Who will give to him that has a healthful hunger that tree that is in Paradise, which includes all good, which is named "every tree," in which this passage bestows on man the right to share? for in the universal and transcendent saying every form of good is in harmony with itself, and the whole is one. And who will keep me back from that tasting of the tree which is of mixed and doubtful kind? for surely it is clear to all who are at all keen-sighted what that "every" tree is whose fruit is life, and what again that mixed tree is whose end is death: for He Who presents ungrudgingly the enjoyment of "every" tree, surely by some reason and forethought keeps man from participation in those which are of doubtful kind.

It seems to me that I may take the great David and the wise Solomon as my instructors in the interpretation of this text: for both understand the grace of the permitted delight to be one,-that very actual Good, which in truth is "every" good;-David, when he says, "Delight thou in the Lord ," and Solomon, when he names Wisdom herself (which is the Lord) "a tree of life."

Thus the "every" tree of which the passage gives food to him who was made in the likeness of God, is the same with the tree of life; and there is opposed to this tree another tree, the food given by which is the knowledge of good and evil:-not that it bears in turn as fruit each of these things of opposite significance, but that it produces a fruit blended and mixed with opposite qualities, the eating of which the Prince of Life forbids, and the serpent counsels, that he may prepare an entrance for death: and he obtained credence for his counsel, covering over the fruit with a fair appearance and the show of pleasure, that it might be pleasant to the eyes and stimulate the desire to taste.

Τίς δώσει τῷ ὑγιεινῶς πεινῶντι τὸ ξύλον ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ͵ τὸ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ περιληπτικόν͵ ᾧ ὄνομά ἐστι τὸ πᾶν͵ [197] οὗ χαρίζεται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν μετουσίαν ὁ λόγος; τῷ γὰρ γενικῷ τε καὶ ὑπερκειμένῳ λόγῳ πᾶσα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἰδέα πρὸς ἑαυτὴν συμφυῶς ἔχει καὶ ἕν τι τὸ ὅλον ἐστί. Τίς δέ με τῆς συμμιγοῦς τε καὶ ἐπαμφοτεριζούσης τοῦ ξύλου γεύσεως ἀποστήσει; πάντως γὰρ οὐκ ἄδηλον τοῖς διορατικωτέροις͵ τί τὸ πᾶν ἐκεῖνο͵ οὗ καρπὸς ἡ ζωή͵ καὶ πάλιν͵ τί τὸ ἐπίμικτον τοῦτο͵ οὗ πέρας ὁ θάνατος. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ παντὸς τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἀφθόνως προθείς͵ λόγῳ τινὶ πάντως καὶ προμηθείᾳ τῆς τῶν ἐπικοίνων μετουσίας ἀπείργει τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὸν μέγαν Δαβὶδ καὶ τὸν σοφὸν Σολομῶντα διδασκάλους τῆς τοῦ λόγου τούτου παραλαβεῖν ἐξηγήσεως. Ἀμφότεροι γὰρ τῆς συγκεχωρημένης τρυφῆς μίαν ἡγοῦνται τὴν χάριν͵ αὐτὸ τὸ ὄντως ἀγαθόν͵ ὃ δὴ καὶ πᾶν ἐστιν ἀγαθόν. Δαβὶδ μὲν λέγων͵ Κατατρύφησον τοῦ Κυρίου, Σολομὼν δὲ τὴν σοφίαν αὐτήν͵ ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος͵ ξύλον ζωῆς ὀνομάζων.

Οὐκοῦν ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλῳ τὸ πᾶν ξύλον͵ οὗ τὴν βρῶσιν τῷ κατὰ Θεὸν πλασθέντι ὁ λόγος δίδωσιν. Ἀντιδιαιρεῖται δὲ τῷ ξύλῳ τούτῳ ἕτερον ξύλον͵ οὗ ἡ βρῶσις καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ γνῶσίς ἐστιν͵ οὐκ ἰδιαζόντως ἑκάτερον τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἐναντίον σημαινομένων ἐν μέρει καρποφοροῦντος, ἀλλά τινα συγκεχυμένον καὶ σύμμικτον καρπὸν ἐξανθοῦντος ταῖς ἐναντίαις συγκεκραμένον ποιότησιν͵ οὗ κωλύει μὲν τὴν βρῶσιν ὁ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς͵ συμβουλεύει δὲ ὁ ὄφις͵ ἵνα τῷ θανάτῳ κατασκευάσῃ τὴν εἴσοδον. Καὶ πιθανὸς γίνεται συμβουλεύσας͵ εὐχροίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ἡδονῇ τὸν καρπὸν περιχρώσας͵ ὡς ἂν ὀφθείη τε ἡδέως καὶ τὴν ὄρεξιν πρὸς τὴν γεῦσιν ὑπερεθίσειεν.