Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad (TKGB)
The Tree of Life was in the middle of The Garden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad (TKGB)
One of the most puzzling elements in the story of The Garden of Eden is probably the symbolism of the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. At first glance, the narrative implies that these trees are opposites, but there are also suggestions that they are one and the same
God said to Adam, “From all the trees of the garden you must eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat, lest you die…”
In order to understand the meaning of these trees, it will be useful to compare the tree of the knowledge of good and bad with the patterns of Mountains Ebal and Gerizim from Deuteronomy 27-30
As illustrated below, Mount Gerizim corresponds to the “good” mediator that leads to Life in the Homeland, and Mount Ebal corresponds to the “bad” mediator that leads to Death in Exile.
I have set before you today life and good, and death and bad … I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you Life and Death, and Blessing and Curse. Therefore, choose Life, that you and your Seed and Soil may live
As shown in the following diagram, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad is based on the same fundamental pattern as Mount Ebal and Gerizim. The only difference is that the axle of Time, or “tree of death,” is not mentioned explicitly in The Garden story. Instead, Death and Exile are viewed as the natural consequences of losing the Tree of Life. In other words, the “tree of death” is merely the absence of the “tree of life” in that context. In general, the axle of time can be defined as the absence of a manifest connection between Heaven and Earth.
In biblical cosmology, humanity’s purpose in the universe is to know God as the perfect answer to the riddle of Life and Death. However, in the story of The Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were not fully prepared to deal with this paradox at greater scales. Therefore, they were strictly forbidden from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die
As shown in the following diagram, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad is itself an unresolved “Tree of Life.” In other words, the tree of knowledge poses the possibility of transcending “good” versus “bad” with a higher identity. The answer to the riddle is a higher form of Life that transcends regular life. In this case, the tree must no longer be referred to as the “tree of the knowledge of good and bad” because the bad has been transmuted into a higher good.
Ultimately, all the stories in the Bible are about the problem of transmuting the “evil of change” into a higher good that can properly host Our Creator of all things. Unfortunately, this mysterious operation is risky, because eating from the tree of knowledge without the ability to answer this paradox causes “Exile from The Garden.”
Footnotes
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Pageau, Matthieu (May 29, 2018). The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis: A Commentary (“LoC”). Ch 55 ↩