Eating of the Forbidden Fruit

Biblical Text

The account appears in Genesis 2:15–17 and chapter 3. God allowed the man to eat the fruit of every tree in the Garden of Eden but forbade the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

The serpent told the woman, "Ye shall not surely die" (3:4), and enticed her by saying that if they ate the fruit their eyes would be opened and they would be like God. The woman ate the fruit and also gave some to her husband, who was with her. The two knew that they were naked, sewed fig leaves together to make aprons, and hid from God. When God questioned them, the man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent.

God then pronounced judgment on the serpent, the woman, and the man in turn (3:14–19). Afterward He made coats of skins and clothed them, and sent the two out of the garden. At the east of the garden He placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life (3:24). The man is called Adam, and the woman receives the name Eve after this event (3:20).

Terminology and Background

The Korean term seonakgwa ("fruit of good and evil") is a shortened form used in Korean churches for "the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil"; it does not occur in the biblical text itself. The text does not identify the kind of fruit. Its depiction as an apple is generally understood to have become fixed through the Western artistic tradition.

Scholars interpret the expression "knowing good and evil" (Hebrew tov wara') in different ways. Some take it as moral discernment; others regard it as a merism, which names two extremes to denote the whole, and thus as knowledge of everything. Still others interpret it as autonomy—the attempt to determine good and evil for oneself in place of God.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

This event is read as the point at which sin and death entered the human world.

• Paul writes that "by one man sin entered into the world" (Romans 5:12), contrasting Adam with Christ.
• The same contrast appears in "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).
• The serpent, introduced in Genesis only as a beast of the field, is called "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan" in Revelation 12:9.
• The tree of life appears again in Revelation 22.

Interpretations and Issues

• Original sin: Since Augustine, the Western church has developed the doctrine of original sin, which holds that Adam's sin is passed on to all his descendants. Pelagianism, which denied this, was condemned in the ancient church. The Eastern Orthodox Church tends to emphasize the inheritance of death and corruption rather than inherited guilt.
• Differences within Protestantism: The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterians, following covenant theology, views this event as Adam, the representative of humanity, breaking the "covenant of works." The Wesleyan tradition, including Methodists, acknowledges the corruption resulting from the fall while emphasizing that God's prevenient grace (the grace that goes before) enables all people to respond.
• Protoevangelium: Genesis 3:15 states that the seed of the woman will bruise the serpent's head. Christian tradition has read this verse as the first announcement of Christ's victory. Jewish interpretation often does not adopt this messianic reading.
• Historicity: Views differ on whether the event should be read as historical fact or as a symbolic narrative, a question bound up with the creation and evolution debate.
• Elements not in the text: The text does not say that the fruit was an apple or that Eve tempted Adam. Nor does the Genesis text itself state that the serpent is Satan.

In the Korean Church

The account is frequently cited in sermons dealing with the origin of sin, disobedience and pride, and the human tendency to shift blame onto others. Some sermons interpret the coats of skins that God made as a sign foreshadowing Christ's atonement.