What does the fruit of the tree of knowledge mean?

Answer 1

Biblical Answer -Origin of the Phrase- The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the only thing prohibited to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

-Results-

It was by eating this fruit, in disobedience to God's command, that the first sin was committed, causing the eventual death of Adam and Eve and the mortality of all the rest of creation. It also resulted in mankind's realization of nakedness, banishment from the Garden of Eden, separation from God, and curses on the serpent (Satan had used it's form to deceive Eve), men, the earth and women. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. ----- === === http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_were_Adam_and_Eve_blamed_for_the_first_sin_when_they_had_no_experiential_knowledge_and_did_not_know_about_good_or_evil http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_to_blame_for_Original_Sin_the_One_who_ate_the_fruit_or_the_One_who_created_the_tree The fruit of the tree of knowledge cannot be known in a literal sense as can the fruit of say, an orange or a peach can as there is no information given about it. What is known (as is usual in many Biblical narratives) are the important details. The fall into sin was the direct and specific result of the eating of the forbidden fruit and so all the 'fruit of sin' would be the fruit of eating that tree. Any sin one can think of would be included such as hatred, selfishness, pride, violence, murder, adultery, greed, lieing etc.

Just as a peach is the fruit of a peach tree, so these things are the 'fruit of the tree of knowledge' i.e. of man's having disobeyed God's command by his willful choice, as in the account from Genesis above. All sin results in the breaking and spoiling of the very thing that man was made for - to have an open relationship with God and with other people. The clothing, necessary as the result of sin, indicated that such, which man (generic) was made for, had been broken or spoiled by sin. So separation is itself another 'fruit of the free'.

As far as talking about the literal fruit, many refer to it as an apple, perhaps because they can be so delicious, however, this cannot be argued either way by the text. Fruit has figurative connotations as well and so the results of eating from the tree will most often be what is referred to when this is discussed, since we can know what this was - both history generally up to this present day, and The Bible specifically are full of it, whereas we cannot know the other.