Understanding the Forbidden Fruit: Why There is NO FALL of Humankind in Genesis

The entire tale in the book of Genesis of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has been portrayed as the FALL OF Humanity from God's Grace and Favor. It is quite the opposite. In this video I examine the original texts, properly translated and understood in their historical contents. This is history not theology! Viewer beware!

James D. Tabor, The Book of Genesis: A New Translation with Notes from the Transparent English Bible

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The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley
מהמלים בקשר את המלים ועל סמך המלים
Retired Prof. of Religious Studies/Christian Origins
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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[jerryhogeweide]

I’ve always read this as a metaphor for our consciousness and our own evolution. It’s better to remain a child and in a way, you have to be come one again if you ever want to go back to that garden. I don’t see it as the fall of man, but the birth of ego and shame that we fling on others. Ego is what’s separating us and causes wars. Sounds simple, but all you have to do to find that garden and feel god’s presence is strip down naked for all the world to see and check your ego at the door. No religion necessary.

[wilson..olivia]

Hit 200k today. Thank you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 14k in last month 2024.

[ChristianCarrizales]

Great analysis. Over the last few years, I’ve found the Hebrew Bible much easier to understand when reading these stories without a historical focus. That is - reading them like I would Aesop’s Fables - where there is a bigger message intended to be learned from the story itself rather than focusing on some theological or historical aspect.

[Shugamri]

Honestly, Tabor's translation of "The Fall" as instead "The Growing Up of Adam and Eve" makes the most sense to me? The idea of Eden as childhood and innocence, and Adam and Eve growing up into moral accountability upon eating the Fruit of the Knowledge of Consequence (would that be a better translation of the Fruit's purpose? Instead of Good and Evil, it's the Knowledge of Consequence? ), and the version of them that "died" on that day was their innocence to the consequences of their actions, makes so much more sense to me

[BobSmith-lbnc]

Israel's 40 years was not spent in the desert, but in the wilderness of Midian.
As to this coming of age and having to leave the Garden, that reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End"

[moroemoakville]

Dr. Tabot, I am so grateful for your generosity in providing us with the material. May the Creator keep you.

[ThatBoomerDude]

Back nearly 50 years ago, a Catholic priest in a religion class at a Catholic university explained "the fall" and the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as best understood as an allegory for humanity evolving to understand "good" and "bad" choices.

[jonathanwilner]

"Dying you shall surely die." There was no predation in the garden. When Adam and Eve left the garden, they saw predation, and disease. It finally occurred to them that they too will one day die leaving them with the question of what to do. They finally realized that they had to avoid the extinction of humanity by finally fulfilling the commandment of being fruitful and multiplying. One can understand the consumption of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge as avoiding the fulfillment of this commandment.

Embraced by the serpent, Eve engaged in autoeroticism while Adam looked on enjoying her ecstasy vicariously. The serpent was Eve's cathectic object. They, both Adam and Eve substituted autoeroticism for marital responsibility and hence had to exit the garden to realize the gravitas of their mortality. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, not specifically mentioned, can be that of figs. In Hebrew, the fig also represents sexual promiscuity and the fruit likewise represents both the male and female pudenda.

[zeckul]

I always found it curious how God seems worried that humans could become "like one of us" in this story. It sounds like he doesn't like competition. Basically, God was fine with this child-like ignorant being living forever, but if they grow out of that, as you say, then the deal is off.

[KevinArdala]

This was great. Hope you do an Exodus translation too one day!

[abdulmajeed]

Ezra rewrote or reconstructed religious texts without divine guidance and potentially under the influence or patronage of Persian rulers - so these are all the Books of Ezra. This opens up significant questions about the authenticity and truth of those texts as a genuine reflection of the original creation story. The texts could be seen as reflecting more of the human and political realities of the time than the original divine instruction. The rewriting of religious history and laws after hundreds of years makes it difficult to verify the truthfulness of those texts. If they were not preserved in their original form, the stories could be seen as heavily influenced by cultural, political, and human factors rather than divine truth. Reconstructing religious texts after centuries, particularly without divine instruction, raises serious concerns about the legitimacy of those texts as accurate representations of the original divine message. The historical narrative that emerges from such reconstructions could contain distortions, embellishments, or omissions that serve specific agendas or reflect the scribe’s knowledge and context limitations. The Israelites were not known to be truthful - Jesus accuses them of lying and distorting the truth about God’s will and commandments.

[readtruth]

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned
—Romans 5:12

Man is in a fallen state, meaning he has lost much of his former situation. Pretty simple concept.

[LordLoss]

Kierkegaard’s book “the concept of anxiety” also agrees with you

[EinarGrondal]

Each of these recordings is a gem. Clarifying the meaning and presenting in its simplest form. Brilliant! Thank you Dr. Tabor. 🎉

[beauxcarroll]

Adam would be the first man to be self-aware. The giving of Fire by Prometheus is the same as it speaks to the gift of thought. Both givers of knowledge are punished for the gift. I could probably find more examples but this is a universal story.

[scottburge]

Always interesting. And I'm enjoying my copy of The Book of Genesis: A New Translation with Notes from the Transparent English Bible.

[stevezane]

Dr Tabor, can you please do an audio version of your Genesis translation. I have the kindle version I really enjoy it. I’m going to get the hard copy but I would love to be able to listen to it.

[edrowley]

Thank you Dr. Tabor. Having been a parent and watching children and now grandchildren, it is interesting to compare their development/progress to HaShem's observation of Adam & Chavah. I have been leaning to this understanding, as it seems to be what HaShem intended, but by our choices.

[melantheoszimurri]

Gnostics believed it was carnal knowledge that opened man’s eyes. The same thing happened in the epic of Gilgamesh with enkidu

[a_lucientes]

I can tell you some Jewish mystics interpret it in purely cognitive way. The Garden represents the primordial non-dual state which is re-attainable but only through the dissolution or _burning up_ (to pass through the rotating flaming sword that blocks the way back) of the egoic (conventional relative subject-object perception) self through intense meditative practice. The Garden is a kind of blueprint of the creative process with each character representing a different aspect of it.