The Tree of knowledge of good and evil

 Gen 2:9  And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Tree of life: ets hachayim 𐤏𐤑 𐤄𐤇𐤉𐤉𐤌

Tree of knowledge of good and evil: ets hadath tub ura 𐤏𐤑 𐤄𐤃𐤏𐤕 𐤈𐤅𐤁 𐤅𐤓𐤏

While its easy to tie up the tree of life to Yahusha ha Mashiyach as its mentioned in several places in scripture & uniquely as He Himself says in Rev 2:7  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of Elohim.

Hence, this tree of life represented the eternal life in Him which is why Yahuah Aluahym placed cherubims and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. I have touched based this before the cherubims as a pattern were seen all over the haykal's carvings & most importantly on the ark of the covenant, over the mercy seat. And access to the Most Set Apart was forbidden for common man & even the priestly class. Only the kahan ha gadul once a year could enter behind the veil to sprinkle the blood of the red heifer on the mercy seat and he too couldn't see anything because of the much incense he had to offer before entering behind the veil. The smoke of the incense blinded him from seeing anything behind the veil.

Gen 3:24  and He drove the man out. And He placed keruḇim at the east of the garden of Ěḏen, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Hence, we won't get into details of how the pattern was guarded as there is a study on my blog which can be read: https://dsouzashodan72.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-imagery-of-cherubims-and-their.html in which I have touch based that the living creatures/cherubims/seraphims are reflection of the esteem of Yahusha who is Yahuah, depicting His attributes prophetically as the heavenly pattern concealed in HIM as seen by the nebim in visions.

Our prime focus in this study is the 'tree of knowledge of good and evil' because after Adam & Chauah eating from this tree Yahuah Aluahym said

Gen 3:22  And יהוה Elohim said, “See, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” 

Many assume Trinity or Binary being here just because Yahuah Aluahym said "See, the man has become like ONE OF US"....

The Hebrew word translated as Us is H4480 which in its singular form is 'man' 𐤌𐤍 which means 'kind of/species/portion/part of. The plural 𐤌𐤍𐤅 shows a species/kind of more than one. Hence, they translated it as ''US'' 

The plural form of 'mi menu' translated as 'Of Us' in Gen 3:22 is translated elsewhere for tree of knowledge of good and evil in Gen 2:17 as...

Gen 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from/mi it/menu (𐤌𐤌𐤍𐤅), for in the day that you eat from/mi it/menu  (𐤌𐤌𐤍𐤅), muth tamuth 𐤌𐤅𐤕 𐤕𐤌𐤅𐤕 death you shall die.

Hence, the tree of knowledge of good and evil was itself symbolic of a category/species whose specimen we will examine in a spiritual understanding & interestingly Yahuah identifies Himself as being part of this category (in plurality) which is why we must see this clearly as the first blush meaning seems to be complicated. The 'Us' translation is misleading, its a plural of a category/kind.

Firstly, we must understand that Yahuah Aluahym is identifying Adam/man to be like one of the 'category' which He already is part of. While Yahuah is extremely Qadash/Set Apart, He is speaking from a dual realm perspective i.e. the heavenly & the earthly where He stands part of/menu 𐤌𐤍𐤅 which is the mystery unfolding the pattern. In fact twice in Gen 2:17 Yahuah Aluahym refers the category as 'mi menu'

The English translation uses the words 'surely die' for muth tamuth which again is a dilution of the text. 'Muth' in Hebrew means 'death' and is used twice in the verse and is a tying up to the twice 'mi menu'.

The serpent came deceiving Chauah by saying "You shall not certainly die" which again the English translation dilutes the Hebrew text. I have rearranged the Hebrew to bring out the correct English translation

Gen 3:4  And the naḥash said to the woman, “You shall/ta 𐤕 not 𐤋𐤀 die/muth 𐤌𐤅𐤕 the death/mathun 𐤌𐤕𐤅𐤍. 
Gen 3:5  “For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” 

Did the adversary lie? Yes by speaking half truth he lied. What he said and recorded in Gen 3:4 was a lie. He told them that they would not die the death Yahuah told them. Gen 3:5 is truth placed in a lie. While they would become part of the category which is truth as Yahuah Aluahym Himself acknowledges which we saw in Gen 3:22, the temptation was that they would be like Elohim which is a lie.

Gen 3:22  And יהוה Elohim said, “See, the man has become like one of a kind to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”  

Hence, we must see what this category means? And this is beautifully brought out by Shaul the emissary to the Romans who was a Hebrew congregation

Rom 7:9  And I was alive apart from the Torah once, but when the command came, the sin revived, and I died. 
Rom 7:10  And the command which was to result in life, this I found to result in death. 
Rom 7:11  For sin, having taken the occasion through the command, deceived me, and through it killed me.

