Texts in Conversation
In Genesis, the tree of life is one tree among many in the garden, but later interpretations in the Aramaic Targums and Genesis Rabbah describe it as an immense tree, impossibly tall and wide. These describe the tree in the “middle” of the garden, connecting it to the idea of a world tree, or “axis mundi,” at the center of the world.
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Genesis 2:9
Hebrew Bible
8 The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.) 10 Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 2:9
Targum
8 Before the creation of the world, a garden had been planted by the Memra of the Lord God from Eden for the righteous, and He made Adam dwell there when He created him. 9 And the Lord God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable to see and good to eat, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden, whose height was a journey of five hundred years, and the tree whose fruit enables those who eat it to distinguish between good and evil. 10 A river goes out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four river-heads.
Date: 300-1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Genesis Rabbah 15:6
Aggadah
Rabbinic
‘And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden’ (Genesis 2:9). It was taught: It was a tree which spread over all living things. R. Judah b. R. Ila'i said: The tree of life covered a five hundred years' journey, and all the primeval waters branched out in streams under it. R. Judan said in the name of R. Judah b. R. Ila'i: Not only its boughs but even its trunk was a five hundred years' journey.
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... Genesis 2:9 ... compare Targum Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 2:9; Genesis Rabbah 15:6; j. Berakhot 1:2 and Song of Songs Rabbah 6:9 which all state that the tree of life covered a five hundred years’ journey ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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