# What was the purpose of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405 "2023-02-26T19:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/94 "2023-02-28T19:30:43Z")
My Orthodox translation offers no insight as to God’s motivation, but I note that it translates it as “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad”. (The Hebrew word _ra_ can mean “evil”, but it can also mean “misfortune”, without the connotation of moral judgment). So maybe it’s not about “sin” or immorality at all. Maybe before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve lived in a state of perfect mindfulness and radical acceptance of each moment. Afterward they started to experience certain events and feelings as “bad”, and so the experience of human suffering came into the world. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/95 "2023-02-28T19:34:12Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > So maybe it’s not about “sin” or immorality at all. Maybe before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve lived in a state of perfect mindfulness and radical acceptance of each moment. Afterward they started to experience certain events and feelings as “bad”, and so the experience of human suffering came into the world. That doesn’t gel with the Christian notion that the act was the original sin. A sin, a moral failing, the greatest moral failing of all, not the mere experience that there are bad things in life. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/96 "2023-02-28T19:34:20Z")
Some have interpreted it as showing that humanity’s greatest desire should be for knowledge; it first says that Eve first saw that the tree was beautiful, and that its fruit was delicious, but still obeyed God’s command not to mess with it. Only when she realized that it was a source of wisdom was she tempted into eating ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/97 "2023-02-28T19:36:32Z")
Yes, well, the doctrine of original sin is a huge load of crap IMO. And obviously this book wasn’t written by Christians, so it’s not surprising it doesn’t perfectly reflect their theology. (To be clear, I am not claiming that my quasi-Buddhist interpretation is widely accepted by anyone, I just came up with it on my own). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/98 "2023-02-28T19:54:26Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’ve heard the version that it was actually a pomegranate. The sages of the Talmud actually discuss what fruit it was, and the different answers they give are grape, fig and wheat. None of them say apple or pomegranate. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/99 "2023-02-28T19:59:08Z")
It was a bean (the magical fruit), and that also solves why they got kicked out! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/100 "2023-02-28T19:59:30Z")
Wheat tree?? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/101 "2023-02-28T20:07:35Z")
Barley. It was a barley tree. Adam made beer out of it, end of story. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/102 "2023-02-28T20:13:11Z")
According to that Midrash, wheat stalks in the Garden of Eden were big and thick and resembled trees. Source: [What’s the Truth About. . . The Apple in the Garden of Eden? - Jewish Action](https://jewishaction.com/religion/jewish-law/whats-truth-apple-garden-eden/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/103 "2023-02-28T21:20:00Z")
If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. Those are two of his defining characteristics. This means that when God started creating the universe, he already knew the outcome of events. He knew that Adam and Eve would disobey his rule. And he could have changed the circumstances so that didn’t happen. So we have to conclude it was God’s intent for Adam and Eve to disobey him and fall from grace. Which raises the question of why God didn’t just create Adam and Eve in a position outside of his grace. Why did God create them to fall? This suggests that it was the act of them falling rather than the state of them being fallen which was important to God. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/104 "2023-02-28T22:19:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. I don’t; do I have to turn in my ‘Jew’ card? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/105 "2023-02-28T22:29:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t; do I have to turn in my ‘Jew’ card? I’m not going to get into the whole issue of Jews who don’t follow Judaism. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/106 "2023-02-28T22:31:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. What happens if you don’t? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/107 "2023-02-28T22:33:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m not going to get into the whole issue of Jews who don’t follow Judaism. Can we get into the issue of folks who declare victory and go home? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/108 "2023-02-28T22:33:53Z")
This is one of the rare IMHO threads that is really making me think, and wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/109 "2023-02-28T22:37:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. Those are two of his defining characteristics. Hmmm. I don’t think that is true for the original writers/editors of the early part of the Bible. There are clearly traces of either [henotheism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism) and/or [monolatry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolatry). Especially since they conflated two deities - [El](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_(deity)) and [Yahweh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh) - to make the LORD (_adonai_). ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/110 "2023-02-28T22:37:56Z")
I have my own idiosyncratic interpretation. I believe it is a story about the double-edged sword of human consciousness. Once one is aware of oneself and that one is separate from others and from the divine, then there is no living in the garden of innocence again. Consciousness is both its own reward and its own punishment. Once one leaves the garden, the longing to find that primal oneness with God and with all life, that you have lost, is your lot until you die. There are many versions of this story, probably thousands that have been forgotten as well as some, like this one the ancient Jews told, preserved. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/111 "2023-02-28T22:46:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. > > What happens if you don’t? Then you’re arguing with the premise of the thread. Discussing the purpose of the tree of knowledge requires you to accept the premise that the tree existed. And that’s based on accepting Abrahamic scripture as true. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/112 "2023-02-28T22:48:43Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > I’m not going to get into the whole issue of Jews who don’t follow Judaism. > > Can we get into the issue of folks who declare victory and go home? If that’s directed at me, I’m not declaring a victory on the question. I didn’t even express an opinion on it. I was just trying to avoid a sidetrack in a thread that’s already been closed once because it went off topic. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405/113 "2023-02-28T23:04:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re accepting any part of an Abrahamic religion, you have to accept that God is omnipotent and omniscient. Those are two of his defining characteristics. > [@Omni-benevolent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omni-benevolent-omnipotent-and-omniscient/571346): > > Hallo, First off, I guess I must be described as a Christian, at least that would be my cultural background. As a matter of fact though – I have never practised religion, it plays no part in my life, nor my family. I also have never read the Bible. Most of my knowledge comes from lurking places like this one, reading what is written and applying common sense to the arguments as they are given. I highly thank many of the people of this place for spending their time putting forward their points… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil/980405.md?page=6)