Jan Van Eyck. Adam. Eve.
Fragments of Ghent
altar. Cathedral of St. Bavo

"And you will be like gods." Adam and his wife lived carefree in paradise. It was so warm there that they didn't need clothes. They ate unusually large and tasty fruits that they plucked from the trees. People communicated with animals and birds. God loved to walk in the Garden of Eden and often visited them.

Once a serpent, who was more cunning than all other beasts, asked a woman if God had allowed them to eat fruits from all the trees of paradise? She replied that they were forbidden to touch only the fruits of one tree, so as not to die. The serpent explained that the fruits of this particular tree give knowledge, and God forbade touching them because he was afraid that people would become as wise as He himself. And the Serpent said to the woman: "You will not die, for God knows that on the day you eat from him, your eyes will open, and you will be like gods knowing good and evil."

Adam and Eve pluck the fruit from the tree of knowledge.

Upon learning of this, the woman plucked fruit from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", ate herself and treated Adam. Suddenly they saw that they were not wearing clothes. They felt ashamed in front of each other, and they began to build themselves belts from fig leaves [figs], but did not have time to finish a new business for them, when suddenly the voice of God was heard walking in the garden. Adam and his wife were scared and hid behind the trees. But God called Adam. He responded and said that he hid because he was ashamed to show up without clothes. God asked: "Who then said that you have no clothes on? Have you not eaten the fruits of that tree that I have forbidden to touch?" Then poor Adam immediately blamed his wife, and she - the serpent who taught her this.

God curses the serpent and punishes Adam and Eve. God was terribly angry and cursed the serpent. He took away his legs, ordered him to crawl on his belly, there is dirt and dust. And God said that now there will be eternal enmity between snakes and people. He also invented a severe punishment for a woman. God commanded that in severe torment she would bear children and obey her husband in everything. Adam now had to find food with great difficulty by cultivating the land. Instead of the fruits of paradise, they had to eat the grass of the field. But even this seemed not enough to God. He decided that because of their disobedience, people would eventually have to die.

Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The Fall. XVI century

Expulsion from Paradise of Adam
and Eve

The grieved Adam gave his wife the name Eve, which means "life", since she was to become the mother of all mankind.

And God made leather clothes for Adam and Eve and ordered them to be worn. He decided not to leave them in paradise. God was afraid that Adam and Eve, who at the suggestion of the serpent acquired wisdom, the knowledge of good and evil, would now eat the fruits of the tree of life and acquire immortality. So that people could not live forever, God expelled them from paradise and put a cherub (a mythical winged creature) with a fiery sword to guard the path to the tree of life.

The serpent, the tree of life and the tree of death.

Flowers bloomed in the morning, the river beckoned with coolness, but the wonderful garden was empty. There was no one to swim in the river, pick flowers, pick sweet berries and relax in the shade of the trees.

And God decided: "I will create a man like me."

God took the river clay, molded a man out of it, breathed life into him and called the man Adam.

Adam walked in the Garden of Eden, picked fruits, swam in the river, but he was bored.

Then God molded various animals and birds from clay, revived them and brought them to Adam.

All the animals passed by Adam, all the birds flew by.

An elephant passed by Adam, and Adam called him an elephant.

An eagle flew past Adam, and Adam called him an eagle. And he called the hedgehog a hedgehog, and the ferret called the ferret, and the hare, the hare, and the titmouse, the tit. He gave names to everyone!

But Adam still walked around sad, because he did not have a close friend whom he could love.

And then God said:

It is not good for Adam to be alone. I will create a faithful helper and friend for him.

God put Adam to sleep and, while he was sleeping, took Adam's rib and made a woman out of the rib.

Adam woke up, looked at the woman and said:

You're beautiful! My name is Adam, and your name is Eve. You will be my wife.

And Adam and Eve began to live in paradise.

Together they walked, swam together in the river, together weaved wreaths of flowers, together they gathered fruits from all the trees.

But there was one very beautiful tree growing on a hill in the middle of the garden, about which God told Adam and Eve:

Never, ever pick apples from this tree. As soon as you eat at least one apple, you will die immediately.

