Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

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Tree of Knowledge, painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Tree of Knowledge, painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder

In the Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (and occasionally translated as the Tree of Conscience, Hebrew עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע) was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9) from which God directly forbade Adam (Eve having not yet been created) to eat (Genesis 2:17). A serpent later tempted Eve, who was aware of the prohibition, to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 3:1-6). Adam also ate, and they became aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3:6-7). After this, in order to deny them access to the tree of life (and, hence, immortality), they were banished from the garden and forced to survive through agriculture "by the sweat of [their] face" (Genesis 3:19-24).

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[edit] Interpretations of the tree itself

[edit] Translation Issues

Gordon and Rendsburg[1] have suggested that the phrase טוֹב וָרָע, translated good and evil, is a merism. This is a figure of speech whereby a pair of opposites are used together to create the meaning all or everything, as in the English phrase, "they came, great and small", meaning just that they all came. So the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they take to mean the Tree of All Knowledge. This meaning can be brought out by the alternative translations Tree of Knowledge of Good and of Evil (the word of not being expressed in the Hebrew) or Tree of Knowledge, both Good and Evil. The phrase occurs twice as applied to the tree, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 2:17. It also occurs twice as describing the knowledge gained Genesis 3:5 and Genesis 3:22 where it may be translated perhaps with knowledge, both good and evil.

[edit] In Judaism

According to the Jewish tradition God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree that was to give free choice and allow them to earn, as opposed to receive, absolute perfection and intimate communion with God at a higher level than the one on which they were created. According to this tradition, Adam and Eve would have attained absolute perfection and retained immortality had they succeeded in withstanding the temptation to eat from the Tree. After failing at this task, they were condemned to a period of toil to rectify the fallen universe. Jewish tradition views the serpent, and sometimes the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil itself, as representatives of evil and man's evil inclination.

Judaism generally recognizes no "evil" other than the evil actions of human beings. Eve's only transgression was that she disobeyed God's order. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and had to live ordinary, human lives.

Rabbi David Fohrman of the Hoffberger Foundation for Torah Studies, citing Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, states that "the tree did not give us moral awareness when we had none before. Rather, it transformed this awareness from one kind into another." After eating from the Tree, humanity's innate sense of moral awareness was transformed from concepts of true and false to concepts of good and evil. Genesis describes the tree as desirable (3:6), and our concepts of good and evil, unlike our concepts of true and false, also have an implicit measure of desire. [3]

[edit] In Christianity

In Christian theology, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is connected to the doctrine of original sin. Augustine of Hippo believed that humanity inherited sin itself and the guilt for Adam and Eve's sin.[2] By eating of the fruit of the Tree, Adam and Eve sought to be like God. For a debate about the Western doctrine of original sin and the Eastern doctrine of ancestral sin, see [3] There is a minority of Christians that affirm the doctrine of Pelagianism, which believes every individual faces the same choice between sin and salvation that Adam and Eve faced.


[edit] Trees in other religions

Illustration from the Ockelbo Runestone, Sweden.
Illustration from the Ockelbo Runestone, Sweden.

Similar trees appear in other religions. In the closest, most relevant comparison, the iconic image of the tree guarded by the Serpent appears on Sumerian seals; it is the central feature of the Garden of the Hesperides in Greek mythology, where the guardian serpent receives the name Ladon. In Buddhism, the Buddha became enlightened under the Bodhi tree. While the biblical tree is usually interpreted as representing sensual pleasure, the Bodhi tree gave pure transcendent knowledge.[citation needed] In Vedic Hinduism, the Tree of Jiva and Atman is usually interpreted as a metaphor concerning the soul, mind, and body. In the Norse sagas, the ash tree Yggdrasil draws from the magic springwater of knowledge. To many who believe the Bible is filled with parables, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is actually a library or some other form of educational writings.

[edit] Freudian (psychological) interpretation

A rather Freudian interpretation is that knowledge of good and evil, or simply good and bad, refers to the recollection of a memory with an implied judgment. This is a natural process for neurological systems (humans and animals) to make to avoid pain or gain pleasure. However, human consciousness includes extensive recollection and teaching such as by the use of books, which could be called a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. It is clearly distinguishable from the simple awareness of other animals. This allows human beings to make deliberate choices that they consider beneficial even if they include an element of pain.[citation needed]

The process of maturation occurring in the incidents around the tree describes, in an abstract way, the splitting of the human consciousness into the limited context of conscious thought and the underlying all-aware subconscious.

[edit] Symbolic interpretation

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In mystical traditions of world religions (mysticism), sacred texts are read for metaphorical content referential to the relationship between state of mind and the external experience of reality. As such, the tree is a manifestating/causal symbol; the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is not independent from the reference to the Tree of Life in the same allegory in Genesis. With the Tree of Life representing the coveted state of eternal aliveness (fulfillment), once the ego experiences shame - having been tempted to absorb/believe in duality (eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), we are protected from living eternally in that limiting ("fallen") experience by the cherubim guarding the gate of return to paradise (symbolic of the innocent self or true nature in control of purification of ego faith and return to being). Acculturation in this rulebound reality of good and bad is primarily familial, with not only the effect of confusion and misperception (illusion), but more critically the effect of displacement and psychological misery. The mystic attempts the return journey to Self and Unity with committed effort and practices that vary between individuals, religions and cultures.

Also, symbolically, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil calls to mind the practice of dividing the acts of man into discrete categories (Right or Wrong, Good or Evil, Lawful or Unlawful) with dramatically distinct consequences for each case. The Genesis story contains a warning against that accepted cultural practice, predicting that it will lead to undesirable outcomes. In that regard, the story is remarkably prescient, as four millennia of history have confirmed that the Crime and Punishment Regulatory Model tends to produce dysfunctional outcomes. Modern technical and analytical research confirms that finding both theoretically and empirically.

According to George M. Lamsa, "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is an Aramaic idiom that means moral law, the knowledge of good and evil. If so the fruit of the tree might be using moral law as a tool to break the commandment "Judge not."

[edit] Fruit of the tree

The Book of Enoch 31:4, dating from the last few centuries before Christ and purporting to be by the antediluvian prophet Enoch, describes the Tree of Knowledge: "It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!"

In the Talmud, Rabbi Meir says that the fruit was a grape.[4] Another Talmudic tradition suggests that Eve actually made, and drank, wine.[5] Rabbi Nechemia says that the fruit was a fig.[4]while Rabbi Yehuda, is that the fruit was wheat.[4]

In Western Christian art, the fruit is commonly depicted as an apple, although apples were unknown in the ancient Levant (they originated in central Asia). The source of this apparently lay in a Latin pun: by eating the malum (apple), Eve contracted malum (evil).

Proponents of the theory that the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in what is known now as the Middle East suggest that the fruit was actually a pomegranate. This ties in with the Greek myth of Persephone, where her consumption of seven pomegranate seeds leads to her having to spend time in Hades.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Cyrus H. Gordon and Gary A. Rendsburg, The Bible and the Ancient Near East fourth edition, 1997, Norton & Co.
  2. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120113.htm The City of God (Book XIII), Chapter 14.
  3. ^ Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy. Accessed May 11, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c Berachos 40a; Sanhedrin 70a. CF [1], accessed September 7, 2006.
  5. ^ Bereishis Rabah 15:7; 19:1; Zohar Bereishis 36a and Noach 73a. CF [2], accessed September 7, 2006.