The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

When Adam entered the Garden of Eden, he was ordered by God to eat from all of the trees in the garden, but not from Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because eating from it would lead to his death:

"וַיְצַו ה' אֱלֹהִים עַל-הָאָדָם לֵאמֹר מִכֹּל עֵץ-הַגָּן אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל. וּמֵעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע לֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ, כִּי בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְךָ מִמֶּנּוּ מוֹת תָּמוּת"

"God gave the person this order: "You may freely eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

The full name of the tree is "the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". From here we can see that the word "knowledge"-"da'at"-"דעת" with the root "ד-ע-ת", does not refer to knowledge in general when it appears in "the Tree of Knowledge", but instead means the distinction between good and evil. Eve, who was Adam's wife, was tempted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and tempted Adam as well. In Christianity, the tree has been associated with the apple, perhaps due to its red color which represents passion, and maybe because that is how it appears in early drawings.

The Tree of Life

After Adam and Eve violate the order and are punished, they are banished from the Garden of Eden so that they can't eat from the Tree of Life-"etz ha'chaim"-"עץ החיים", which had fruits that could grant eternal life, according to popular interpretation. After that, the path to the tree is guarded in order to prevent anyone from reaching it. The root of the word life-"chaim"-"חיים" is "ח-י-י" and it means the opposite of death. In different interpretations of the bible, the Torah is called the "Tree of Life" according to a chapter in the book of Proverbs:

"עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא, לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ, וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר"

"She is the tree of life to those who grasp her; whoever holds fast to her will be made happy." (Proverbs 3:18). The phrase "Tree of Life" is in the book of Proverbs in a number of places (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) as a metaphor to something that saves and revives the soul (parallel to the phrase "the source of life", which appears in similar contexts).

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