Lilith\u2019s legend can account for many events that transpired in the garden for which Genesis gives no explanation.\u00a0 Her legend can explain why God\u2019s permission to eat of every tree was rescinded, why the Tree of Knowledge came to exist, and why God commanded Adam to guard the garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As we have already seen, when God first created the man and woman he gave them permission to eat of every tree.\u00a0 However, God later rescinded his permission.\u00a0 Adam was no longer allowed to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.\u00a0 What could have transpired to so drastically change God\u2019s command?\u00a0 The explanation is that in the beginning the Tree of Knowledge did not exist.\u00a0 Only after Adam was placed in the garden did the tree come to exist, and once it existed, God forbid Adam from eating of it.\u00a0 This is recorded in Ge 2:8-9 and 17.\u00a0 In verse 8 God plants the garden and establishes the man there.\u00a0 In verse 9 God causes the Tree of Knowledge to grow from the ground.\u00a0 In verse 17 the man is forbidden from eating of the tree.<\/p>\n
\nGe 2:8-10, 15 (KJV)<\/strong><\/div>\n8 \u00a0And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.<\/div>\n9 \u00a0And 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.<\/div>\n10 \u00a0And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.<\/div>\n…<\/div>\n15\u00a0 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nGe 2:8-9, 15 (My Literal)<\/strong><\/div>\n8 And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he established the man whom he had formed.\u00a0<\/div>\n9 And Jehovah God grew from the adamah<\/u> every tree pleasant to sight and good for food, and the tree of the life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.<\/div>\n10 \u00a0And a river went out from Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became into four heads.<\/div>\n…<\/div>\n15 And Jehovah God took the man, and led him in the garden of Eden, to serve it and to guard it.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nWhy did the Tree of Knowledge come to exist?\u00a0 Verse 9 gives an important clue.\u00a0 It indicates that the woman may have been responsible.\u00a0 The verse states that God grew the Tree of Knowledge \u201cfrom ha\u2019adamah<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 As we have seen, ha\u2019adamah<\/em> can poetically be understood to refer to either \u201cthe ground\u201d or \u201cthe woman.\u201d\u00a0 Given that just a couple of verses earlier ha\u2019adamah<\/em> was used in reference to the woman whose face was water watered by the mist, it seems clear that the passages could be referring (at least poetically) to that woman.\u00a0 Verse 9 would then be referring to the woman as the source of the tree.\u00a0 The notion that the woman is responsible is supported by the word for \u201cgrew\u201d in verse 9.\u00a0 It is tsamach<\/em> (xmu<\/span> – Strongs 6779).\u00a0 This is the same word used in Ge 2:5 to denote Adam\u2019s responsibility for \u201cgrowing\u201d cultivated crops.\u00a0 This hints that the tree could have grown from the cultivating work of the woman.\u00a0 Although it is clear in verse 9 that God is causing the growing of the tree, perhaps it is through \u201cthe woman\u201d that God accomplishes this work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Note that Adam was created outside of garden.\u00a0 He was put in the garden in verse 8.\u00a0 Thus, the man was created outside the garden and that is where the mist erupted and watered the ground.\u00a0 Only the Tree of Life is said to be in the garden.\u00a0 The Tree of Knowledge is a subset of the first group, of every tree pleasant to the eye and good for food.\u00a0 These trees are from the adamah defiled by the mist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if ha\u2019adamah<\/em> should primarily be understood as meaning \u201cground\u201d in verse 9, it can still be understood as poetically referencing the woman.\u00a0 It is very telling that the passage stresses that God grew the tree from the ground.\u00a0 From where else would he grow them? \u00a0It is unnecessary to state the obvious.\u00a0 When this superfluous mention of the ground is mated to the fact that just a few verses earlier the same ground was ruined by the mist, we understand that the passage could be poetically linking the woman of the defiled ground to the trees which God caused to grow in the garden.\u00a0 Lilith\u2019s legend provides the only basis for linking the defiling mist to the Tree of Knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many other events are happening in the garden at the same time that the Tree of Knowledge grows from the ground.\u00a0 The Tree of Life also grows in the garden, as do many trees with similar characteristics to the Tree of Knowledge.