14 pPant Isore, "b©gel^/, anel ls>Ljricy. 



that he would be sure to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life, 

 which, from its prominent position " in the midst of the garden," 

 would naturally attract his attention. Like the sacred Soma- 

 tree of the Hindus, the Tree of Life probably yielded heavenly 

 ambrosia, and supplied to Adam food that invigorated and refreshed 

 him with its immortal sustenance. So long as he remained in 

 obedience, he was privileged to partake of this glorious food ; but 

 when, yielding to Eve's solicitations, he disobeyed the Divine 

 command, and partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, he 

 found it had given to him the knowledge of evil — something of 

 which he had hitherto been in happy ignorance. He had sinned ; 

 he was no longer fit to taste the immortal ambrosia of the Tree 

 of Life ; he was, therefore, driven forth from Eden, and lest he 

 should be tempted once again to return and partake of the glorious 

 fruit of the immortalising tree, God " placed at the east of the 

 Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned 

 every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life." Henceforth the 

 immortal food was lost to man : he could no longer partake of 

 that mystic fruit which bestowed life and health. Dr. Wild is 

 of opinion that the Tree of Knowledge stood on Mount Zion, 

 the spot afterwards selected by the Almighty for the erection of the 

 Temple ; because, through the Shechinah, men could there obtain 

 knowledge of good and evil. 



Some have claimed that the Banana, the Musa pavadisiaca, was 

 the Tree of Life, and that another species of the tree, the Musa 

 sapientum, was the Tree of Knowledge ; others consider that the 

 Indian sacred Fig-tree, the Ficiis religiosa, the Hindu world-tree, 

 was the Tree of Life which grew in the middle of Eden ; and the 

 Bible itself contains internal evidence supporting this idea. In 

 Gen. iii. 8, we read that Adam and Eve, conscious of having 

 sinned, " hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God 

 amongst the trees of the garden." Dr. Wright, however, in his 

 Commentary, remarks that, in the original, the word rendered 

 '* trees " is singular — " in the midst of the tree of the garden " — 

 consequently, we may infer that Adam and Eve, frightened by the 

 knowledge of their sin, sought the shelter of the Tree of Life — the 

 tree in the centre of the garden ; the tree which, if it were the 

 Ficus religiosa, would, by its gigantic stature, and the grove-like 

 nature of its growth, afford them agreeable shelter, and prove a 

 favourite retreat. Beneath the shade of this stupendous Fig-tree, 

 the erring pair reflected upon their lost innocence; and in their 

 conscious shame, plucked the ample foliage of the tree, and made 

 themselves girdles of Fig-leaves. Here they remained hidden 

 beneath the network of boughs which drooped almost to the earth, 

 and thus formed a natural thicket within which they sought to hide 

 themselves from an angry God. 



" A pillared shade 

 High over-arched, with echoing walks between." — Milton. 



