The Tree of Knowledge

The Tree of Knowledge

of Good and Evil

And the First Sin

The story of the Tree of Knowledge begins in Perek 2 when Hashem commands Adam " 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."

Afterwards, God created Adam's counterpart, Chava. (Keep in mind that she wasn't there when Hashem gave Adam this commandment. ) At the end of the Perek it states that they were naked and didn't care.

Now, perek 3.

The Scene: Serpent and Chava are in the Garden of Eden. Serpent asks Chava why God is being restrictive and not letting them eat from the trees. He's provoking her, that is sure.

The Mistake: Chava answers: "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.". God Never said that they weren't allowed to touch it! Was this a miscommunication on Adam's part when he was relating the information to her (because she wasn't alive when Hashem commanded it). Or was she just building a fence around it? If so, what does this mean about fences? Or, she probably just forgot

Therefore: The serpent coaxes her to take a fruit. When she touches it and doesn't die, she eats it. 

-It says that the tree "was a delight to the eyes (passuk,6)". Wasn't Hashem making it all too easy for them to sin? Wouldn't it be easier if the tree was gross and old looking? I guess the answer would be that if this was a test, the tree would have to be appealing. There were other great trees there, including the tree of life, that they also could've taken from. 

But: If she thought that she was gonna die if she touched it and she didn't die, why wouldn't she eat from it?

And then: She brings some fruit to Adam and he eats it.

Knowledge: All of a sudden then realized they were naked and tried to cover it up; they were embarrassed. Before this, they were blissfully unaware of the fact they were naked. They were like little children. Now their eyes were opened. They know the difference between what is good and bad, not just fact and fiction. In this sense, it proves that they are different than Angels. This sin was a necessary step for humans to take. Although technically they were going against Hashem's commandment, it proves that humans aren't perfect, and are curious, and give in to doubt. 

God comes: We will see this with Cian also. God likes to ask rhetorical questions to see what the response will be. They heard God coming and hid. Then God asked Adam  "Where are you?". Adam replies "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Side question- what does that mean Hashem is coming into the garden? No wonder people draw images of God as a man figure coming and confronting Adam and Eve). God asks Adam how he knew he was naked and if he ate from the tree. 

Adam's Scapegoat: And the man said: "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Is it just me or is Adam a coward? She didn't force feed that fruit down his throat, he took it and ate it! He's all like "Hashem, YOU gave me that woman, and not look what she did". He's refusing to take any of the responsibility beyond admitting that he ate from it. 

Punishments: Serpent: It was cursed and now it has to "eat dust" for the rest of his life and live on his belly.

Chava:'I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.' I don't even know what to say about this passuk. It is super harsh. For crying out loud, she wasn't there when you commanded it! And what is this your husband is gonna rule over you shtuss? Is the Torah justifying male dominance in this passuk? Sure, that's what happened/happens in history, but they don't need a justification. Why wouldn't men feel superior when they're created first, women were created to be a companion for them and created with one of man's bones, AND God specifically told Chava that from now on man will rule of woman. That seems totally wrong and I wish for somebody to solve this for me. I think it's so wrong.

Adam:  'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." And he'll have to toil the land, and he's gonna sweat. I have a problem that the first thing Hashem says to Adam is "because you listened to your wife.." Why not start off by saying "because you sinned" or "because you ate from the tree.." I get that it's like "you listened to your wife and not me," but it's not like she was trying to hurt him. Whatever. So now Adam has to work. 

Then There's this Passuk (22): And the LORD God said: 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.' What is this us? What's the tree of life doing over here? You mean, if he would've eaten from the tree of life, he would've lived forever? What's with all of these mystical trees? Is any of this happening for real?

At the end of the perek they were kicked out of the garden of Eden.