasting the forbidden fruit. Fresco from the cloister of the monastery of Cantauque (Provence).

The term "forbidden fruit" is a metaphor that describes any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of the knowledge that it cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but cannot have. The phrase refers to the Book of Genesis,[1] where it is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil eaten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As a result of their decision to eat the fruit, Adam and Eve lost their innocence (according to the Christian interpretation), became separated from God and were exiled from the garden where they were forced to adopt agriculture under less than desirable circumstances for a living. The concept of "knowing" good and evil can be best understood as being emotionally entangled with the struggle of determining the difference.

Popularly, the fruit has been identified as an apple, although the Bible does not identify the fruit as such. Judaism teaches that the fruit may have been either grape, fig, wheat, or citron. In recent years, some researchers are supporting the possibility that the forbidden fruit is a pomegranate,[citation needed] from the supposed location of the Garden of Eden. Most scholars have said that the type of fruit is not forbidden, only the fruit from the tree God had warned about.

In the philosophical novel Ishmael, the story of eating the forbidden fruit is described as a metaphor for the loss of quality of life caused by the change from a hunter-gatherer culture to an agricultural based society.

The term most generally refers to any indulgence or pleasure that is considered illegal or immoral and potentially dangerous or harmful, particularly relating to human sexuality.

In some biblical interpretations, the 'apple' was a metaphor for sexuality, 'the first sin' and so forth. This is heavily disputed, especially since the first commandment[2] given to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis was to "be fruitful and multiply."

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  1. ^ Old Testament, Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
  2. ^ Old Testament, Genesis 1:28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply."