Robert Gordis

The Significance of the Paradise Myth

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is one of the foundation stones of human thought. Untold generations have fallen under the spell of the simple, yet mysterious beauty of the tale, and re-written it in accordance with their own philosophical and religious preconceptions. For this reason the Paradise story has been one of the last citadels to fall before the all-conquering sweep of the historical spirit and the philological method. Even modem attempts to elucidate the myth in terms of what it meant to its author and earliest readers have not succeeded in solving all the problems raised by the story: What is the nature of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? What relationship do the two trees in the Garden bear to each other? Why should God refuse man the knowledge of good and evil? Why could not Adam have eaten of the Tree of Life during his period of innocence, or even after his sin, and so have secured immortal life for himself before being expelled from the Garden of Eden? Last, what relation does the story in Genesis bear to other Adam traditions: to the fragments in Ezekiel, Job, and Psalms, and the later developments in post-biblical literature, Philo, the Apocrypha, the Midrash, the Gnostics, and the patristic writings? Of all the problems we have enumerated, the basic one is undoubtedly the first: What is the nature of the Tree of Good and Evil? The traditional interpretation which equates it with the moral sense, the knowledge of right and wrong, has found few modem defenders except Budde.1 Gressmann has suggested that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge endowed its eater with magical knowledge.2 But the two most widely accepted views are those of Wellhausen and Gunkel. Wellhausen sees in it the insight into the secrets of nature and the arts of civilization.3 Gunkel believes that the knowledge of good and evil

The Composition and Structure of Amos

Though Amos stands at the beginning of literary prophecy, the book that bears his name shows evidence of clear-cut, careful organization: (A) The great Judgment Speech against the nations (chapters 1 and 2); (B) Three addresses beginning with the phrase “Hear ye this word” (3: 1–15; 4: 1–13; 5: 1–6); (C) Three charges beginning with “Woe” (5: 7–17; 5: 18–27; 6: 1–14); (D) Five visions, four beginning with “Thus the Lord showed me” (7: 1, 4, 7; 8: 1), one with “I saw” (9: 1); and (E) An ending of consolation and hope (9: 11–15).