Forbidden fruit: Difference between revisions
Pinethicket (talk | contribs) m Reverted edits by 115.167.101.209 (talk) to last version by Lambiam |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
{{Refimprove|date=January 2009}} |
{{Refimprove|date=January 2009}} |
||
[[Image:Adam-mange.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Adam tasting the forbidden fruit. Fresco from the cloister of the monastery of [[Cantauque]] ([[Provence]]).]] |
[[Image:Adam-mange.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Adam tasting the forbidden fruit. Fresco from the cloister of the monastery of [[Cantauque]] ([[Provence]]).]] |
||
'''Forbidden fruit''' is any object of [[desire]] whose appeal is a direct result of [[knowledge]] that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have. |
'''Forbidden fruit''' is any object of [[desire]] whose appeal is a direct result of [[knowledge]] that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have. If you havent gotten it yet you probbably never will, because your gay. |
||
The [[metaphor]]ical phrase ''[[Wiktionary:forbidden fruit|forbidden fruit]]'' refers to the [[Book of Genesis]],<ref>Old Testament, Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."</ref> where it is the fruit of the [[Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil]] eaten by [[Adam and Eve]] in the [[Garden of Eden]]. |
The [[metaphor]]ical phrase ''[[Wiktionary:forbidden fruit|forbidden fruit]]'' refers to the [[Book of Genesis]],<ref>Old Testament, Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."</ref> where it is the fruit of the [[Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil]] eaten by [[Adam and Eve]] in the [[Garden of Eden]]. |
||
Revision as of 02:20, 17 April 2011
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009) |
Forbidden fruit is any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of knowledge that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have. If you havent gotten it yet you probbably never will, because your gay.
The metaphorical phrase forbidden fruit refers to the Book of Genesis,[1] where it is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil eaten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Type of fruit
In Western Europe, the fruit was often depicted as an apple, possibly because of[citation needed] a misunderstanding of, or perception of intentional dual meaning in, the Latin malum, a noun that can mean evil (from the adjective malus), but also apple. 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 in Adam's throat as he swallowed.
Some Slavonic texts state that the "forbidden fruit" was actually the grape, that was later changed in its nature and made into something good, much as the serpent was changed by losing its legs and speech. The Zohar (the text of Jewish Kabbalah) also claims the fruit was a grape.[2]
Other Christians sometimes assert that the "forbidden fruit" was the fig, from the account of their using leaves of this tree to cover themselves (also the fig tree is the only fruit tree explicitly mentioned in the Genesis 3 context). 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]
Because the tomato, a fruit, is in some Slavic languages called "rajčica" or "paradajz", (both words are related to paradise - "raj" means "paradise"), there are also many of the opinion that it is the forbidden fruit of Genesis. Before the seventeenth century, tomatoes were regarded as poisonous in many European countries, lending credence to the rumors of its forbidden past.
Some Rabbinic traditions regard the forbidden fruit as wheat : wheat is "khitah" in Hebrew and thus is a pun on khet, "sin".[4] Still, many believe the quince, which pre-dates the apple and is native to Southwest Asia, was the forbidden fruit.
Other potential forbidden fruits of the Garden of Eden include the pomegranate,[4] the carob,[4] the etrog or citron,[4] the pear, and, more recently, the datura.[3]
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 poisonous and psychoactive mushroom.[5]
Lastly, some Christians who are Biblical literalists believe that the forbidden fruit was not a known species at all, but a plant that now is extinct.[citation needed]
As a metaphor
The term most generally refers to any indulgence or pleasure that is considered illegal or immoral and potentially dangerous or harmful, particularly relating to human sexuality.[6]
In some interpretations, the 'apple' was a metaphor for sexuality, 'the first sin' and so forth. This is heavily disputed, especially since the first commandment[7] given to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis was to "be fruitful and multiply." Additionally, when the first woman was presented to the first man, God said in Genesis 2:24: "That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh", thereby implying sexuality (sub voce) and parenthood (father and mother).
In the philosophical novel Ishmael, the story of eating the forbidden fruit is described as a metaphor for the loss of quality of life caused by the change from a hunter-gatherer culture to an agriculturally based society.
See also
- Grapefruit, originally named the "forbidden fruit" of Barbados.[8]
- Apple (symbolism)
References
- ^ Old Testament, Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
- ^ The Zohar: The First Ever Unabridged English Translation, with Commentary (Rabbi Michael Berg, ed., Vol. 2, pp.388-390
- ^ a b http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127752216
- ^ a b c d http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2682/was-the-forbidden-fruit-in-the-garden-of-eden-an-apple
- ^ William Dudley Gray (1973). The Use of Fungi as Food and in Food Processing, Part 2. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0118-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|apge=ignored (help) - ^ SexualFables.com
- ^ Old Testament, Genesis 1:28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply."
- ^ Dowling, Curtis F.; Morton, Julia Frances (1987). Fruits of warm climates. Miami, FL: J.F. Morton. ISBN 0-9610184-1-0. OCLC 16947184.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)