The snake was the last but equally important character introduced in Gen 2-3. After Eve explained why they could not eat from the Tree of Knowledge (Gen 3:3), the snake said, "Die, you will not die!/Rather, God knows/ that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened/ and you will become like gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4-5) First of all, Adam and Eve did not die when they ate the fruit. So, the author revealed that the snake was speaking the truth, somewhat. But what was revealed later by God was that humans would have to die at the end of a painful life of suffering. Thus, the snake did not necessarily lie, but rather manipulated its words so that it would not lie, but it was not revealing the whole truth either.
Secondly, the snake did speak the truth when it said, "your eyes will be opened" (Gen 3:5) After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, "the eyes of the two of them were opened and they knew then that they were nude." (Gen 3:7) Thus, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, just like the snake had elucidated.
Thirdly, the final statement made by the snake, "you will become like gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:5) could go either way, since it was not absolutely clear in the text whether this was true or false. But it was clear that this was true for certain reasons. As soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they recognized that they were nude. Unlike all the other animals of the world, human beings are the one species on earth that clothes themselves. Does this make human beings godlike? Not necessarily. But this did distinguish human beings from the rest of the creatures in the world. It also emphasized that humans possessed a quality of a celestial being: knowledge. By eating the fruit, the humans realized they were nude because they acquire the knowledge to recognize this. Furthermore, the humans recognized that they had disobeyed God, which was clearly exemplified when they "hid themselves from the face of YHWH, God, amid the trees of the garden." (Gen 3:8) By eating this fruit, they realized the wrong they had done, and thus knew good from evil. They developed a conscience.
Knowledge and immortality are two key characteristics of a divine being. When human beings acquired knowledge, God became fearful, and made sure that they would not eat from the Tree of Life, which would give them immortality. Thus, God's choice to banish the humans from the Garden of Eden clearly indicated that he was both threatened and afraid of the capabilities of human beings. If they were able to acquire knowledge by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, they were certainly capable of becoming immortal by eating from the Tree of Life. God's actions clearly accentuated the notion that human beings had the capability of becoming "like gods," just like the snake noted. Thus, the snake's final statement that human beings would become like gods after eating the fruit was clearly truthful. God prevented humans from becoming even more like Him by banishing them from the Garden before they could acquire immortality.
You've come a good way towards understanding the story. Try to keep focused on the text without making any assumptions about what it might mean, and without coming to any premature conclusions.
ReplyDelete"But what was revealed later by God was that humans would have to die at the end of a painful life of suffering."
As you note (without realizing the consequences) the "painful life" was instituted as a punishment after the snake's statement. The question would then be whether the snake was aware of the potential punishments, which seems to me unreasonable. If you intend here that death (loss of immortality) was one of the punishments, then the snake was not telling the truth.
"(Gen 3:5) could go either way, since it was not absolutely clear in the text whether this was true or false."
But: compare with 3:22. Isn't the acquisition of this divine knowledge (whatever it might be) acknowledged by Yahweh Himself?
"Furthermore, the humans recognized that they had disobeyed God, which was clearly exemplified when they "hid themselves from the face of YHWH, God, amid the trees of the garden." (Gen 3:8) By eating this fruit, they realized the wrong they had done, and thus knew good from evil. They developed a conscience."
I have puzzled about this myself. According to the man's statement, he hid because he was naked (which he wasn't exactly since they had already covered themselves). There is no evidence that he was aware of or sorry for his disobedience. The writer had a choice here and decided to go with the 'nakedness'. To say they had developed a conscience, puts a moral on the story that may not be there.
"he was both threatened and afraid of the capabilities of human beings".
We have to assess Yahweh's motive more clearly. To say that He felt threatened and fearful narrows down the possibilities to something decidedly ungodlike.