God doesnt tinker. What was punished was not seeking after that sort of wisdom, but instead open rebellion against a loving God that, as a side-effect, led to direct experience, and so knowledge, of evil, both in terms of wickedness and in terms of calamity. And Im not convinced that a [Hebrew] word study can assist. Ive yet to find a theological answer that I can feel comfortable with. The knowledge of good and evil shouldnt be automatically equated with our present experience, even if we lean on Biblical texts to intimate what it might mean, like when God gave already competent artisans more skill, so that they could build the Ark of the Covenant. What's the difference? They knew the goodness of the Lord and His caring for them. First of all may be considered the linguistic argument. Now, what about Isaiah 7:16? You see that, right? So we shouldnt take this terminology to the extreme. He wont change His mind. So the tales of Adam & Eve would have been told to their progeny for generations. Point of clarification for my understanding: why did the Serpent promise Eve that eating the fruit would grant her knowledge of good and evil and tell her that it would make her like God? Why did God Create the Forbidden Fruit? Meaning of Genesis 2 - Christianity There appears to be some important sense in which this knowledge made them. Every day you and I have a chance to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as a chance to have a fear of the LORD(the beginning of knowledge and wisdom). Lucifer did not try to tempt Jesus with lies. It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence by which man refuses to recognise his status as a created being. And so Adam & Eve were immediately damaged. 'For now you are the children of God.' So the question we should be asking is 'how do I live my life by faith 24/7'. In the Bible, the word knowledge often means "experience." It is true that, prior to the fall, Adam and Eve had no experience of evil. Animals know the idea of forbidden. Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. Before creation God knew the cost of creating a world with evil in it, knew the reason, the cost and the result. That is not a choice. Genesis 2:16 and 17 And Jehovah 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. NIGHT OF OPEN HEAVEN || DAY 63 [100 DAYS FASTING & PRAYER - Facebook 4 Natural knowledge of good and evil comes with years of instruction and experience, of which the man and the woman had neither. Tree of Life vs Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: the Ultimate A tradition says the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a grapevine, which is very symbolically interesting. To begin with, this is the first mention of evil, and it is paired with good. And to sum it up, the forbidden fruit, IMHO, was either never for humans to partake of, but was for someone, Angels perhaps, or it was for a later time. But why? And we can guess that they knew fire burned or it was demonstrated. Even if we didn't have a church background, our pop culture seems full of references of Adam and. This knowledge is not a mental awareness of the existence of good and evil, or a mere intellectual transfer of information. We read in Genesis 2:9 that God made a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave Adam and Eve the ability to define good and evil like God, but there was an unexpected side effect. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. 5 Answers Sorted by: 1 Adam and Eve were given only one law/commandment while in the garden of Eden. No wonder Satan is called the "father of the lie"(John 8:44). MY hearty welcome to BH Community. 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil. 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Psalm 19:7-8 describes the law of Moses as the fruit of the tree of knowledge. The translation was produced in the 1860's, people did not speak English the same way we do today. Adam and Eve was a spirit before they were human in flesh. But that was it. Im not proposing we add to the Biblical text with other religious stories. This appears to be radically different from the initial intrinsic nature of man, when God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, or when He brought every beast of the field and every fowl of the air unto Adam to see what he would call them (Gen.2:19.) What kind of a tree is this - and what is "the knowledge of good and evil?" Answer. Sorry I have no time to read the actual passages so Ill be brief and probably wrong but I think that they knew it was FORBIDDEN not right or wrong. Most people think the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17) was an apple tree. When the fruit appears, however, they are oranges. There is no rejuvenation for them in Gods plan, but a transformation for a tiny few, with a new body for most. God knows evil as the One who has it done to Him. Because man needs righteousness in order to be be one with God [joined, not separated.]. Broken mankind living forever=bad. October 1, 2013 by aGodMan 1 Comment In Gen. 2:9 we see that besides the tree of life in the middle of the garden of Eden there's another tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Mercy can only be revealed to those who need it. To "define" good and evil for yourself? Other religions have myths about a Tree of Life, like the Norse and the apples of Idunn, which may have borrowed from Christianity as it did from Revelations to produce Ragnarok, but I havent seen another Tree of knowledge. In case of abuse, Report this post. The Knowledge of Good and Evil Deshen Daily Is the DC-6 Supercharged? In eating from the tree about which God said, "When you eat of it you will surely die," Adam . 10:16)? He knows/experiences evil because He knows the holy reason, the cost of love, [loving the Father He obeyed to the end],having to be paid on the cross. But it was the greatest lie to ever be told(probably an understatement). It's bad because we are deceiving ourselves into thinking that they're right, OR that we can get away with disobeying God, both of which are straight-up lies. and thank you for your contribution. God cannot contradict Himself, so perhaps this gives us a clue; that the knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve wanted wasn't the same knowledge of good and evil that Solomon wanted. Obviously not, and yet that is what it clearly says. God simply wanted them to trust 'his word.' A serpent that clearly knew good and evil, and one that also knew he would gain some authority over the Earth and become the de facto ruler since humanity could no longer do the job, culminating in the truthful offering of the kingdoms of the world to Christ in the desert. It can't be, because everything that God directly creates is good and can only be good. What, exactly, is the "knowledge of good and evil" in Genesis 3:22? Therefore he was banished from Eden. The word pair "good and evil" is a figure of speech known as a merism, i.e., two words that are opposites combined to form the totality of one idea. Would you publish a deeply personal essay about mental illness during PhD? God didnt say they could NEVER eat of it, future tense. Having the ability to discern between good and evil is very good in the eyes of God when we are abiding by God's definitions of good and evil(the only right ones); it means trusting in Him to teach us what is right and wrong. So before moving on to a few possibilities of what it might say or mean, let's look at a few things it doesn't (or might not) say or mean. gives us additional information in reference to a footnote from the Jerusalem Bible (1966): This knowledge is a privilege which God reserves to himself and which man, by sinning, is to lay hands on, 3:5, 22. Knowledge() in the Bible isn't just knowing things, which is how we think of knowledge today. Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster movie "Oppenheimer" has sparked controversy among the Hindu-right in India, with some calling for a boycott and demanding the removal of a sex scene in . Did evil exist prior to this? That said, this will likely be marked a "not exactly" answer. their ability to be deceived by themselves and by others into thinking that redefinitions of good and evil[that necessarily deviate from God's definitions] are right and won't lead to death) was limited by how much they knew about good and evil, which was hardly anything, thus their potential to be corrupt was small. How long did it take you to formulate all those points into logical sequence, and then to type them all out? ", Isaiah 7:16 "For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.". In the first chapter of Genesis, God creates the whole universe and everything in it, and notices that it is all good seven times; at the seventh, He notices that it was very good. While speaking about a future event, it talks about it as though it has already happened, i.e. I'm thinking of redoing a lot of my answers. But in the present they lived in, it was off limits. (with no additional restrictions), Epistemic circularity and skepticism about reason. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. Let's see them. Those are not the people who own or determine what faith is. Otherwise the text makes no sense at all : to banish the man for becoming 'as God' (which is the lie of the serpent). God had created them to be 'faith people'. ", Genesis 2:9 "Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.". The thought process in the OP is along the same lines as the topic "Knowledge" in the Insight on the Scriptures: After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Ge 2:17; 3:5, 6), Jehovah said to his associate in creative work (Joh 1:1-3): Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad. (Ge 3:22) This apparently did not mean merely having knowledge of what was good and what was bad for them, for the first man and woman had such knowledge by reason of Gods commands to them. What was the "knowledge of good and evil" Adam and Eve gained after the He is one of us in the sense that he is no longer a child of God. Welcome to Bible Hermeneutics SE and thank you for your contribution. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. But once you consider the whole Bible, then [and only then?] "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" Revelation 13:8. You can't willingly choose one thing over another thing if you are only able to choose one thing and entirely unable to choose the other. No! They have no idea why or what that interpretation is supposed to . So, I think it was an issue of trust/faith. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted, except eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So, I hope this helps. Eating the fruit made them conscious about own nakedness, which fits. In other words, maybe a better way to think of it is strictly as one venue (or dendrite?) How do I memorize the jazz music as just a listener? And when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God was clearly displeased. So, in summary. Whatever is meant by 'the knowledge of good and evil.' God told the truth, that ethical knowledge makes you RESPONSIBLE for what you choose, so it makes you literally able to sin, and "the wage of sin is death". Hebrew and You with Lee M. Fields The Tree of the Knowing Good and And, maybe it's not very clear what "knowing" (any good and/or evil) means, or whether Adam was even able to distinguish between the two. Does Jesus not instruct us to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matt. But it comes with a terrible price. In short, Stuart argues that the term is a merisma figure of speech in which two extremes are named in order to encompass everything in between. As such, God's laws are the design parameters . Well, when Solomon asked for the knowledge of good and evil, God was pleased. The name given for the tree cannot be a misnomer in any way, but accurate and precise, because God knows all things[e.g. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill[] for making any work in bronze. Well, God of course! genesis Share Improve this question asked Dec 31, 2021 at 17:53 EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine 2,013 3 21 52 3 Young's literal translates the Hebrew correctly ' The man was as one of us, as to the knowledge of good and evil'. Categories: Old Testament. GEN 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.. The natural and logical result of which is man being less like God (not more like.). Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever", Deuteronomy 1:39 "And the little ones you said would become captivesyour children who on that day did not know good from evilwill enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it. So whatever stage they were in physical development, in moral development, they were (appropriately) like little children. And so the narrative states certain things. can you begin to understand Genesis 2:17. My claim that knowledge is good originates from this simple five-step reasoning: there is one truth; knowledge helps reveal the truth But only the Jewish God seems to grant wisdom and knowledge at will. What, exactly, is the "knowledge of good and evil" in Genesis 3:22? "Pure Copyleft" Software Licenses? This is the exact opposite of its evil twin, zealotry, which is much more a product of egotism than devotion. So, why did God punish them? Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve were husband and wife. Is the serpent saying that their eyes are already opened, even though they haven't eaten of the fruit? The rest we impregnate from thousands of years of interpretation. Does Proverbs not enjoin us to seek wisdom? It was an infinitesimally small conscience. George Bradley (Author) Visit Amazon's George Bradley Page. What we see in Adam & Eve might have only been a byproduct of what the fruit could have produced in a being ready for it. How? That is exactly what Adam and Eve were doing! This is a spiritual rebirth that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish. That's not what is written in Hebrew though. The Knowledge of Good and Evil - JSTOR Did Adam and Eve know what death was? - GotQuestions.org If it had been God wouldn't have allowed Adam & Eve to be so in the first place. The first sin was an attack on Gods sovereignty, a sin of pride. He came to King Solomon and did all his work. (1) It was God Himself who named the tree, "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." And did you notice that is exactly what the serpent lied about?