Please help me research this. We hear so many time today "Eve ate the apple", however, it is clearly written as "fruit". Where, when, and how did "fruit" get translated into "apple", and why is this so common?
Thanks
I'm not sure what the history of this might be but I'm not aware of any versions that translate using the word apple. Is there a translation that you are referring to or are you just saying the idea in general?
A quick search found this on Wikepedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_fruit#Apple The explanation of apple is fascinating.
Potential forbidden fruits of the Garden of Eden include the apple, pomegranate,[1] the fig,[2] the carob,[1] the etrog or citron,[1] the pear, and, more recently, the datura.[3] The pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch describes the tree of knowledge: "It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!" (1 Enoch 31:4).
One alternative view is that the forbidden fruit is not a fruit at all, but a metaphorical one, possibly the fruit of the womb, i.e. sex and procreation from the tree of life.
In Western Europe, the fruit was often depicted as an apple, possibly because of a misunderstanding of, or a pun on mălum, a native Latin noun which means evil (from the adjective malus), and mālum, another Latin noun, borrowed from Greek μῆλον, which means apple.[4] In the Vulgate, Genesis 2:17 describes the tree as de ligno autem scientiae boni et mali: "but of the tree (lit. wood) of knowledge of good and evil" (mali here is the genitive of malum). The larynx in the human throat, noticeably more prominent in males, was consequently called an Adam's apple, from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking from Adam's throat as he swallowed. -- Another theory as to why the Apple was chosen as the "Forbidden Fruit," is the fact that when you cut an apple in half sideways (horizontally across its middle), then look at the center of each half - the "seeded" section - you will see the unmistakable image of a Pentagram. Some individuals have postulated that the Apple was selected by the early Roman Catholic Church as being the "Forbidden Fruit" due to the image of a Pentagram found at its center.
Rabbi Meir says that the fruit was a grape, made into wine.[5] The Zohar explains similarly that Noah attempted (but failed) to rectify the sin of Adam by using grape wine for holy purposes.[6][7] The midrash of Bereishis Rabah states that the fruit was grape,[8] or squeezed grapes (perhaps alluding to wine).[9]
Rabbi Nechemia says that the fruit was a fig, as it was from fig leaves that God made garments for Adam and Eve upon expelling them from the Garden. "By that with which they were made low were they rectified."[10] But the Bible says that it was Adam and Eve who had made their own fig leaf clothing: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:7)
Since the fig is a long-standing symbol of female sexuality, it enjoyed a run as a favorite understudy to the apple as the forbidden fruit during the Italian Renaissance. The most famous depiction of the fig as the forbidden fruit was painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in his masterpiece fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.[3]
Proponents of the theory that the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in what is now known as the Middle East suggest that the fruit was actually a pomegranate, partly because it was native in the region.[11] This ties in with the Greek myth of Persephone, where her consumption of four pomegranate seeds leads to her having to spend time in Hades. Most importantly, Pomegranates were embroidered on the helm of the high priest's robe. see Exodus 28:33, 39:24-25.
Rabbi Yehuda proposes that the fruit was wheat, because "a baby does not know to call its mother and father until it tastes the taste of grain."[10]
In Hebrew, wheat is "khitah", which has been considered to be a pun on "khet", meaning "sin".[1]
A fresco in the 13th-century Plaincourault Abbey in France depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, flanking a Tree of Knowledge that has the appearance of a gigantic Amanita muscaria, a psychoactive mushroom.[12] Writer/philosopher Terence McKenna in the entheogen theory proposed that the fruit of knowledge was a reference to psychotropic plants and fungus, which played a central role, he theorized, in human intellectual evolution.[citation needed] Earlier, in a well-documented and heavily-criticized[13][14] study, John M. Allegro proposed the mushroom as the forbidden fruit.[15] In 2009, author Jan Irvin provided a thorough historical analysis and reevaluation of some of Allegro's critics,[16] and argues that current scholarship vindicates Allegro's discovery.[17]
It was probably done by somebody who like Microsoft and wanted to smear the name of that other major operating system. (Said tongue in cheek to get a rise out of Alabama24).
This is not a Logos answer, but it addressed your question - http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v20/n1/did-eve-eat-an-apple
Sorry, I cross posted with Bruce.