Shaul begins by telling that the Torah rules over a man as long as he lives. He is misunderstood because carnal mind doesn't understand he is speaking of the Torah of sin and death and the tree of knowledge of good and evil stood as a category of this.

Coming back to what Shaul is saying, he says the married woman is bound by Torah to her husband as long as her husband is alive. But when the husband dies, she is freed from the Torah of her husband and is free and not an adulteress if she marries another man. So also he says we were put to death to the Torah of the husband by the body of Mashiyach for us to become another's, the One who was raised from the dead.

Shaul shows his former estate as Adam and Chauah from verses 7 to 11 in Romans 7 that he was alive apart from Torah once but when the commandment came, sin revived and he died i.e. his eyes were opened to understand that he was part of/mimenu of the Torah of sin and death all along without realizing it. The realization came when the command came and the body designed was earthy which had its trigger and inclination to death. While the command was pure and qadash but the sin in its dormant state became alive to disobey the command.

Adam and Chauah were told that their eyes will be opened, were their eyes opened? Yes they were, they realized they were part of the 'Torah of sin and death' which is signified by 'nakedness'

Rev 16:15  “See, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who is staying awake and guarding his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” 

Now coming back to Yahuah Aluahym saying "See, the man has become like one of a kind, to know good and evil"... We must not come to a conclusion that Yahuah Aluahym was like the man with sin dormant within Him. But what it means is Yahuah Aluahym became part of the category of Torah of sin and death with a body which was not made from dust, it had no sin in it. The realization of sin came denoted by 'good and evil, when he was on the stake half naked, when all of our sins were placed on Him. From the principle 'The last shall be first', the Last Adam i.e. Mashiyach was the 'beginning of all creation', the 'Rishon Akharon (First and the Last), hence, when Yahuah Aluahym said man is become one of a kind which He was part of, this principle has to be kept in mind.

 Yahuah Aluahym the Torah giver became part of the category as both the heavenly and earthy. The earthy was a reflection of the heavenly pattern. He became part of the earthy pattern/category to redeem us.

Gal 4:4  But when the completion of the time came, Elohim sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under Torah, 

Yahuah Aluahym the giver of the Torah already made a way of escape as He said "BEHOLD/HEN 𐤄𐤍 the man has become like one kind of/mimenu 𐤌𐤌𐤍𐤅, (which He Himself was part of for man's deliverance). I will show all of this in Paleo pictographs in a bit which will make sense as we go through it togther. He was not saying man became like Him as the adversary lied to them but part of what He designed.

Firstly, in Gen 1, we see in everything Yahuah created, He saw everything was exceedingly good.

Gen 1:31  And Elohim saw all that He had made, and see, it was very/𐤌𐤀𐤅𐤃  good 𐤈𐤅𐤁 . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth day. 

Zec 3:2  And יהוה said to Satan, “יהוה rebuke you, Satan! יהוה who has chosen Yerushalayim rebuke you! Is this not a charcoal/H181 𐤀𐤅𐤃  plucked from the fire?” 

Amo 4:11  “I have overthrown some of you, as Elohim overthrew Seḏom and Amorah, and you were like a charcoal/H181 𐤀𐤅𐤃 plucked from the burning. But you did not turn back to Me,” declares יהוה. 
Amo 4:12  “Therefore I am doing this to you, O Yisra’ěl. And because I do this to you, prepare to meet your Elohim, O Yisra’ěl!” 

The coal was part of the sacrificial burning, plucked out and cast into the fire of Yahuah's wrath. The charcoal was once part of the fire of Yahuah's pattern. Isn't that amazing!

The Mem/𐤌 stands for water and blood, and the mem before 𐤀𐤅𐤃 charcoal shows everything Yahuah Aluahym made was in perspective of the sacrificial coal burning in His redemption plan for man.

Lets examine the the word TUB/𐤈𐤅𐤁 in word pictures

If we break up the letter Tet we see the word eth H6256 which is the word for time. When we break up the letter 'Beyt' we see the letter 'Resh' which shows us the amazing eye of Yahuah looking through the corridors of time to enter into creation.

Hence, the whole creation is groaning in pain for redemption as Yahuah Aluahym subjected it in vanity with a hope of deliverance.

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of Elohiym. 

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, 

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of Elohiym. 

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 

The blood stained charcoal/ 𐤌𐤀𐤅𐤃 which is part of the sacrificial fire continues to burn for redemption which will be accomplished in the completion of time when the Resh Mashiyach would enter creation and pay the price, which is accomplished. I was amazed to see these word pictures. While some will continue in belief, the others will be as the charcoal plucked out of the sacrifical fire to burn in the fire of Yahuah's wrath. 

𐤈𐤅𐤁 Tet is the basket which holds the mystery which will unfold what will be seen, the beyt is the body and resh is its head...all pointing to Mashiyach.

