Did Eve eat an apple? In fact, the Bible does not say that Eve ate an apple. If we read the Bible carefully, God’s Word does not give a physical description of the fruit, except that it says it was edible and appealing. (Genesis 2: 9, 3: 6)
How is this mysterious fruit universally portrayed as an apple? One theory is that the idea stems from (similar in meaning) to the similarity of the word evil used in the name of a tree and the word apple used to describe apples in other Bible books. In the original Hebrew, the words for evil (rah) and apples (tappuvach) are not similar at all. But when the Bible was translated into Latin in the 4th century, the Latin words for evil (mali) and for apple (mala) were really similar. Could this have led to confusion in people’s minds? Such a replacement is entirely possible.
No matter how it started, the idea continued to gain momentum until today, when it was a joint show. For example, when Raphael (Raffaello Santi) painted Adam and Eve on a ceiling fresco as part of the Stanza Della Segnatura in the Vatican, it looked like Eve was going to eat a fig tree. But in 1550, when the Venetian artist Titian portrayed Eve in The Fall of Man, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil still has resin leaves, but the fruit definitely looks like an apple. Today, of course, we are used to seeing pictures of Eve holding a “Golden Delicious” apple.
Did Eve Eat an Apple or Fruit We Don’t Even Know?
It is possible that the Tree of Knowledge had fruits that are different from any fruit known to humanity today. In Genesis 1:29, God says to the new couple, “Behold; I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that beareth seed; it will be for your food. ”However, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not on the list of approved foods. Is it possible that there was no fruit with seeds? We’re speculating here, but somehow it makes sense that the forbidden treat was a kind of fruit — may be seedless? (Besides, if the forbidden tree bore the seed fruit as we know it today, would not the garden soon be filled with young trees of knowledge?)
The point is to understand the creative challenge of drawing a mysterious, unknown, indescribable fruit – so anything an artist can put in Eve’s hand is mere speculation.
We Will Know the Final Answer When We Get to Heaven
And when we are already on that topic of “What is wrong with this picture?”, Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, we are also talking about that cunning snake. You have no doubt seen a multitude of illustrations showing that a “slippery” serpent tempted Eve. Is that an accurate illustration? In Genesis 3:14, God says to the serpent, “When thou hast done this, thou art cursed beyond all fowls, and over every beast of the field; on your belly to drag and dust to eat for your life.”
But if the snake started its life on its belly after Eve ate the fruit, it makes sense that it didn’t crawl on its belly before the fall. Before the curse, did the snake walk upright? Did she have legs or even wings? We will not know until we reach heaven. And because of this fact, the depiction of the sinless serpent challenging Eve will be wrong till then. So it doesn’t even make sense for this question to bother you too much.