Why did God create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in paradise?

Bible Questions and Answers

Published 08/14/2014

Why did God create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and plant it in the Garden of Eden? Are you joking? The fact that God gave "one last chance" to humans before destroying them does not change the fact that He ended up killing them all. What about Eden?

After this, the Lord God made all kinds of beautiful trees and trees with edible fruits grow in the garden, and in the middle of the garden He placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)

Since God knows everything - past, present and future, He must have known that Eve would eat the forbidden fruit, after which all women of humanity would be punished for this, paying for this sin. The question is why (knowing what was going to happen in the future) then did God place this tree in the Garden of Eden? Just for fun?

Answer:

Creatures of the World Ash

Deep underground among the roots of Yggdrasil live many snakes. The dragon Nidhogg is the largest among them; every day he gnaws at the roots of the tree and tries to kill the ash tree. Nidhogg lives in the kingdom of death - Helheim. The dragon gnawing on a tree symbolizes the eternal struggle between life (Yggdrasil) and death (Nidhogg).

At the top of the world tree sits a giant eagle - a symbol of the god Odin. (The Supreme God often turns into an eagle during his adventures. But also two ravens, Hugin and Munin, are also birds of Odin). On the head of a giant eagle (or between its eyes) sits a hawk - Vedrfelnir, watching everything that happens from above.

The dragon Nidhogg and the squirrel Ratatoskr by Kahito Slydeft

A squirrel, Ratatoskr or Sparrowtooth, is running along the trunk of the world tree. She transmits messages from the eagle to the dragon and back, who have never seen each other. He deliberately turns their words into offensive curses, and then rejoices at the quarrel between the two giants.

Among the branches of Yggdrasil, there live four deer: Dain and Dvalin, Duneir and Durathror. They eat the leaves of the tree of life.

Norns - goddesses of fate - Alexander Smolyakov

There are also three norns associated with Yggdrasil, three women - minor goddesses. Old and decrepit Urd is a norn of fate and the past. Mature and Verdani are the norn of formation, present and maturity. Young and beautiful Skuld is the norn of duty, the norn of the future. They live at the roots of the world ash tree Yggdrasil, watering its roots from the Urd source, prolonging the life of the tree. The threads of fate weave for everyone.

If you are interested, in my diary, you can get acquainted with all the gods and goddesses and creatures of Scandinavian mythology.

“The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” - how to understand this?

“The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” - how to understand this?

Question: ─ Do the concepts “Tree of Life” and “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” have a symbolic meaning, or are we really talking about trees?
Answer: ─ St. Augustine writes: “It is self-evident that the following words: And the tree of life in the midst of paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, must be examined with greater care, so as not to fall into an allegory, as if they were not trees, and by the name of tree something else is meant” (On the book of Genesis, literally. Book VIII. 8).

Among the holy fathers, recognition of the real nature of the tree of life is combined with a mysteriously allegorical interpretation of the above verse. This symbol symbolically points to the tree of the cross, on which the Savior of the world restored life to humanity, and to the Holy Eucharist as the saving fruit of the Calvary sacrifice. The Tree of Life is mentioned several times in symbolic meaning in the Revelation of St. Apostle John the Theologian:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (2:7).

The Seer mentions him when describing the heavenly Jerusalem:

“In the midst of its street, and on both sides of the river, is the tree of life, bearing fruit twelve times, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations" (22:2);

“Blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the city through the gates” (22:14).

The text of the book of Genesis assures us that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was real and not symbolic: “And out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (2:9). Saint John Chrysostom writes: “Therefore, the Divine Scripture called this tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because it had to commit a crime or keep a commandment. The humane Lord, from time immemorial and from the beginning, wishing to enlighten and inspire man that he has a Creator and Creator, who produced everything visible and created him, deigned to show him His power in this commandment” (Conversations on the book of Genesis. XVI.6).

Saint Philaret of Moscow also explains: “The name of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, without a doubt, refers to the effect that it could produce in a person. However, it could not be a source of knowledge, both because this is incompatible with the nature of the tree, and because the image of the Creator was in man the source of reason and knowledge" (Notes guiding a thorough understanding of the Book of Genesis. M., 1867, p. 41).

The further narration confirms the idea of ​​the actual existence of such a tree in paradise: “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (2:17).

Adam and Eve tasted the fruit in a completely real way: “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes and desirable because it gives knowledge; and she took of its fruit and ate; And she gave it also to her husband, and he ate” (3:6).

The consequence of disobedience was the Fall. By giving a test commandment, God warned against a false and dangerous path: attempts to become the ruler of the world independent of God. The spiritual lesson is significant for all subsequent generations. Any violation of the Divine commandment removes a person from the gracious Source of Life.

Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of Sretensky Monastery

<< To the main page Questions for the priest >>

Yggdrasil in Norse mythology

Mentions of the world tree are found throughout the events of Scandinavian mythology. Now I will introduce you to them:

Elder Edda, Speeches of Grimnir Translation by A. I. Korsun:

1. Three roots grow on three sides of the Yggdrasil ash tree: Hel under one, giants under the other and people under the third.
2. Ratatosk the squirrel briskly scurries through the Yggdrasil ash tree; She hurries to take all the eagle’s speeches down to Nidhogg.
3. And four deer, throwing back their horns, gnawed at the shoots: Dain and Dwalin, Duneir and Durathror.
4. A fool cannot understand how many snakes crawl under the ash tree Yggdrasil: Goin and Moin - Gravvitnir's children - Grabak and Gravvellud, Ofnir and Svafnir - they constantly gnaw the ash tree.
5. People do not know what hardships the Yggdrasil ash tree has: the roots are eaten by Nidhogg, the top of the head is eaten by a deer, the trunk dies from rot.

