preview

The Hebrew Bible 's Allure And Perseverance

Decent Essays

The Hebrew Bible’s allure and perseverance is due in part to the numerous gaps contained within the text; in these gaps, the characters’ motivations and emotions are left unclear. One such gap is God’s motivation behind his response to Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Despite God telling Adam that he will die if he eats the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (King James Version, Gen. 2.17), eating the fruit did not cause Adam and Eve to die; instead, God allowed them to live and cast them out of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3; 24). Why then did God tell Adam that he will die if he consumes the fruit from that tree if the fruit really doesn’t cause death? This gap between what God says versus what he does allows religious scholars to argue various interpretations of the reasons behind God’s apparent deception of Adam. Included in the paper is a discussion and analysis of two interpretations of God’s motivations behind deceiving Adam: the first interpretation shows that God is indeed being truthful and that Adam and Eve will eventually die as a result of eating the fruits from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the second interpretation depicts God’s deception as a test of Adam and Eve’s obedience. Also included in the essay is my personal opinion of which interpretation is the best along with reasons behind my choice.

The Interpretation that God is Being Truthful The first interpretation argues that God is

Get Access