Here's another msiconception. This book I referred to for stuff
is actually written by Graeme Donald of Unwin Paperbacks....not by
Edward Phillips......ahh thats how usual misconceptions
started.
Adam And Eve And The Garden Of Eden
Presuming that you accept the Bible's version of the so-called
Creation, there are several misconceptions attached to these two
characters which have been perpetuated down the ages by artists and
clergy alike.
First, lets look at the 'apple'. Genesis 3 simply refers to 'the
fruit' and never gets more specific. That it was an apple is less
than likely since Mesopotamia, where the Garden of Eden is
traditionally held to have been, is far too hot for apple
cultivation. The apricot is a good contender but the most likely
culprit as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is the fig, since it
is only after having a nibble that Adam and Eve start rowing and
sporting fig leaves to bury their differences. It was Aquila of
Pontus who first started talking about apples when he translated
the Song of Solomon from Hebrew into Greek. His choice of fruit was
dictated by the fact that in his culture the apple symbolised
desire and even lust. No one, and that includes St Jerome who
translated the Old Testament into Latin, ever checked up, and the
myth lived happily ever after.
Finally, there is the belief that God gave Adam and Eve their
marching orders out of anger at their having disobeyed his
intructions to leave the Tree of Knowledge strictly alone. Actually
he drove them out 'lest he put forth his hand, and take also the
Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever.' So it was divine concern
at the prospect of man achieveing immortality that prompted the
eviction.