\u00a0 These are trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, as Eve uses very similar words to describe the Tree of Knowledge in Ge 3:6.\u00a0 In addition, a river begins to flow out of Eden into the garden, which lies on the eastern border of Eden.\u00a0 And in the garden, the river splits into four heads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lilith\u2019s legend also explains why God gave Adam the command to \u201cguard\u201d the garden in verse 15.\u00a0 The Hebrew word is shamar<\/em> (rms<\/span> – Strongs 8104).\u00a0 The KJV renders it \u201ckeep\u201d, but its literal meaning is more precisely to \u201ckeep watch\u201d or \u201cto guard.\u201d\u00a0 The command to guard the garden implied there was a new threat against it.\u00a0 The new circumstances may be the aftermath of Adamah\u2019s rebellion.\u00a0 Indeed, Adam should have certainly been more on guard for the rebellious Serpent, whom is Lilith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That circumstances in the garden changed is also supported by verse 15.\u00a0 It states that God \u201ctook\u201d hold of the man and began to lead him in the garden.\u00a0 The man was already put in the garden in verse 8.\u00a0 This second taking of the man implies he was taken from a situation to another where God began to be personally involved with him.\u00a0 This change of situation could be Lilith\u2019s rebellion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is yet another fascinating and peculiar word choice in the passage.\u00a0 The word I render as \u201cand led him\u201d in verse 15 is v\u2019yanachahav<\/em> (sp wh:xny:w<\/span>).\u00a0 The KJV renders it \u201cand put him\u201d, taking its root to be yanach<\/em> (xny<\/span> – Strongs 3240), which means to \u201cto put\u201d or \u201cto let alone.\u201d\u00a0 Given this etymology, the meaning of \u201cto set alone\u201d is suggestive of a separation of Adam from a mate, this being Lilith.\u00a0 However, the YLT (Young\u2019s Literal Translation) and other modern translations take the word to be from the related root nuwach<\/em> (xwn<\/span> – Strongs 5117), which means \u201cto rest\u201d from work or any arduous effort or calamity.\u00a0 This meaning also fits very nicely with the Lilith legend, as the passage can be read to say that God caused Adam \u201cto rest\u201d from all his troubles.\u00a0 These troubles would certainly be the rebellions of Lilith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hold out yet another possibility for the root of v\u2019yanachahav<\/em>.\u00a0 By my analysis the root is probably nachah<\/em> (hxn<\/span> – Strongs 5148), which means \u201cto lead\u201d or \u201cto carry.\u201d\u00a0 This would mean that God then became personally involved with Adam and led the man in garden, in order that the man might serve and guard it.\u00a0 My identification of the root as nachah<\/em> is based on the only other two exact spellings of wh:xny:w in the Bible.\u00a0 They come in Ge 19:16 and 1Ki 13:29.\u00a0 The KJV rather inaccurately renders the word \u201cand set him\u201d and \u201cand laid it\u201d in each verse respectively.\u00a0 However, the more literal translation of the word in each verse is \u201cand led him.\u201d\u00a0 In Ge 19:16 the angels took hold of Lot\u2019s hands, and his family\u2019s hands \u201cand led him\u201d outside the city.\u00a0 In 1Ki 13:29 the prophet took the man\u2019s body \u201cand led (carried) him to the ass.\u201d\u00a0 In 1Ki 13:29 there is a preposition \u201cto\u201d in the Hebrew which is un-translated in the KJV.\u00a0 This confirms my translation, as one could not \u201clay him to the ass\u201d, but one could \u201clead (carry) him to the ass.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nGe 19:16 (KJV)<\/strong><\/div>\nAnd while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him<\/u> without the city.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n1Ki 13:29 (KJV)<\/strong><\/div>\nAnd the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it<\/u> upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lilith\u2019s legend can account for many events that transpired in the garden for which Genesis gives no explanation.\u00a0 Her legend can explain why God\u2019s permission to eat of every tree was rescinded, why the Tree of Knowledge came to exist, and why God commanded Adam to guard the garden.\u00a0 As we have already seen, when … Continue reading “3.7) Why God Rescinded Permission to Eat of Every Tree; Why the Tree of Knowledge came to Exist; and Why Adam had to Guard the Garden”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-26","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":799,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions\/799"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}