The Evangelical Universalist Forum

"Good" in Genesis - word study

Is the word ‘good’ in “And God saw that it was good” Gen 1.25
the same word for ‘good’ in “the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food” Gen 3.6 ?

Thanks.

It appears to be the same:

blueletterbible.org/lang/lex … 2896&t=KJV

The LXX uses this word:

blueletterbible.org/lang/lex … ongs=G2570

Hope that helps,
Sonia

Well that does help, thank you.
It also raises a good topic for meditation - the fruit of the tree of good and evil was ‘good’.

Eve’s desire for the good fruit was not wrong - it was good for food, and people get hungry.

It is only when a commandment is given, that the desire (for a good thing) is split into decision that must be made. The commandment makes the decision necessary.
I think perhaps the largest ‘lesson’ of the LOTR is the decision to renounce the Ring. To say ‘no’. Frodo is a better man/hobbit than I am, unless grace saves me.
There’s so much here to think about. I have to go do the grocery shopping though. :slight_smile:

The trees aren’t really trees (I know you know that – just to get it out there). The Tree of Life (imo) stands in for Jesus, who IS our life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil (TOKOGE) isn’t evil in and of itself, but when we go hunting for that knowledge so that WE can be “good,” well THAT becomes a snare. It’s a sin (missing the target all together in this case) because it’s trying to do things in a way that Father has said of it, “Don’t do that; it will only lead to death.” We have (and still do) persistently desired a law. Law is good, but trying to live by a written code rather than by the LIFE (which is the spirit of the law), written our hearts by the hand of God, leads to death. We can’t go that way. We’re designed to live by the LIFE and then, when we do that, we can keep law to the degree that life is within us and at the controls – not by applying the “letter,” but by being guided by the Spirit of God and obeying that guidance.

Or something like that. This is just the way I see it of course, and I have no idea whether anyone or no one agrees with me, though sayings of others have no doubt inspired this thought process in me.

Love, Cindy

:slight_smile: I agree

Good stuff.

What impressed me is the goodness of all creation (a very old idea, one I have to re-remember now and then) - the biblical view does not countenance God having a dark side, or an ambiguous side, let alone an evil side - it is all Light and Love and Goodness. Even the forbidden fruit is ‘good’. How far we have fallen. :frowning:

I really think that, no matter what ‘stands for what’ - and I agree with Cindy on the symbolism of the trees - that what follows in the biblical narrative HAS to start with the good God and His good creation. Any wavering from that destroys the meaningfulness of all God’s dealing with humanity subsequently.

Absolutely and Amen, Dave! I can get on with people who believe all sorts of things and say, “Well, maybe you’re right – I’ve been wrong before.” But I can’t concede that possibility for people, however dear and genuine they may be, who believe God is the direct source of evil. He may be the default source simply by His being good and His having created the world free (and therefore bringing in the possibility of a “not good”), but He is not the source of evil by having created it.