Did God not tell Eve about the fruit?

luciferianbuddhism:

I have seen this post going about God never told Eve to not eat the fruit. Just so you guys know, I use the NRSV version of the Bible. I did double check the KJV but other than an updated language it says the same thing.

So in the version that I have, it says this in Genesis 2:

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

After that God then makes a woman (Eve) because it is not good that man is alone. It is in Genesis 3 that the serpent has the conversation with Eve.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’”

There is one way to look at it, that God never told Eve. Adam told Eve. This could make up for the differences of touch versus do not touch. So it could be correct in that God might not have told Eve directly.

I will say it is fascinating that Adam is completely silent throughout this entire narrative. It is interesting that you do not see his objections that he passively just goes along instead of saying, “no!” Adam has interacted with God. There is a lot left out but it is not such a big leap for God to have also interacted with Eve.

Regardless of speculation and interpretations, from Eve’s response in Genesis 3, she is aware of God’s mandate to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge. She still chose to eat the fruit and for that, we are blessed and cursed.

Quote

I didn’t fall to temptation – I rose to it.
I ate that apple because I was hungry.
I wanted what lay outside of Paradise,
a world without the burden of perfection.
Now you call all sinful women my sisters.
I say, let them claim their own damn sins.
The apple may not be perfect, but it’s mine.

Diane Lockward, from ‘Eve Argues Against Perfection’ (via atratum)