Tree of knowledge of good and evil: ets hadath tub ura 𐤏𐤑 𐤄𐤃𐤏𐤕 𐤈𐤅𐤁 𐤅𐤓𐤏

For word pictures for Tree of knowledge of good and evil I will use the Proto Canaanite word pictures.

Tree: ets H6086. The letter 'tsady' when rearranged becomes the letter nun. Yahuah with His eyes saw the seed which is concealed within the dust (which our eyes cannot see the sprout until it shoots out of the dust as a plant to a tree)

Knowledge: H1847 Dath 𐤃𐤏𐤕 shows a knowledge which unfolds in time

Good: Tub H2896 We already saw what Tub means in Paleo Hebrew.

Evil: Ra H7451 translated as evil. But the word has several meanings as adversity, grief, bad, sorrow etc.

Yahuah Aluahym saw the seed in affliction being made of dust (see pictograph of ets: tree), He caused Adam and Chauah to know in time (see pictograph of dath: knowledge), the time of the Resh's coming (See pictograph of Tub) by which the Resh will remove their distress/sorrow denoted by the evil eye (see pictograph of Ra: bad/adversity/distress/grief).

The pictograph of Ra H7451 can be seen in what Mashiyach meant in Matthew 5:29. Those believing on Him will have a fresh perspective of the Torah and they will not occupy in the Torah of sin and death which is a carnal command but will transition to the spiritual command which is the Torah of life. He enables helping remove the eye & hand which causes one to go into grief/sorrow/adversity.

Mat 5:29  “And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into GěHinnom. 

Mat 5:30  “And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into GěHinnom. 

Remember, Adam and Chauah's eyes were opened, and they realized their nakedness. Their new journey began in anticipation of deliverance from their state of vanity & depravity, fulfilled by Yahuah in the person of Yahusha ha Mashiyach who came as the nun/seed (remember we saw the letter 'tsady' rearranged is the letter 'nun' which is the seed, to deliver mankind from the body of dust, transitioning it into His heavenly body.

The heavenly pattern was purified by His offering once and for all.

Heb 9:22  And, according to the Torah, almost all is cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 

Heb 9:23  It was necessary, then, that the copies of the heavenly ones should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly ones themselves with better slaughter offerings than these. 

Masha was told to make all things according to the pattern shown to him on the mount. He was obedient in making it, for the pattern had concealed in it the 'time of life' when the Resh will come as the seed in a body not from dust (but likeness of sinful flesh) and deliver creation from the vanity/depravity as He alone has the right to give to eat from the Tree of life. If you are still occupied in the Torah of sin and death, the pattern is concealed as the way to the tree of life is guarded with a flaming sword moving in all directions (the Sword of the Ruach) and the Cherubims. You just can't enter in without willing to transition to Yahusha ha Mashiyach who alone is the Deliverer. 

Tree of life: ets hachayim 𐤏𐤑 𐤄𐤇𐤉𐤉𐤌 While everywhere else where the tree of life is mentioned, its singular, but in Gen 2:9 the plural is used which should be translated as 'lives/living.'

The tree representing the life of Mashiyach & we in Him will get our eternal lives in Him is the picture we see in Gen 2:9.

Yam 𐤉𐤌 H3220 means 'a sea/a large body of water' & represents peoples. Hence, Chay/Life 𐤇𐤉 given to many people is the picture here.

Lastly how did ha Shatan know to tell Chauah that their eyes will be opened?

Gen 3:5  “For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” 

It is evident that the Oral Torah was in the declaration in the heavenly when Yahuah made everything in perspective of being very good. And he was in the garden as the separated charcoal/aud 

As we saw in the below verses:

Gen 1:31  And Elohim saw all that He had made, and see, it was very/𐤌𐤀𐤅𐤃  good 𐤈𐤅𐤁 . And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth day. 

Gen 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from/mi it/menu (𐤌𐤌𐤍𐤅), for in the day that you eat from/mi it/menu  (𐤌𐤌𐤍𐤅), muth tamuth 𐤌𐤅𐤕 𐤕𐤌𐤅𐤕 death you shall die.

Hence, ha Shatan used the same command tying to the Torah of sin and death, blessings and curses to tempt Chauah to bring her into the transgression of it. He didn’t know that what he did fell into the perfect plan of Yahuah to separate the not chosen as the charcoal from the fire into Yahuah’s wrath just as he himself was, while the elect would continue burning in the sacrifice of Yahusha to be saved.

The Son became part of the creation to deliver creation from vanity/depravity into the glorious liberty to become the sons of Aluahym in Him. He opened our eyes through the commandment which was pure and qadash by letting us know our nakedness with a desire to be clothed from above i.e. His body to be able to partake of the tree of life. May Yahuah barakh you and help you see these word pictures and unwind you from all that is tying you to the Torah of sin and death in which is concealed the Ruach, as Shaul the emissary says that the letter kills but the Ruach gives life. Shalum In Mashiyach Yahusha!