tree of knowledge of good and evil

American  

noun

1. the tree in the Garden of Eden bearing the forbidden fruit that was tasted by Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:17; 3:6–24.

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tree of knowledge of good and evil British  

noun

1. Old Testament the tree in the Garden of Eden bearing the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate, thus incurring loss of primal innocence (Genesis 2:9; 3:2–7)

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tree of knowledge of good and evil Cultural  

1. A tree in the Garden of Eden, the fruit of which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat.

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They did eat the forbidden fruit, and their disobedience brought about the Fall of Man.

Etymology

Origin of tree of knowledge of good and evil

First recorded in 1525–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tree of knowledge of good and evil

Each holds a tantalizing apple, plucked from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2024

Genesis does not name the guilty fruit at all; it is merely "the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

From Time Magazine Archive

And he commanded him, saying, Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat.

From Church and State as Seen in the Formation of Christendom by T. W. (Thomas William) Allies

From the time I ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, wisdom departed from me, and I am a fool that knoweth naught, an ignorant man that understandeth not.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Henrietta Szold

"The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 02 by John Bunyan