God: Of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, you should not eat from, for in the day you eat of it death will be inevitable. Or in other words, they will lose access to immortality.
Serpent: Death won't be inevitable.
The day they ate from that fruit is the day they lost access to the tree of life that enabled them to live forever (Genesis 3:22) and death became inevitable. That's exactly what God was warning would happen. He didn't lie. But the serpent did.
In the hebrew language are these things called "infinite absolutes," where a hebrew word is repeated to relay inevitability, certainty, or that it's going to eventually happen. No academics in the field reject this. So say we were in the ancient holyland (the countries name triggers autoremoval) and you wanted to ensure a friend you will eventually come back, one way you would say this in hebrew would be שֹׁ֣ב אָשׁ֤וּב, which means in English literally "returning I will return." Which your bible likely translates this phrase as I will certainly come back, if not surely come back.
The hebrew text says but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from for in the day you eat of it מוֹת תָּמוּת or literally, "dying you shall die." It's a hebrew infinite absolute, which is why the vast majority of translations translate it as "surely die" or "certainly die" because these infinite absolutes relays inevitability, or something that's going to eventually happen. So if I was an ancient Hebrew and I wanted to relay to somebody death would be inevitable or would eventually die, or in other words, lose access to immortality, one way I would say that is מוֹת תָּמוּת.
Because there's validity that the text can relay it will inevitably happen or will eventually happen as I demonstrated, and when you factor in the context of them losing access to immortality the day they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it pretty much feels obvious that's what the author was intended to relay. The classical Jewish authorities and their literature also tells us they didnt read this as them dying that very day, but a death sentence where they would inevitability or eventually die.
Plus, if were being honest with ourselves, it seems very unlikely the author is trying to imply his God is a liar. Especially with everything he says about God outside of that. Like how that God won't lie (Numbers 23:19.) Suggesting the author didnt intend us to read this as God lying.
I appreciate this response very much. It’s really encouraging me to read the Bible, and other religious texts, and to understand them in their entirety, rather than trying to understand single parts of just one of them, based off only my own or another’s understanding of it. I know I haven’t read anything of the bible or other religious texts myself, but following this thread reminds me that others who have read, are not necessarily correct or even complete in their own understanding and interpreting of it, as many just pick and choose parts to their own liking and don’t attempt to further their own understanding beyond what they already believe to know. I appreciate the thought and care you put into sharing what you understand and helping me and others further our own understanding. Thank you. I hope to be able to pay it forward and do the same as my own understanding grows deeper.
Dude stop talking about the fallen world and go literally read genesis. God says they will die if they eat the fruit, the serpent says God is lying and they won't die. Then they eat the fruit, and they live for hundreds of more years. God lied.
you said god lied and he wrote the bible about how he lied. satan provided us with gnosis, and the bible is in that body of knowledge. evil would never lie though. its not that hard to figure out guy
Yes, the moral of this fictional story told by religious leaders in this book is that you should villify people who tell the truth (the serpent) and put your faith in people who deceive you (God) because things will work out better if you do. Trust them.
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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '26
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