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TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL
Forbidden tree in Eden, whose fruit imparted knowledge and subsequent death, i.e., separation from God and ultimate expiration (Gn 2:9, 15-17; 3:1-24). The tempting serpent promised Eve equality with God if she ate the fruit. The result of Eve and Adam eating from this tree was that they indeed attained the “knowledge of good and evil.” According to the usage of the phrasing “knowing good and evil” in the rest of the Bible (Dt 1:39; Is 7:15-16; Heb 5:14), the idea is that it describes a stage in a child’s life when he or she passes from innocence to moral awareness.
Accompanying this knowledge is sexual self-awareness. Thus, when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, they became aware of their own sexuality. At the same time, they were able to see as God saw and thereby thought that God would shame them for their nakedness. The story came to symbolize the loss of innocence and divine companionship through deliberate disobedience in an attempt to attain godhood.
The sad result of eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was that Adam and Eve lost their innocence and were subsequently separated from God. Banishment from Eden followed to prevent the eating of fruit from a second tree, “the tree of life,” which would have made them immortal. But they would have been immortal in their fallen, sinful state. Thus, it was a blessing to banish them.
See also Adam (Person); Eve; Garden of Eden; Fall of Man; Tree of Life.