What Is A Tree Of Life
Pro_11:30; Pro_13:12; Pro_15:4.
Where The Tree Of Life Is
Gen_2:9; Rev_2:7; Rev_22:1-2.
Who Shall Have Access To The Tree Of Life
Rev_2:7; Rev_22:13-14.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, George A. Barton
—Biblical Data:
According to Gen. ii. 9, there stood in the midst of the Garden of Eden a "tree of life," apparently by the side of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." Although Gen. iii. 3 seems to presuppose but one tree there, Gen. iii. 22 asserts that, after the primitive pair had eaten of the tree of knowledge, they were expelled from Eden lest they should put forth their hands and take of the tree of life and live forever. The view of the writer was that Eden contained a tree the magical power of the fruit of which conferred immortality upon him who partook of it, though Yhwh prohibited mortals from partaking of this fruit.
Referred to in Proverbs.
A tradition of this tree lingered long in Israel. In Prov. iii. 16-18 the poet says of wisdom, "Length of days is in her right hand; . . . She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her," a passage which clearly alludes to the primitive conception of a life-prolonging tree. Again, Prov. xi. 30 reads, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life"; and Prov. xiii. 12, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." In Prov. xv. 4 it is said, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." In the last three references the thought may not be so literal as in the first, but the use of the tree of life in this gnomic poetry is evidence that the tradition lived. In Ezek. xlvii. 12 also there seems to be an allusion to the tree of life. In describing the river which would flow out from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea the prophet says, "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth newfruit according to his months." In the New Testament, where this passage is quoted (Rev. xxii. 2), the tree is described as the tree of life.
In the extracanonical literature there are two or three additional references. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch (xxiv. 4) describes the tree of life as having "a fragrance beyond all fragrance; its leaves and bloom and wood wither not forever; its fruit is beautiful and resembles the dates of a palm." The Slavonic Book of Enoch (viii. 3) says, "In the midst there is the tree of life . . . and this tree can not be described for its excellence and sweet odor." IV Esd. viii. 52, in describing the future, says, "Unto you is paradise opened, the tree of life is planted," etc.
—Critical View:
Budde ("Urgeschichte," pp. 46 et seq.) showed that in the original narrative of Gen. ii.-iii. there was but one tree. This, he thought, was the tree of knowledge, and he accordingly eliminated the tree of life. Barton, however, has shown ("Semitic Origins," pp. 93 et seq.) that in primitive Semitic life the especially sacred tree was the datepalm, and that, because of its bisexual nature and because of a belief that man came to self-realization through sexual relations, it was regarded as both the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. The differentiation which divided these functions between two trees came in at a later time, when knowledge of the origin had become in part obscured. That this is the source of the idea of the tree of life among the Hebrews is rendered probable by the following considerations: (1) the Temple of Solomon, which was evidently intended to imitate a garden (comp. Bevan, in "Jour. of Theol. Studies," iv. 502 et seq.), was carved with cherubim, palm-trees, and flowers (I Kings vi. 29-32); (2) a recollection of the real origin of the tree of life crops out in Ethiopic Enoch, xxiv. 4; (3) the tradition came to the Hebrews by way of Babylonia (comp. Paradise, Critical View), and in Babylonia not only was the palm the sacred tree of a sacred garden (comp. Barton, l.c. p. 107), but in the literature its name is sometimes written with the determinative for deity (idem, "Documents from the Archives of Telloh," 1905, plate 25). For a similar Babylonian conception of a food of life see Paradise, Critical View. In Hebrew literature this idea first appears in its literal form in Genesis, is used as a literary metaphor in Proverbs, and in Ezekiel and the apocalypses becomes a part of the picture of the heavenly paradise.
Bibliography:
Budde, Urgeschichte, pp. 46-88, Giessen, 1883;
Toy, Proverbs, in International Critical Com. 1899, pp. 69, 70;
Barton, Sketch of Semitic Origins, pp. 90-98, New York, 1902.
