Divine Health & Safety: Banished from Eden
Why can’t you have both knowledge of good and evil, AND live forever?
Some people believe an interpretation of Genesis where Adam and Eve are banished from Eden as a punishment for disobeying G-d’s command by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
However, the evidence to support the idea that G-d was punishing Adam & Eve is weak. No clear translations can be found between the words in the first Hebrew scriptures, when Genesis was first written down, and today’s words that unquestionably conclude that it was a punishment.
Especially not in the way we would understand and experience punishment today.
The word “punishment” doesn’t appear in Genesis Chapter 3 – The Fall (NIV)
Instead, punishment is implied through the word “banish”.
But, The Oxford Dictionary’s literal definition of the word ” banish” doesn’t 100% match either the definition of the Hebrew words or the meaning of the symbolism of its letters.
The Hebrew scriptures used a different word which had a different symbolic meaning.
When translating, there were no words close enough to capture the Hebrew word’s whole essence.
If we follow the etymology of the word “banish”, and how its meaning evolved so that we can pinpoint when it first became associated with punishment, we get a sense that this association gradually evolved and became stronger alongside the maturity of legal systems, the crystallization of cultural norms, and changing views on crime and justice.
But when Genesis was first written, the association between banishment and punishment was not as fixed as it is today.
They commonly used Hebrew verbs like these where we use “banished” today:
גֵּרַשׁ (Gerash): “driving out” or “expelling.” Emphasizing the action of being pushed out, suggesting a forceful separation. A divorce.
עָבַד (Avad): “working” or “cultivating.” However, in the context of Genesis, it carries the connotation of “toil” or “labour,” implying hardship and difficulty associated with their new life outside Eden.
Despite this, even if you still feel Adam & Eve were banished as punishment;
And even if, through scholarly research, we discover an earlier, closer to source, version of Genesis where words were used that had a stronger association with punishment as we know it today or we find scripture that transmits a clearer knowing of the symbology of the Hebrew letters and they do in fact, point to punishment;
It’s still not the primary reason for Adam & Eve’s ejection from Eden.
In Genesis Chapter 3 (NIV); After G-d discovers Adam & Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and Evil, it states,
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
The reason for Adam & Eve leaving Eden is contained between the phrases:
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to…”
AND
“So the Lord God banished him“
The reason they had to leave is:
“He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Why not?
Why are Adam & Eve not allowed to live forever?
They were allowed to live forever before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Why does living forever become forbidden once you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Genesis Chapter 2 (NIV):
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
This is what happened:
G-d plants the Tree of Life with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the middle of Eden.
G-d tells Adam the only tree he can’t eat from is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So he is allowed to eat from the Tree of Life.
But after they gain the knowledge of good and evil, They have to leave so they can’t eat from the Tree of Life and live forever.
Why can’t you have both knowledge of good and evil, AND live forever?
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