To questions of idle curiosity he returned no answer, or he answered the fool according to his folly. So when one wished to know what kind of an apple Adam and Eve ate, to their ruin, he said that it was a crab-apple. In his old age he was driven from Calabria by invaders, and founded a little convent, Crypta Ferrata, near the famous Tusculum of Cicero. There he died peacefully when about ninety-six years old, in 1005.1 1
1 Acta Sanctorum vol. XXVI. Sept 26 (with the Greek text of a biography of the saint by a disciple). Alban Butler,Lives of the Saints, Sept. 26. Neander, III. 420 sqq. (Germ. ed. IV. 307–315). The convent of Crypts Ferrata possesses a valuable library, which was used by distinguished antiquarians as Mabillon, Montfaucon, Angelo Mai, and Dom Pitra. Among its treasures are several MSS. of parts of the Greek Testament, to which Dean Burgon calls attention in The Revision Revised (Lond. 1883), p. 447.
Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 4 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 366.
[[Some time before 1005]]
Hi Bruce;
I wasn't quite sure how I should word the question on the subject line. I haven't seen a translation that has translated fruit to apple, so I am wondering why do we hear so many times that Eve ate an apple? I don't have a suitable or academic answer for this. I read somewhere (on the net) that it may be due to Latin Vulgate translation concerning the words mali and malum, but I am not seeing that either.
It was probably done by somebody who like Microsoft and wanted to smear the name of that other major operating system. (Said tongue in cheek to get a rise out of Alabama24). This is not a Logos answer, but it addressed your question - http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v20/n1/did-eve-eat-an-apple
Thanks David; That's a good one [:)]. Laughter is good to keep the head from exploding. [:D]
To questions of idle curiosity he returned no answer, or he answered the fool according to his folly. So when one wished to know what kind of an apple Adam and Eve ate, to their ruin, he said that it was a crab-apple. In his old age he was driven from Calabria by invaders, and founded a little convent, Crypta Ferrata, near the famous Tusculum of Cicero. There he died peacefully when about ninety-six years old, in 1005.1 1 1 Acta Sanctorum vol. XXVI. Sept 26 (with the Greek text of a biography of the saint by a disciple). Alban Butler,Lives of the Saints, Sept. 26. Neander, III. 420 sqq. (Germ. ed. IV. 307–315). The convent of Crypts Ferrata possesses a valuable library, which was used by distinguished antiquarians as Mabillon, Montfaucon, Angelo Mai, and Dom Pitra. Among its treasures are several MSS. of parts of the Greek Testament, to which Dean Burgon calls attention in The Revision Revised (Lond. 1883), p. 447. Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 4 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 366. [[Some time before 1005]]
Thanks David; This is interesting, and I think I have this resource in Logos. [:)]
Hey, I resemble that remark. [:)]
It was probably done by somebody who like Microsoft and wanted to smear the name of that other major operating system. (Said tongue in cheek to get a rise out of Alabama24). Hey, I resemble that remark.
Hey, I resemble that remark.
I was just waiting for your response and this the best you have? [;)]
Thank you everyone for your quick responses and guidance. I appreciate the links and listed resources. I can now see a little more light on the answer to this question.
My head is not throbbing as much now. [:)]
We all know that Apple misleads persons from the true PC path. [:D] [;)]
We all know that Apple misleads persons from the true PC path.
You have a pair of typos in this sentence. Everyone knows you actually meant: "We all know that Apple rescues persons from the false PC path." [H]
We all know that Apple misleads persons from the true PC path. You have a pair of typos in this sentence. Everyone knows you actually meant: "We all know that Apple rescues persons from the false PC path."
You have a pair of typos in this sentence. Everyone knows you actually meant: "We all know that Apple rescues persons from the false PC path."
My favorite Rosie O'Donnell quote:
De-lu-tional
You'll have to excuse George. He's heard so many sermons about the bad apples in Eden that he's conditioned to equal 'apple' with 'bad'. He can't help it.
Isn't it interesting that every generation since our first parents has also been tasked to learn of good and evil? We have approximately 70 years to do so - whether we want to or not. Some learn more about evil than good, while others learn more about good than evil (the greatest Good being God Himself, of course), while still others are terribly confused about what is good and what is evil. That education is part of the mandate of this first creation and many think it is experiential but ultimately it can only be propositional - from God. Adam bit and we're still chewing.
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