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1. The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden:
The tree was in the midst of the Garden, and its fruit of such a nature as to produce physical immortality (Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22). After guiltily partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the sinful tendency having thus been implanted in their natures, the man and woman are driven forth from the Garden lest they should eat of the tree of life and live forever (Gen 3:22). The idea seems to be that, if they should eat of it and become immortalized in their sinful condition, it would be an unspeakable calamity to them and their posterity. For sinful beings to live forever upon earth would be inconceivably disastrous, for the redemption and development of the race would be an impossibility in that condition. Earth would soon have been a hell with sin propagating itself forever. To prevent such a possibility they were driven forth, cherubim were placed at the entrance of the Garden, the flame of a sword revolving every way kept the way of the tree of life, and this prevented the possibility of man possessing a physical immortality. It is implied that they had not yet partaken of this tree and the opportunity is now forever gone. Immortality must be reached in some other way.
The interpretation of the story is a standing problem. Is it mythical, allegorical, or historical? Opinions vary from one of these extremes to the other with all degrees of difference between. In general, interpreters may be divided into three classes:
(1) Many regard the story as a myth, an ancient representation of what men then conceived early man to have been, but with no historical basis behind it. All rationalistic and modern critical scholars are practically agreed on this. Budde in his Urgeschichte says there was but one tree, that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the intimation of a tree of life is an interpolation. Barton has endeavored to show that the tree of life was really the date-palm, and the myth gathered around this tree because of its bisexual nature. He holds that man came to his self-realization through the sexual relation, and therefore the date-palm came to be regarded as the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this difference came in later when the knowledge of its origin became obscured. He calls attention to the fact that the sacred palm is found in the sanctuary of Ea at Eridu. All such interpretations are too obviously based upon a materialistic evolution hypothesis.
(2) There are those who regard the entire story as literal: one tree would actually impart physical immortality, the other the knowledge of evil. But this involves endless difficulties also, requires tremendous differences between the laws of Nature then and now, vast differences in fruits, men and animals, and an equally vast difference in God’s dealings with man.
(3) We prefer to regard it as a pictorial-spiritual story, the representing of great spiritual facts and religious history in the form of a picture. This is the usual Bible method. It was constantly employed by the prophets, and Jesus continually “pictured” great spiritual facts by means of material objects. Such were most of His parables. John’s Apocalypse is also a series of pictures representing spiritual and moral history. So the tree of life is a picture of the glorious possibilities which lay before primitive man, and which might have been realized by him had not his sin and sinful condition prevented it. God’s intervention was a great mercy to the human race. Immortality in sin is rendered impossible, and this has made possible an immortality through redemption; man at first is pictured as neither mortal nor immortal, but both are possible, as represented by the two trees. He sinned and became mortal, and then immortality was denied him. It has since been made possible in a much higher and more glorious way.
2. A Common Poetic Simile:
This picture was not lost to Israel. The “tree of life,” became a common poetic simile to represent that which may be a source of great blessing. In the Book of Prov the conception deepens from a physical source of a mere physical immortality to a moral and spiritual source of a full life, mental moral and spiritual, which will potentially last forever. Life, long life, is here attributed to a certain possession or quality of mind and heart. Wisdom is a source and supply of life to man. This wisdom is essentially of a moral quality, and this moral force brings the whole man into right relations with the source of life. Hence, a man truly lives by reason of this relationship (Pro 3:18). The allusion in this verse is doubtless to Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22. An expression very similar is Pro 10:11, where the mouth of the righteous is declared to be a fountain of life. Good words are a power for good, and hence, produce good living. Pro 11:30 has a like thought: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,” i.e. the good life is a source of good in its influence on others. Pro 13:12 says: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” The meaning seems to be that the gratification of good and lawful desires produces those pleasures and activities which make up life and its blessings. Pro 15:4 says: “A gentle tongue is a tree of life,” i.e. its beneficent influences help others to a better life.
