Forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:16)

Picture description: Forbidden fruit
Picture copyright: V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

bible verse

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 of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

meaning

When we say that someone has eaten a forbidden fruit, it is generally referred to the taste of something tempting but immoral. Sometimes, it refers to the first taste of sex.

origin and application

What is a forbidden fruit? In the beginning of creation, God asked Adam not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:17) Adam and his wife Eve did not take heed, and after the first bite, their knowledge began and realized that they were naked. They felt ashamed of their exposure and since then, human beings made coverings for themselves.
The forbidden fruit has been described as an apple in a lot of paintings and literary works since the late Middle Ages. In Paradise Lost, John Milton writes, “Good and evil we know in the field of this world grow up together almost inseparably…It was from out the rind of one apple tasted, that the knowledge of good and evil, as two twins cleaving together, leaped forth into the world”. But according to the bible, the type of fruit is not specifically spelt out.