What did the forbidden fruit symbolize in the bible?

Answer 1

The tree of knowledge was a literal tree. 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. As to the genus of the tree, the Scriptural record is silent.

Answer 2

The forbidden fruit symbolizes our rebellion against God's nourishment and lordship over our lives. It's turning from his wisdom and council and seeking out our own ideas of good and evil. Adam and Eve are representative characters of what has happened to all humans. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, except for one, Jesus Christ.

Answer 3

In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam he must not eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is a mythical tree that could make Adam and Eve godlike. We see the result after they ate this fruit, and God said (3:22), "now the man is become like one of us." Adam had become like the gods, except that he was still mortal. So that he would not now eat of the Tree of Life which God had also planted in the Garden of Eden, and thus become immortal, God sent Adam and Eve from the Garden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword to keep (block) the path to the Tree of Life (3:24).

Answer 4

Some speculate that Adam and Eve ate an apple. Others, such as SH Hooke (Middle Eastern Mythology) are perhaps more practical and say that the story has antecedents in earlier Near Eastern myths, evidence that there was no Adam, Eve or any forbidden fruit.

The early Church Father, Origen, rubbishes (On First Principles, 3.1.1) the very idea that there literally was a forbidden fruit:'Now what man of intelligence will believe that the first and the second and the third day, and the evening and the morning existed without the sun and moon and stars? And that the first day if we may so call it, was even without a heaven? And who is so silly as to believe that God, after the manner of a farmer, "planted a paradise eastward in Eden", and set in it a visible and palpable "tree of life", of such a sort that anyone who tasted its fruit with his bodily teeth would gain life: and again that one could partake of "good and evil" by masticating the fruit taken from the tree of that name? And when God is said to "walk in the paradise in the cool of the day" and Adam to hide himself behind a tree, I do not think anyone will doubt that these are figurative expressions which indicate certain mysteries through a semblance of history and not through actual events.'

Answer 5

Nobody is certain on what the forbidden fruit was, but popular belief is an apple. However, we cannot be certain and therefore, could be any fruit.

Answer 6

The apple

Answer 7

apple