3. The Apocryphal Writings:
The apocryphal writings contain a few references to the tree of life, but use the phrase in a different sense from that in which it is used in the canonical books: “They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour” (2 Esdras 2:12). Ecclesiasticus 1:20 has only an indirect reference to it. Ethiopic Enoch, in his picture of the Messianic age, uses his imagination very freely in describing it: “It has a fragrance beyond all fragrances; its leaves and bloom and wood wither not forever; its fruit is beautiful and resembles the date-palm” (24:4). Slavonic Enoch speaks thus: “In the midst there is the tree of life ... and this tree cannot be described for its excellence and sweet odor” (8:3). 2 Esdras describing the future says: “Unto you is paradise opened, the tree of life is planted” (8:52).
4. The Book of Revelation:
The Apocalypse of John refers to the tree of life in three places (Rev 2:7; Rev 22:2, Rev 22:14). These are pictures of the glorious possibilities of life which await the redeemed soul. In Ezekiel’s picture of the ideal state and the Messianic age, there flows from the sanctuary of God a life-giving river having trees upon its banks on either side, yielding fruit every month. The leaf of this tree would not wither, nor its fruit fail, because that which gave moisture to its roots flowed from the sanctuary. This fruit was for food and the leaves for medicine (Eze 47:12). Very similar to this and probably an expansion of it is John’s picture in Revelation: “To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Rev 2:7). This means that all the possibilities of a complete and glorious life are open to the one that overcomes, and by overcoming is prepared to become immortal in a vastly higher sense than was possible to primitive man. In his picture of the few Jerusalem, the river of water of life has the tree of life on either side (Rev 22:2). Its leaf never fades and its monthly fruitage never fails. Food and medicine these are to be to the world, supplied freely to all that all may enjoy the highest possibilities of activity and blessedness which can come to those who are in right relationships with God and Jesus Christ. In Rev 22:14 John pronounces a blessing on those who wash their robes, who lead the clean and pure Christ life, for they thereby have the right and privilege of entering into the gates of the City and partaking of the tree of life. This means not only immortal existence, but such relations with Jesus Christ and the church that each has unrestricted access to all that is good in the universe of God. The limit is his own limited capacity.
1. Sources.-There are three sources for our knowledge of the idea of the tree of life: the OT, Jewish apocalypses and Jewish theology, and ethnic legends.
(1) In the OT the tree of life appears neither in Psalms nor in the Prophets, but only in Genesis and Proverbs. The Genesis story (Gen_2:9; Gen_3:22) intimates that there are two objects which man would grasp at-knowledge and immortality. It has been maintained, however, that in Gen_2:9 the tree of life is a later addition, and was inserted only when the idea of the under world had suffered such a change that immortality became an object of desire (K. Budde, Die biblische Urgeschichte untersuch?, Giessen, 1883, p. 53 f.; but cf. A. Dillmann, Genesis, Eng. translation , Edinburgh, 1897, i. 121 f.). In any case, by reason of his sin man was not permitted to eat of the fruit of this tree, which signified fullness of life. Driven out from the Garden of Eden, he was effectually debarred from this Divine good. In Proverbs (Pro_3:18; Pro_11:30; Pro_13:12; Pro_15:4) wisdom, the fruit of the righteous, desire fulfilled, and a wholesome tongue are each a ‘tree of life.’ The reference is not to the recovery of a lost, or to the winning of a future, but to the enjoyment of a present, good (cf. Budde, op. cit., p. 85f.).
(2) In Jewish apocalyptic three constant factors are associated with the tree of life: it is in Paradise; the righteous have access to its fruit; it will be available only after the judgment. Its first appearance is in Enoch, xxiv. 1-6, xxv. 4-6, xxxi. 1-3 (cf. Slavonic Enoch, viii. 3-5, 4 Ezr_7:123; Ezr_8:52, Pss.- Son_14:3, Test, of Levi, xviii.-a Christian interpolation [?]). According to Jewish theology, its branches cover the whole of Paradise, and it has 500,000 kinds of taste and smell (F. Weber, Jüd. Theologie2, Leipzig, 1897, p. 346; A. Wünsche, Die Sagen vom Lebensbaum und Lebenswasser, Leipzig, 1905).
