Gen 2:9 | TNotes | STEP | 2:9 Beauty and bounty characterized humanity’s original environment (cp. 13:10 ). • The tree of life represented God’s presence and provision. The one who ate of it would have everlasting life (3:22 ), which made it a rich image for later Israelite and Christian reflection (Prov 3:18 ; 11:30 ; 13:12 ; Rev 2:7 ; 22:2 , 14 , 19 ). The candlestick in Israel’s Tabernacle may have been a stylized representation of it (Exod 25:31-35 ). • Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil enabled humanity’s capacity for wisdom (Gen 3:6 ) and moral discernment (3:5 , 22 ; cp. Deut 1:39 , “innocent”). Eating from it represented a human grasp for autonomy and wisdom that were God’s alone (cp. Prov 30:1-4 ). Humans sidestepped God’s revelation as the means of moral discernment, flaunting their independence rather than submitting to God’s will (cp. Prov 1:7 ). Choosing human wisdom over God’s instruction brings death and destruction (see Ps 19:7-9 ; Ezek 28:6 , 15-17 ).

2:9 ^a Beauty and bounty characterized humanity’s original environment (cp. 13:10 ^b).

• The tree of life represented God’s presence and provision. The one who ate of it would have everlasting life (3:22 ^c), which made it a rich image for later Israelite and Christian reflection (Prov 3:18 ^d; 11:30 ^e; 13:12 ^f; Rev 2:7 ^g; 22:2 ^h, 14 ⁱ, 19 ^j). The candlestick in Israel’s Tabernacle may have been a stylized representation of it (Exod 25:31-35 ^k).

• Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil enabled humanity’s capacity for wisdom (Gen 3:6 ^l) and moral discernment (3:5 ^m, 22 ⁿ; cp. Deut 1:39 ^o, “innocent”). Eating from it represented a human grasp for autonomy and wisdom that were God’s alone (cp. Prov 30:1-4 ^p). Humans sidestepped God’s revelation as the means of moral discernment, flaunting their independence rather than submitting to God’s will (cp. Prov 1:7 ^q). Choosing human wisdom over God’s instruction brings death and destruction (see Ps 19:7-9 ^r; Ezek 28:6 ^s, 15-17 ^t).