Forbidden fruit

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In the Bible, the forbidden fruit is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil eaten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. According to the narrative, as a result of eating this fruit, Adam and Eve lost their innocence, began to know good from evil, and were exiled from the garden where they were forced to adopt agriculture for a living.

Popularly, the fruit has been identified as an apple (perhaps as a Latin pun of 'malus' sounding like 'evil' and 'apple'), although the Bible does not identify the fruit as an apple. Judaism teaches that the fruit may have been either grape, fig, wheat, or citron.

In the philosophical novel Ishmael, the story of eating the forbidden fruit is described as a metaphor for the loss of quality of life caused by the change from hunter-gatherer culture to an agriculture-based society.


The term forbidden fruit also refers generally to any indulgence or pleasure that is considered illegal or immoral and potentially dangerous or harmful, particularly relating to such things as sexuality, recreational drug use, and underage alcoholic beverage consumption.

See also

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