(3) All Oriental religions which have risen above the nature stage have their legends of a tree of life. Sometimes it appears in a simple, at other times in a fantastic, form; but whoever, even a god, partakes of its fruit or its sap renews and preserves his life (cf. E. Schrader, Jahrbücher für protestantische Theologie i. [1875] 124 ff.; W. W. von Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, ii. [Leipzig, 1878] 189 ff.; Friedrich Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies?, Leipzig, 1881, p. 148 f.). In the Babylonian-Assyrian circle this tree was date-palm, cedar, or vine (F. R. Tennant, The Sources of the Doctrines of the Fall and Original Sin, Cambridge, 1903, p. 49; T. G. Pinches, The OT in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia2, London, 1903, p. 71 ff.). In the Gilgamesh Epic the hero obtained a scion from the ‘plant of life’ which healed his mortal illness (cf. B. Meissner, Ein altbabylon. Fragment des Gilgamosepos, Berlin, 1902; A. Jeremias, Die babylonisch-assyrischen Vorstellungen vom Leben nach dem Tode, Leipzig, 1887, p. 93). In the Zend-Avesta the tree of life is the white Haoma-death-destroyer-similar to a grape vine, with plentiful buds and jasmine-like leaves; whoever eats of the fruit becomes immortal (SBE [Note: BE Sacred Books of the East.] xxiii. [1883] 20; cf. Rigveda, X. xcvii. 17). The Hindu tree of life grows in the midst of water; whoever looks on it is made young.
Much that is fantastic and unreliable has been written by Assyriologists concerning the tree of life. Two facts, however, stand out as incontestable: there was throughout the ancient world a worship of trees, and man’s dependence on particular trees for support of life offered the basis for a profound religious suggestion. ‘The tree had always been the seat of Divine life and the intermediary between Divine and human nature.… In the holy tree the Divine life is bringing itself closer to man’ (W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, London, 1904, p. 248).
2. In Revelation.-The dependence of the idea of the tree of life in Revelation (Rev_2:7; Rev_22:2; Rev_22:14) upon earlier, especially Jewish, conceptions is evident. The legend has been traced to an Arabian or North African oasis, thence to Babylon, where the habitat of the tree became a garden; thence the Hebrews derived it (G. A. Barton, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, New York, 1902, p. 95 f.). With the shifting fortunes of Jerusalem, the garden was transformed into a city. The apocalyptists show this transformation under way. They picture the future as a garden (Enoch, xxiv., xxv.); then as a city-Jerusalem (Pss.- Solomon 17:33 f.; J. R. Harris, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, Cambridge, 1909); finally, it is a city indeed, but with a garden enclosed (Revelation 21; Rev_22:2; cf. also R. H. Charles, The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, Oxford, 1912, p. 53). Eze_47:12 has been influential here. In the prophet’s vision, on each side of the river grow all trees bearing new fruits according to their months, which shall be for food, and their leaves for healing. The picture in the Revelation is of a city, in the midst of which is a garden; through this flows a river, on each bank of which is the tree of life (a word used collectively)-a row of trees bearing either twelve manner of fruits (Authorized Version , Revised Version ) or twelve crops (Revised Version margin). In the garden of God, then, grows the tree of life. For those who have been purified by faith, the doom man brought on himself in Eden, of prohibition from its food, is repealed. All that Judaism had lost, or mythology dreamed of, or Christianity awakened in the soul in the way of immortal longing was restored and fulfilled in the world to come. Not only is the fruit for food, but even the leaves have healing virtue. How this therapeutic property of the leaves is to be available for the ‘nations’ (cf. Rev_21:24-27, Isa_60:3; Enoch, xxv. 4-6)-those not yet belonging to the New Jerusalem-is problematic. It may suggest the present functions of the Church in respect of social ills, or imply that after the Parousia the citizens of the city will have a ministry towards those outside, or, yet again, indicate that the writer had not fully assimilated the ideal proposed by Ezekiel (cf. C. A. Scott, Revelation [Century Bible], London, n.d., p. 297).
C. A. Beckwith.
The tree whose fruit gives
people the power to live forever. See
Gen. 2:9; 3:22 and Rev. 22:1–2.