The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

And the Lord God commanded the man,

 “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  

but you must not eat from the tree 

of the knowledge of good and evil,

 for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

The first mention of the word "evil" in Scripture is recorded in Chapter 2 of Genesis.  God is talking to Adam, the man He has created, as they stroll through the magnificent Garden of Eden.  God indicates the entire garden with a sweep of His hand, and tells Adam that he can eat of any tree (or bush, or vine, or plant) of the garden - all has been made ready for him for food.  All, that is, except one.  In the very midst (center?) of the garden is a tree whose fruit is not for Adam's consumption.  We are not told what the fruit was - most certainly not an apple (others have suggested an orange).  God then sets down some very clear facts.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil?  No, you are not to eat of that one.  Every other tree in the garden?  Help yourself! 

Please note that the tree itself is not "evil."  Neither is the fruit.  There was, quite possibly, nothing spectacular about either the tree or its fruit except for one thing:  it was forbidden.  Rather, the tree is labeled as the place of the knowledge of good and evil.  In the existence of the Garden of Eden, Adam had a daily lesson in what constituted "good."  He was surrounded by God's creation that the Creator himself had labeled as "good" and man himself was characterized as "very good."  So the tree in the center of the garden was involved in the possibility of discovering what is evil.  At this point, Adam has no idea what "evil" is.  What is clear, to Adam and to us, is that the tree was a place of choice:  to choose to honor his Creator and do what God asked, or to choose to go his own way.  Skip Moen, in his Hebrew Word Study blog, observes, "Adam's choice is between God's design for delight or his decision to make his own garden."  Will I obey God, or will I choose to be my own master?  Ultimately, Adam decided against God.  His choice thrust him out of the Garden into a world of his own making minus all the delightful provisions of the Creator's goodness.  Separation from the daily presence of God opened Adam's world to continued rebellion against the One who made him.  Continued rebellion produced greater and greater sin - the knowledge of evil.

God's commentary in Exodus 3:22 is laden with sorrow:  The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.