The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:22)
Misconceptions swirl around the nature of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in the midst of the Garden of Eden that bore the fruit associated with the fall of humanity. You may be surprised to learn that this tree has nothing to do with the development of conscience or knowing right from wrong. Adam and Eve already knew right from wrong, aware that it would be wrong to disobey God and eat from that tree.
Actually, eating of the tree made one "like God" (Genesis 3:5), gave one powers of intellectual and spiritual penetration and discrimination. This is known from the use of the same Hebrew idiom in texts such as 1 Kings 3:9 and 2 Samuel 14:17.
The gifts of the tree are two-edged. Powers of penetration can help you get to the bottom of a matter, but they can also allow you to subdue and vanquish other human beings for your own selfish purposes. Powers of discrimination can help you sort out every kind of thing, but they can also allow you to treat certain groups unfairly simply on the basis of arbitrary differences. They can also lead to an extreme self-consciousness (cf. Gen 2:25), where you constantly evaluate yourself over against others.
posted by S and C at 5:53 AM
9 Comments:
Prof. Chris Heard has some great comments on this post over at his Higgaion blog: http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/ More on this soon above...
For a different approach, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as recast Mesopotamian motifs and concepts regarding primeval man and his relationship in the edin with his gods cf.http://www.bibleorigins.net/EdensTreeofKnowledgeLife.html
Just what knowledge was gained? What is knowledge of good and evil? They ate the thing and then noticed that they were naked- what a trivial revelation. Yet nothing else is said. Either the reader already knows what Adam and Eve learned, and I do not see why this should be so (at least I do not know), or it is knowing that you are naked, or it has been lost over time and nakedness is all that survived.
I'm not sure I would view the knowledge of nakedness as trivial. It appears to suggest vulnerability and weakness in the OT (Deut 28:48; Job 1:21; Isa 58:7). When the couple receives their new power of discrimination from the fruit, the new knowledge that appears is very ironic, viz knowledge of being vulnerable and helpless now that they have given up their dependence on God! ---SLC
The tree seems to define the extent to which Adam was created in the image of God. Since God cannot sin, the first Adam did not embody Deity. Fortunately the Last Adam did embody Deity and also made it possible for us as well. It seems that we were created to need Him....What a relief!
My study bible teacher has an interesting perspective on the Tree of Knowledge - Good & Evil. Good is not what us "Westerner's" presume to be..i.e: something that is pleasurable, delightful, joy, happiness,etc. But that it is the Presence of God. And evil is not what we "think" as being evil - something bad, down and out, unhappiness - But that it means it is the "Hiddeness of God" or the lack of awareness of God. Isn't that interesting? Has anyone done their research on this? I'm doing my own to validate my teacher's teaching. If you come across something let me know!
My study bible teacher has an interesting perspective on the Tree of Knowledge - Good & Evil. Good is not what us "Westerner's" presume to be..i.e: something that is pleasurable, delightful, joy, happiness,etc. But that it is the Presence of God. And evil is not what we "think" as being evil - something bad, down and out, unhappiness - But that it means it is the "Hiddeness of God" or the lack of awareness of God. Isn't that interesting? Has anyone done their research on this? I'm doing my own to validate my teacher's teaching. If you come across something let me know!
It would seem from Deut 1v39 that the knowledge of good and evil was simply the ability to discern moral good from that which is morally evil. Given that mankind was made like other creatures with defensive minds that give rise to ungodly actions, the awareness of what was good or evil inevitably gave rise to the pain of guilt. God was simply warning them not to eat it in order to prevent this state - which in turn would make then unfit for eternal life.
John, your comment seems to contradict the original post. To be clear, I would defend the position that this idiom, even in Deut 1.39 is a figure of speech called a merism (suggesting a whole by referring to its extreme opposites). IMHO, what the children in Deut 1 lack is general knowledge, wisdom, and discernment. Seen Jonah 4:11 for an example of how even adults who are culpable (and due for severe judgment) can be judged to be in such a state of lack of wisdom and orientation...
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