Genesis 3 introduces “the serpent” and tells the story of the original sin and “the fall”, when Eve and Adam eat of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
From Genesis 3: (full chapter here)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The Serpent (and Satan?)
The serpent is introduced as just that: “the serpent”. He is described as “more crafty than any of the wild animals,” implying that he is one of the wild animals. I’ve always been taught that the serpent is Satan, but interestingly, there is no implication of this here. In Genesis 3, we have a snake talking to a human, nothing more or less.
Continuing chapter 3:
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
My thoughts as I read through this:
Magical trees that make you like God?
Eve and Adam eat fruit from a tree, and doing so makes them realize they are naked, and teaches them the knowledge of good and evil. It’s very difficult for me to take this seriously. Eating a magical tree made them realize they were naked. They were the only two people alive, and none of the other animals had to wear clothes, so what exactly was the problem? And why would a tree make them realize this?
I have heard it told that it wasn’t the fruit itself, but the act of disobeying God that opened up humanity to sin. This is an interesting interpretation, and far more meaningful. But it still doesn’t add up. If they did not yet have knowledge of good and evil, then how was it possible for Adam and Eve to disobey? Further, in this story, God banishes humans from the Garden of Eden to prevent them from also eating the Tree of Life which would allow them to live forever. These definitely sound like magical trees.
Origins – Literal History or Symbolic Myth?
After eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve realize they are naked and begin wearing clothes. God punishes Adam, Eve, and the serpent. The serpent is cursed to crawl on his belly and fight with humans. Women are cursed to have great pain in childbirth, and to be ruled over by their husbands. Men are cursed to hard work to farm the ground for food. We have a talking snake, magical trees, and cherubim with flaming swords. All of this sounds like an origin myth.
I don’t have extensive knowledge of myths of other religions, but from what I do know, they have interesting and fantastical stories to explain the origin of different mysteries of humanity and the world. Read a Greek or Roman origin myth and you think, “Did ancient people really believe this!?” But read symbolically, these stories can give interesting insights into history and humanity.
Genesis 3 reads the same way to me. If taken literally, it’s very difficult not to mock the claims. But if taken symbolically, this story can be explored in insightful ways. The story definitely hits on some of the mysteries of humanity and the apparent differences between humans and other animals. It makes me stop and think, “Wait, why DO we wear clothes? Why DO we fight against the land to do so much farming? Why ARE men traditionally in charge? Why DO we have these ideas of sin, and good and evil? Do other animals have any loose concept of this?” All of these questions are raised by this ancient text. It is fascinating and absolutely worth pondering. But I can’t read this as a literal history any more than I can read any other myth as literal history.