Image of Yggdrasil in an ancient manuscript XVII Iceland

Younger Edda, Vision of Gyulvi Translation by O. A. Smirnitskaya:

1. Then Gangleri asked: “Where do the gods gather or where is their main sanctuary?” The tall one replied: “It is near the ash tree Yggdrasil, where the gods hold their judgment every day.”
2. I know the ash tree by the name of Yggdrasil, a tree washed with muddy moisture, dew from it descends onto the valleys; Above the source of Urd it remains green forever.
3. The best tree is ash Yggdrasil.

Yggdrasil by artist haru aki

World tree in other cultures

In addition to Scandinavian mythology, the image of the world tree or tree of life is found among the Slavs (almost a complete copy of Yggdrasil). A similar image is found among the Mordovians in the form of the Echke Tumo tree. In Turkic and Iranian legends, as well as in Islam, Kabbalah and Buddhism.

In most of these cultures, the tree is represented as a world axis - a connection between different levels and dimensions.

Tree of Life Ichor – Caelan Stokkermans

Yggdrasil symbol

In 1910, near the Swedish village of Överhogdal, several well-preserved tapestries X - XI were found. One of them depicted Yggdrasil.

Whether the Vikings used this symbol elsewhere, no one knows. There are suggestions that the ancient Scandinavians depicted the world tree in this way, decorating ritual objects and jewelry with it.

God has already given us freedom of choice in heaven

I noticed signs of anger and bitterness in your question. Given the tone of your question, I will say that it will be very difficult for you to understand it at all. But the question itself is very good, so I will try to answer as best as possible.

I see that you are making two wrong assumptions in the question. You believe that God sends people to hell - as if He decided to condemn each individual person. This is not a biblical view. What we see in the Garden of Eden is that God wanted to have a relationship with people. God created Adam and Eve, they were created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). The exact meaning of this is not entirely clear, but I believe that in His image and likeness we are independent individuals and have the right to freedom of choice. We have the power. God has sovereign power over the universe, and we have sovereign power over ourselves and over that part of the world over which we have influence. Genesis chapter two tells me that we were created by God so that He could love us, and we, in return for His love, could love Him. We, as creatures, were designed for relationships.

Yggdrasil and Scandinavian tattoos

Among Scandinavian-style tattoos, the world tree is much less common than the now popular Agishjalm, Vegvisir or Valknut. But it has a lot of scope for imagination and ideas.

Scandinavian mythology, gods and creatures are often depicted together with the world tree. Many roots and branches allow you to combine several sketches and drawings or symbols with each other, and connect other tattoos together.

Yggdrasil on the back - the tattoo combines the world tree and Odin's wolves - Geri and Freki.

Recommended Skill Levels:

Required quests:
Tree Gnome Village - to gain the opportunity to talk with Spirit Tree. Legends Quest - for access to Kharazi Jungle Monkey Madness - for access to the island of Ape Atoll Regicide - for access to Tyras Camp Underground Pass - for access to the elf city of Lletya

Required items:

Your best ax for chopping trees, preferably a dragon one. Machete (in case you end up in the Kharazi Jungle) and matches.

Start:

In order to find the Evil Tree in the vastness of Runescape, you need to either run around the world in search of it or talk to the Spirit Tree. After you have completed the Tree Gnome Village quest, you will most likely prefer the second option. So, we go to the Spirit Tree and talk to him. you can talk to any of the Spirit Trees, even those that you yourself grew in the garden.

Below is a table of messages from Spirit Tree and their designations:

Caring for the Evil Tree Sapling:
***Writing in progress***

Destroying the Evil Tree:

So, after the Evil Tree has fully grown, you can teleport directly to it using the Spirit Tree. To do this, select the option to talk with him and then click on the appropriate answer options and teleport to the Evil Tree.

Note: if you forgot an ax and matches, then the leprechaun located next to the Evil Tree will be happy to give you these items, you will really only receive a bronze axe, they will not be able to offer you a more expensive one.

After arriving at the place, it is highly recommended to check which Evil Tree you came across this time. To do this, right-click on the tree and select the “ Inspect”

" and then immediately to "
Click to continue
".

This way you can find out about the health status of the tree and the maximum percentage of your reward for its destruction that you can receive. These data may change as the roots are cut and the tree is burned. cutting down roots will give you experience in the Woodcutting skill, and burning wood gives you experience in the Firemaking skill. In the process of chopping, you collect kindling (splinters) and if you accumulate enough of them, this will allow you to make up to 8 fires on each Evil tree.

In order to burn a tree, you need to right-click on it and select the light fire option or use splinters on the tree itself. I draw your attention to the fact that you need to light a fire in a place near the tree where at that moment there are no huge roots.

However, roots can appear from the ground quite unexpectedly while you are trying to light a fire and hit you, don’t worry - it won’t hurt, but the birds will still sing happily over your head =)

After you and other players have destroyed the Evil Tree, it looks like this:

and now is the time to receive a reward for your help.

Possible rewards:

cash, bird's nest, key halves, level 1 keys, grains of different types of trees

Notes and additions:

Author of the text and screen design © Lalushka