Genesis 3:22-24 states that after Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden tree against the command of God, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. They then realized their nakedness and covered the lower parts of their body. Tempted by a serpent, Eve ate of the fruit, and she then persuaded Adam to eat of the fruit. A serpent challenged Eve about eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, often symbolized in European art and literature as an apple tree. 2.9, there stood in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve a 'Tree of life' and the 'Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.' Adam and Eve, the ancestors of humankind, were told by God not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil lest they would die. The Tree of life, left, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.Īccording to Gen.

Here, it symbolized God's manifestation in the created world, and also the fulfillment of the human being's quest for complete knowledge of God. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus promises the Tree of Life, which bears 12 different types of fruit in the New Jerusalem, to those who overcome the tribulation of the Last Days.ĭuring the Middle Ages the Tree of Life became a major symbol in the tradition of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, where it represents the ten sephitot, or divine emanations. After they sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, however, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and forbidden to partake of the Tree of Life. In the Hebrew Bible it is directly mentioned in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Proverbs, while in the New Testament, it figures prominently in the Book of Revelation.Īccording to Genesis, partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life would have allowed Adam and Eve to live forever. The Tree of Life is a universal symbol found in many religious traditions. The Tree of Life as pictured by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)

Tree of life meaning