Creation - Genesis 2, 7-15
The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.) .The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die."
Man would get a knowledge of which how he was permitted to live in his own way of life, under God. But for people, who are removed from God, such knowledge is too much. They will always be in danger of constant misuse of the means given to them, and the temptations to disobey.
Genesis 2, 18-24: The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him." So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man
The Fall - Genesis 3
In Genesis 3, 1-6, the snake, which in the Bible is called the most clever animal, and is still a symbol for evil today, encouraged Adam (translated 'soil') and Eve ('life') to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. They couldn't withstand the attraction of becoming clever.
Genesis 3, 7-13: . Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the
Lord God among the trees of the orchard. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" The man replied, "I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid." And the Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."
The snake had been far-sighted/visionary because with the fruit of the tree of life - eternal life for man (in stupidity?), how boring! - but with the fruit of knowledge, possibly the snake (and the authors of the text) foresaw that man wanted to aim high in his thirst for knowledge and scientific research to get onto God's secrets one day, the secrets of eternal life, Man didn't want to be God's image only but
God's equal.
Or - did God arouse man's interest and desire with his ban? Did he want to check man's reliability with the help of the snake? Did God want man to get clever so that he was able to carry out his order responsibly?
Nevertheless, the authors of this story of creation remembered that even in their time people weren't God's obedient creatures and could become a problem for God's creation.
The fruit from the tree of knowledge (prohibited) - namely knowledge, was considerably more dangerous in the eyes of the authors than the fruit of the tree of life (not prohibited).
Disobedience of man wasn't without consequences for human beings, and the snake was punished, too. (Gen. 3, 14-21)
The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.) .The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die."
Man would get a knowledge of which how he was permitted to live in his own way of life, under God. But for people, who are removed from God, such knowledge is too much. They will always be in danger of constant misuse of the means given to them, and the temptations to disobey.
Genesis 2, 18-24: The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him." So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man
The Fall - Genesis 3
In Genesis 3, 1-6, the snake, which in the Bible is called the most clever animal, and is still a symbol for evil today, encouraged Adam (translated 'soil') and Eve ('life') to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. They couldn't withstand the attraction of becoming clever.
Genesis 3, 7-13: . Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the
Lord God among the trees of the orchard. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" The man replied, "I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid." And the Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."
The snake had been far-sighted/visionary because with the fruit of the tree of life - eternal life for man (in stupidity?), how boring! - but with the fruit of knowledge, possibly the snake (and the authors of the text) foresaw that man wanted to aim high in his thirst for knowledge and scientific research to get onto God's secrets one day, the secrets of eternal life, Man didn't want to be God's image only but
God's equal.
Or - did God arouse man's interest and desire with his ban? Did he want to check man's reliability with the help of the snake? Did God want man to get clever so that he was able to carry out his order responsibly?
Nevertheless, the authors of this story of creation remembered that even in their time people weren't God's obedient creatures and could become a problem for God's creation.
The fruit from the tree of knowledge (prohibited) - namely knowledge, was considerably more dangerous in the eyes of the authors than the fruit of the tree of life (not prohibited).
Disobedience of man wasn't without consequences for human beings, and the snake was punished, too. (Gen. 3, 14-21)
In Genesis 2 there is a considerably older story of creation.
In the time of the formation of the text clay was the most important material to build, mould and do pottery. People had also noticed that organic forms of life, such as human beings or plants, turn to dust or soil. So for them in their minds' eye dust or soil was the material which God used
to create man. Then, in Genesis 3, we get to know the first fall of man.
In the time of the formation of the text clay was the most important material to build, mould and do pottery. People had also noticed that organic forms of life, such as human beings or plants, turn to dust or soil. So for them in their minds' eye dust or soil was the material which God used
to create man. Then, in Genesis 3, we get to know the first fall of man.
Illustration from:
Cologne Picture-Bible (1478)
Cologne Picture-Bible (1478)
