This may seem like a no brainer... of course wisdom is to be desired, the Bible tells us so doesn't it? There are whole hymns to wisdom in Proverbs, it's obvious.
Is it?
Genesis 2:6 NRSV
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
I'd never spotted that the text said 'wise' until I heard it read today, and wondered if it was a bit of GNB 'dumbing' so I checked it in other translations and in an interlinear Hebrew. Sure enough the word was 'wise.'
I guess the significance is that whilst wisdom is desirable, good, Godly, it is not to be snatched for and cannot be attained simply or even effortlessly... there is a difference between knowledge (what the serpent said) and wisdom (what the woman aspired to). Perhaps the fault was not the desire for wisdom, to be grown-up, to be able to make value judgements but the assumption that all that was needed was knowledge.
Perhaps there is a bit of similarity with Jesus' temptations to quick fixes - and indeed our own. Wisdom is to be desired, but knowledge does not always lead us to be wise.
Anyone got any thoughts?
Comments
Knowledge is the understanding that a tomato is a fruit..wisdom is the understanding that you don't put tomatoes in fruit salads.
[not very theological, but a useful quote nonetheless!]
The text only really tells us that 'it made one wise' was her assessment (when she saw...), and that doesn't make it true, it just tells you what she thought. A better thought might have been 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' - there is no context free wisdom, and 'wisdom' with a context of rebellion isn't really wisdom.
Thanks both. I think I agree with you that it was her perception, just intrigued me as I'd never noticed it used the word 'wise' before. I like the tomato analogy!
I think it was good for me to see what it actually says and then try to think what that means rather than simply hear what I think I already know