Untangled branches: The Edenic Tree(s) and the Multivocal WAW
Publication Details
Makowiecki,, M.
(2020).
Untangled branches: The Edenic Tree(s) and the Multivocal WAW.
The Journal of Theological Studies, 71 (2).
Abstract
This narratological study of Genesis 2-3 examines whether the principal trees in the Garden of Eden—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—are two in number or one and the same. While the answer to this question seems self-evident, namely, that the Edenic trees are two, the woman’s description of the forbidden tree as if it were an amalgam of both makes this conclusion uncertain. This ambiguity creates a certain tension in the text; a tension which commentators have been trying perennially to resolve. Yet rather than join the long list of attempts to eliminate this tension, this article explores its role as a narrative feature and is thus able to show how conflicting details function cooperatively within the text. This leads to the conclusion that the principal tree(s) in the Garden of Eden should not be understood as one or two in number but as one and two in number.
Link to Publisher Version (URL)
