The knowledge that Adam and Eve are able to obtain is the ability to distinguish between what is good and bad. It is supposed to make them wiser and more like God, in that they have knowledge of the existence between good and evil.The fact that they had to eat the forbidden fruit is important because it serves as a type of representation of how it is a part of human nature to go against the norms and how curiosity and the seek for power and wisdom is a part of the core of a human being. The way in which they had to actually eat the fruit shows how it is not something external to people, but rather it is something that comes from within human nature.
The failure of Adam and Eve, aside from being an act of disobedience comes from how they became aware of good and evil and had their “eyes opened” to the point in which they realized that they were naked and they wanted to hide from God. This act of disobedience made their duty of creating and ordering much harder and more painful for them. Eve now had to face pain in childbirth and Adam would have to sweat and work to order and rule over things. By eating the forbidden fruit and gaining knowledge about what is good and evil, Adam and Eve essentially fail in that now that they know the difference between the two, they are exposed to them more openly and must now face evil as they continue with God’s creation. I think this act makes Adam and Eve more God-like in the sense that it makes them wiser and more knowledgeable, thus more God-like. Nevertheless, it makes them less God-like in the sense that they have disobeyed and have succumbed to the temptation of evil, something that goes against God’s behavior and actions.
It may be considered as mercyful that God banished them from the Garden since after they ate the forbidden fruit they felt ashamed and felt as though they needed to hide from God. By exiling them, God is allowing them to leave free from that shame. Also, the text describes how God does this to prevent them from eating from the tree of life and live forever, as God does. It is in a way God’s way of ensuring that they don’t make this second mistake and trying to keep them away from committing another sin that would make their lives and duties more painful and hard.
Alegria Ubidia 