Why do we need this tree? We already have a lot of fruits! - said Adam and Eve.

An evil and crafty Serpent lived on the forbidden tree. He was more cunning than all the animals and birds that God created.

The cunning Serpent began to wait for Eve to come to the forbidden tree. And when Eve approached the forbidden tree.

The serpent said:

I heard that God forbade you to pick fruits from trees in paradise.

Eve answered him:

No! We can pick fruits from all trees, only from this we cannot. God said: -Do not eat them. Anyone who eats an apple from this tree will die. "

And the crafty Serpent said to Eve:

God deceived you. He knows that the day you eat the forbidden fruit, you and Adam will become as wise and omnipotent as God himself.

Eve looked at what juicy, ruddy apples grow on the forbidden tree, and Eve wanted to eat the forbidden apple.

Eve plucked an apple, ate half, and gave half to Adam. As soon as Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple, they looked at each other and for the first time saw that they were naked.

And they were ashamed.

God walked in the shade of trees in the Garden of Eden and called Adam:

Adam, where are you?

Adam hid in the bushes and replied:

God, I can hear you, but I cannot go out to you. I have no clothes on.

God approached Adam and asked:

Who told you that you were naked? Have you not eaten the fruit that I have forbidden you to eat?

Adam got scared and said.

The woman's curiosity and thirst for knowledge, according to the biblical legend, plunged all of humanity into the abyss of sinfulness and life, different from the one that the first people enjoyed in the coolness of paradise. It is thanks to this story that all the descendants of Adam and Eve were deprived of immortality and distorted the high title of being like God.

Biblical legend

According to legend, both Adam and Eve were warned about the possibility of eating the fruits of any trees in the Garden of Eden, except for the fruits of the so-called "and evil." For eating the fruit of knowledge, they were threatened with inevitable death. However, the serpent, which, according to the Bible, was more cunning than all the other animals created by that time, promised Eve a complete absence of fatal consequences, as well as insight and knowledge of the truth of life after eating that very fruit of the Tree.

According to the tempter, at the moment of eating the fruit, Adam and Eve must understand good and evil, that is, become like the highest principle. It was the craving for this unknown knowledge that prompted Eve to such a desperate act, which made it possible for people to see in some way, to feel the first pangs of shame associated with nudity.

According to legend, Eve, fearing that after her death another wife would be given to Adam from the fruit of the tree of paradise, decided to tempt her husband with food.

Apple - temptation and strife

The apple is traditionally considered the forbidden paradise fruit, although, according to the researchers, it was more likely to be a fig, the leaves of which later covered the first people. It is curious that the apple in biblical mythology appeared by accident. can be said by misunderstanding. At least this statement is supported by the fact that apple trees do not grow in the Middle East.

The Bible says that the woman ate the fruit of knowledge, which had a rounded shape. No more. The fruit began to be called an apple only in the Middle Ages, when, as you know, the Holy Scriptures were openly rewritten and edited to please the church and the Inquisition.

It is believed that the apple appeared in Scripture and in connection with the sound and graphic similarity of the Aramaic names of these fruits, and therefore one simply replaced the other.

Eve's act deprived a person of the opportunity to become immortal, made him unworthy of this great gift in the eyes of God, however, he also gave him the right to choose and power over his own destiny.

The Jews believe that none other than the fallen Samael appeared in the notorious serpent Eve, whose envy of people so close to God pushed him to a vile step. For this act, God doomed people to hard work associated with obtaining food and the torment of pregnancy and childbirth associated with further reproduction. It is the sin of eating the fruit of temptation that is considered the original; it can be redeemed by accepting the sacrament of baptism, that is, dedication to God, who is able to save the human race from the sinful principle. Interestingly, according to legend, at the time of the commission of a grave crime by Adam and Eve, God punishes the snake, for his act he deprives him of his legs and predicts all his life to crawl on his belly and wage a fierce war with all people.

This is the story of the first woman on earth, who begins in the Garden of Eden.

Eve was the most beautiful creation created by the Creator. The Bible doesn't describe it very much, but as we read Scripture as a whole and look at the whole picture, we see how magnificent God's plan is.

