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

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

Talk about the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden—say! suppose there had been a rubber plant there when Eve—but I was going to tell you a story.

From Waifs and Strays Part 1 by Henry, O.

There also He made every pleasant and good tree to grow, including the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

From The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge

This is manifest by the very name of the tree; it is called the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and have you that knowledge as yet?

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by Bunyan, John