Tree of Life

Here is an exerpt from an article from Harper's Dictionary of the Bible, a great resource, on "Tree of Life", by way of critical review:

" . . . a symbolic plant whose fruit was supposed to confer immortality on persons eating it. 1) It grew in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 3:22, 24), but Adam and Eve partook only of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and thus failed to become immortal . . . All ancient civilized nations wondered why man should be mortal and explained how man lost his chance of achieving immortality. The food of the gods, insuring their immortality, was "soma" in India, "haoma" in Iran, and "ambrosia" in Greece. In the Babylonian epic of Gligamesh, Gligamesh, after obtaining the plant of immortality, lost it when it was stolen by a snake; likewise the myth of Adapa (similar to Adam's failure to attain immortality) is a story of such a failure . . . The tree of life or the sacred tree is a well-known motif in ancient art. It appears often on Assyrian bas-reliefs andmuch earlier it occurs in Near-Eastern and Cretan art as a tree surrounded by two goats eating from its branches. Persian artists represent it as a holy symbol. For the early Church Fathers it is the Cross, whose fruit is the Christ, the source of immortality.*

I find it very interesting that the "tree of life" is common sacred symbol in many cultures. Against the backdrop of a common ancient understanding, someone hearing or reading the story of Adam and Eve would probably have a feeling of what was at stake in that story, having to do with both the aspiration to be more than mortal and the consequences of reaching too far. To me the story of the tower of Babel has a similar dynamic, except in that story God (also self-referred in the plural) actively put a stop to the aspirations of people trying to become like God. All this, in my thinking, reinforces a basic point in the creation stories: that God is God, and we are not -- the created must accept limits in relating to the Creator in order for all of creation to maintain it's designed order. I think this is not just about living forever, but about who is in charge . . . who is Lord of creation, and who is assigned a role in it.

--PDTA

*Harper's Bible Dictionary, Harper & Row Publishers, c. 1952, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1973 (and many later editions!)