Before They Were Cursed: A Literary (Re-)Assessment of the Eden Narrative

Abstract: In this article, I engage in the ongoing debate concerning the compositional development of the Eden narrative (Gen 2:4b–3:24), arguing that the latter half of the text (2:25–3:24) is composed of two intertwined literary strands. The first (2:25–3:7 and 3:22–23) represents an earlier and distinct narrative and dramatizes the acquisition of godlike knowledge, whereas the second strand (3:8–19, 24) recasts this sapiential endeavor as one of severe transgression. Beyond the source-critical questions associated with a composite text, I propose that these strands represent two competing literary perspectives regarding the pursuit of knowledge in relation to divine injunction. The first perspective can be understood to promote wisdom to a certain extent, whereas the second perspective attempts to confine the human pursuit of wisdom to an activity undertaken within divine imperative.