Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed named Adam. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of th
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed named Adam. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden, it further bifurcated into four rivers. The first river is the Pishon; it flows around the country of Havilah. Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones. The second river is the Gihon; it flows around the country of Cush. The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. He told him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day. ”Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.” So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them. But not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. Then the man said, “At last, here is one of my own kind. Bone is taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. ‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of a man.”That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. The man and the woman were both naked, but they were in embarrassed. Now the snake was the most devious animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?” “We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, “except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.” The snake replied, “That's not true; you will not die. God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.” The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become sagacious. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?” She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.” Then the Lord God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel.” Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all human beings. And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.
What was the most special thing that God put in the Garden of Eden?
1). The animals that God created with soil from the ground to accompany the man
2). The man that God created with soil and breathed life-giving breath, into his nostrils
3). The woman that God created with the rib of the man
4). The tree that was placed right in the middle of the garden which gives life and knowledge
1 answers
There is nothing in the passage that can be considered as a strong argument to consider any of the above options special. Everything was created by God so everything is pretty much special. But option 4 can be considered as an appropriate answer because throughout the entire passage, it is very clear that the entire story of creation and human life revolves around the tree of life and knowledge. The story revolves around God prohibiting man to eat the fruit of that particular tree under any circumstance and man failing to keep his promise. The tree is the central theme. So we can consider that the tree was the most special and precious thing in the Garden of Eden.
Thus, option 4 is the correct answer.