The Tree of Knowledge: What Really Changed for Adam Before and After the Sin

Inbar asks: "What exactly did the Tree of Knowledge add to Adam, the first man? Before the sin was Adam like a small child? Did eating from the Tree of Knowledge give him wisdom and a better understanding of reality?"

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There is a common misconception that needs correcting: Adam was in his greatest state of perfection before the sin, and only as a result of eating from the tree was his spiritual perception diminished. As the Sages said: "Rabbi Hoshaya said: At the time that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created the first man, the ministering angels erred and wanted to say before him 'Holy'" (Bereishit Rabbah 8:9). They also related: "When the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to create man, He consulted the ministering angels. He said to them: 'Let us make man.' They asked: 'What will be the nature of this man?' He replied: 'His wisdom will be greater than yours.' He brought before them the beasts, animals, and birds, and said: 'What is the name of this one?' They did not know. He brought them before Adam and said: 'What is the name of this one?' Adam answered: 'This is an ox, this is a donkey...' The Creator then asked Adam: 'And what is your name?' He replied: 'I am fitting to be called Adam, for I was created from the earth.' The Creator asked: 'And what is My Name?' Adam answered: 'It is fitting for You to be called Adonai, for You are Master over all Your creatures'" (Bereishit Rabbah 17:5).

To see proof of this in the plain text of the Torah, we need only examine what is said about Adam before the sin. That will show us what changed afterward:

1. Adam’s Great Intellectual Ability Before the Sin

Before the sin, Adam had exceptionally high intellect: he could speak and think independently without learning from any parent or teacher. He named all the animals according to their true nature — something that requires deep insight into each species. He also understood that the woman was destined for him: "For from man she was taken" (Genesis 2:23). These facts prove that Adam’s intellect before the sin was far beyond that of a "small child." Ibn Ezra explains: "Do you not see that he named all the animals and birds according to their nature? He was a great sage, and if he had not been, the Name (God) would not have brought His creatures before him to see what he would call them" (commentary on Genesis 2:17). Eve too displayed this ability when she repeated to the serpent God’s command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

2. Adam’s Free Will Before the Sin

Even before the sin, Adam had full free will to choose between good and evil. Otherwise, God’s command to him would have been meaningless. Adam and Eve could either follow desire ("it was a delight to the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom") or obey the divine command without compromise ("God said: you shall not eat from it"). God questioned them after the sin, because they had the capacity to understand and explain their actions. As Ibn Ezra writes: "Know that Adam was full of knowledge, for God does not command one who has no understanding."

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3. No Sense of Shame Before the Sin

Before the sin, Adam and Eve felt no need for clothing. Shame results from the evil inclination — a selfish, morally corrupt pull toward external appearances. We don’t feel shame when drinking water in public, because it is a necessary act without indulgence. Eating a luxurious dessert in front of others however may cause embarrassment because it signals self-indulgence. Before the sin, all of Adam and Eve’s actions were for the sake of Heaven, without selfish motives, so their bodies caused them no shame. Only after eating from the tree do we read: "Their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked" (Genesis 3:7). The evil inclination entered their hearts, making physical allure a temptation to sin. From then on, they felt shame from their selfish desires and covered themselves. Rashi explains: "Even the blind know when they are naked — what does 'they knew they were naked' mean? They had one commandment and were stripped of it." Ibn Ezra similarly says that the Tree of Knowledge awakened bodily desires.

The Meaning of “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”

The tree provided human awareness of “good” and “evil” in the human, subjective sense. Before the sin, Adam’s concepts were truth and falsehood, not beauty and ugliness, good and bad. Maimonides writes (Guide for the Perplexed I:2) that Adam lost his lofty intellectual perception after eating from the tree: “Uncovering one’s nakedness was not shameful in his eyes, nor did he perceive any wrong in it. But when he turned toward imaginary desires and bodily pleasures, as it says, 'the tree was good for food and a delight to the eyes', he was punished by losing that intellectual perception. He came to focus instead on matters considered 'good' or 'bad' by human convention. At that moment, he realized what he had lost and into what state he had fallen. Thus it says: 'You will be like God, knowing good and evil,' not 'knowing truth and falsehood.' In necessities, there is no good or bad — only truth and falsehood.”

The Future Restoration

After the final redemption and the resurrection of the dead, humanity will return to the spiritual level of Adam before the sin, with complete intellect and pure perception of God.