Fetus

Many are interested in the question of what Eve ate in the Garden of Eden, and why God was so angry with the first people, which led to their expulsion from the garden.

Disobedience to the Creator is the real reason. The tree in the Garden of Eden, which God planted in the very center, was forbidden by God.

To say that it was an apple tree would be wrong. Because the Bible does not give an accurate description - neither the tree nor its fruit.

Of course, you can interpret Scripture as you like (to make it easier to perceive the written). But if we are looking for the truth, then we must rely on the Bible as it says, without adding anything of our own.

This tree had a name - "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", and how its fruits look like is unknown to anyone except God and the very first people - Adam and Eve.

And the Lord God commanded man, saying: From every tree in the garden you will eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will not eat from it, for on the day you eat of it, you will die a death. (Genesis 2: 16-17)

And the woman saw that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasing to the eyes and desirable, because it gives knowledge; And she took of its fruit and ate; And she gave also to her husband, and he ate. (Genesis 3: 6)

The Bible says "fruit"; what it looks like, its shape, color and size are unknown. One thing we know for sure - it is edible, it grows in the middle of paradise, but it cannot be eaten.

It is known that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes and desirable because it gave knowledge. It was this fruit that Eve ate, thereby violating the command of the Creator.

Tree of Life

But this is not the only tree that the Bible describes. The second tree that was special in the garden is the tree of life. It also bore fruit, but life-giving.

And the Lord God said: Behold, Adam has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, no matter how he stretched out his hand, and did not take it also from the tree of life, and did not taste, and did not begin to live forever. (Genesis 3:22)

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is mentioned only in the first book of the Old Testament, but we also find the tree of life in the New Testament. The fruits of this heavenly tree will be eaten only by those who are born again and keep his word, who strive to be like Christ, to act like Him.

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one according to his deeds. I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, First and Last. Blessed are they who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to tree of life and enter the city by the gate. (Revelation 22: 12-14)

This tree is accessible to anyone. Christ died for all living and for all those born now and in the future.

Everyone has a chance to escape, but the time for that chance is limited. These are the years allotted on this earth, while there is the breath of life in your nostrils. After death, it will be impossible to choose.

The most famous mention of an apple in the Bible is the story of the Fall. This concept is based on the biblical story of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The Fall signifies the first violation of the will of God by Adam and Eve, which led to the fall of man from a state of supreme innocent bliss into a state of suffering and sinfulness.

The serpent was more cunning than all the beasts of the field, which the Lord God created. And the serpent said to his wife, Has God truly said, Do not eat of any tree in paradise? And the wife said to the serpent: We can eat the fruit from the trees, only the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of Paradise, God said, do not eat them and do not touch them, lest you die. And the serpent said to his wife: No, you will not die, but God knows that on the day on which you taste them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods who know good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasing to the eyes and desirable, because it gives knowledge; And she took of its fruit and ate; And she gave also to her husband, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise during the coolness of the day; And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of paradise. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him: [Adam,] where are you? He said: I heard your voice in paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And [God] said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you not eaten from the tree from which I have forbidden you to eat? Adam said: The wife you gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to his wife: why have you done this? The wife said: The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed before all cattle and before all the beasts of the field; you will walk in your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will hit you in the head, and you will sting it in the heel.

He said to his wife: multiplying I will multiply your sorrow in your pregnancy; in illness you will bear children; and your desire is for your husband, and he will rule over you. And he said to Adam, because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, saying: Do not eat of it, cursed is the land for you; with sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles she will grow for you; and you will eat the grass of the field; in the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground from which you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, for she became the mother of all living.

And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.

And the Lord God said: Behold, Adam has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, no matter how he stretched out his hand, and did not take it also from the tree of life, and did not taste, and did not begin to live forever. And the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. And he drove out Adam, and put in the east near the garden of Eden a cherub and a flaming sword turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

(Bible (Synodal translation) 1876, chapter 3)

It is worth noting that there is no exact indication in the Bible that the apple was the fruit from the tree of knowledge. But it was the apple that was the first fruit on which the later interpreters of Scripture fell.