Genesis 2:9 (WEB)
Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 2:9 (KJV)
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Key words
- עֵץ הַחַיִּיםets hachayyim · Hebrew
- 'the tree of life' in the midst of the garden.
- עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָעets hadda'at tov vara · Hebrew
- 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' — the one tree forbidden.
Why it matters
Two trees stand in the garden: the tree of life, which the couple may eat, and the tree of knowledge, which they may not. Pitre draws out that humanity was created with the offer of immortality and lost it (p 22). The reversal comes through another tree: Mary stands at the cross, and the Fathers saw in the New Eve the restoration of what was lost in Eden.