What are the 2 trees of special significance mentioned in genesis ch. 2 verse 9 and please explain the purpose of these trees?

Answer 1

The two different trees mentioned in The Bible are the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad and the Tree of Life. The significance of "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad" and of the restriction placed on its fruit has often been incorrectly viewed as relating to the sexual act between the first human pair. This view is contradicted by God's plain command to them as male and female to "be fruitful and become many and fill the earth." (Ge 1:28) Rather, by standing for "the knowledge of good and bad" and by God's pronouncement decreeing it to be out-of-bounds for the human pair, the tree became a symbol of God's right to determine or set the standards for man as to what is "good" (approved by God) and what is "bad" (condemned by God). It thus constituted a test of man's respect for his Creator's position and his willingness to remain within the area of freedom decreed by God, an area that was by no means cramped and that allowed for the greatest enjoyment of human life. Therefore, to violate the boundaries of the prohibited area by eating of "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad" would be an invasion of or a revolt against God's domain and authority.

The Bible says that in the garden of Eden, "Jehovah God made to grow out of the ground . . . the tree of life." The reason given for putting Adam out of the garden was so that he could "not put his hand out and actually take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live"-yes, forever! After expelling Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, Jehovah posted "the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life."-Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24.

18 If Adam and Eve had been permitted to eat of that tree of life, what would that have meant for them? Why, the privilege of living forever in Paradise! One Bible scholar said: "The tree of life must have had some virtue by which the human frame was to be kept free from the decrepitude of age, or the decay that terminates in death." He even claimed that "there was an herbal virtue in paradise capable of counteracting the effects" of aging. However, the Bible does not say that the tree of life in itself had life-giving qualities. Rather, that tree simply represented God's guarantee of everlasting life to the one who would be allowed to eat its fruit.-Revelation 2:7

Sorry it's long and I hope it makes sense to you.