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it has been called a planting, planted by God. And the world has had other similar plants; but the two trees, that of life and that of knowledge, no other land has had except in paradise alone. But that paradise is also land and has been planted on the earth, the scripture says: "And God planted a paradise in Eden toward the east, and placed man there; and God made to grow yet out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." Therefore, the divine scripture clearly teaches us that the 'yet out of the ground' and 'toward the east' means that paradise is under this heaven, under which are both the east and the earth. But Eden, the word spoken in Hebrew, is interpreted as delight. And it has signified that a river goes out of Eden to water the paradise, and from there it is separated into four heads; of which two, those called Pishon and Gihon, water the eastern parts, especially the Gihon, which flows around all the land of Ethiopia, which they say appears in Egypt as the so-called Nile. But the other two rivers are clearly known among us, those called Tigris and Euphrates; for these are neighbors as far as our regions. And God having placed the man, as we have said before, in paradise to work and to keep it, commanded him to eat from all the fruits, clearly also from the tree of life, but only from the tree of knowledge he commanded him not to taste. And God transferred him from the earth, from which he had been made, into paradise, giving him an occasion for progress, so that growing and becoming perfect, and even being declared a god, he might thus also ascend into heaven (for man had been made intermediate, neither wholly mortal nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, paradise, with respect to its beauty, has been made intermediate between the world and heaven), possessing eternity. But the saying 'to work' does not indicate any other work than to keep the commandment of God, so that by disobeying he might not destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself through sin. The tree of knowledge was itself good, and its fruit was good. For it was not, as some suppose, the tree that had death in it, but the disobedience. For there was nothing else in the fruit than only knowledge. And knowledge is good, when one uses it properly. But at his then-existing age, this Adam was an infant in years; for which reason he was not yet able to receive knowledge worthily. For even now when a child is born, it cannot yet eat bread, but first it is nourished with milk, then according to the advance of its age it also comes to solid food. So would it have been also for Adam. Therefore it was not as though envying him, as some suppose, that God commanded him not to eat from the knowledge. Moreover, He also wished to test him, whether he would be obedient to His commandment. At the same time, He also wished for man to remain simple and pure for a longer time, being as a child. For this is a holy thing, not only with God but also with men, to be subject to one's parents in simplicity and innocence. And if it is right for children to be subject to their parents, how much more so to the God and Father of all? Furthermore also, it is unseemly

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φυτεία ὠνόμασται ὑπὸ θεοῦ πεφυτευμένη. καὶ τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ φυτὰ ὅμοια καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἔσχηκεν· τὰ δὲ δύο ξύλα, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὸ τῆς γνώσεως, οὐκ ἔσχηκεν ἑτέρα γῆ ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὁ παράδεισος γῆ ἐστιν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς πεφύτευται, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει· "Καὶ ἐφύτευσεν ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν Ἐδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς, καὶ ἔθετο ἐκεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ ἐξανέτειλεν ὁ θεὸς ἔτι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς πᾶν ξύλον ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν." τὸ οὖν ἔτι ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ κατὰ ἀνατολὰς σαφῶς διδάσκει ἡμᾶς ἡ θεία γραφὴ τὸν παράδεισον ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν οὐρανόν, ὑφ' ὃν καὶ ἀνατολαὶ καὶ γῆ εἰσιν. Ἐδὲμ δὲ ἑβραϊστὶ τὸ εἰρημένον ἑρμηνεύεται τρυφή. Ποταμὸν δὲ σεσήμακεν ἐκπορεύεσθαι ἐξ Ἐδὲμ ποτίζειν τὸν παρά- δεισον, κἀκεῖθεν διαχωρίζεσθαι εἰς τέσσαρας ἀρχάς· ὧν δύο οἱ καλούμενοι Φεισὼν καὶ Γεὼν ποτίζουσιν τὰ ἀνατολικὰ μέρη, μάλιστα ὁ Γεών, ὁ κυκλῶν πᾶσαν γῆν Aἰθιοπίας, ὅν φασιν ἐν τῇ Aἰγύπτῳ ἀποφαίνεσθαι τὸν καλούμενον Νεῖλον. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι δύο ποταμοὶ φανερῶς γινώσκονται παρ' ἡμῖν, οἱ καλούμενοι Τίγρις καὶ Eὐφράτης· οὗτοι γὰρ γειτνιῶσιν ἕως τῶν ἡμετέρων κλιμάτων. Θεὶς δὲ ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, ἐν τῷ παρα- δείσῳ εἰς τὸ ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν καρπῶν ἐσθίειν, δηλονότι καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς, μόνον δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς γνώσεως ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ μὴ γεύσασθαι. μετέθηκεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεγόνει, εἰς τὸν παρά- δεισον, διδοὺς αὐτῷ ἀφορμὴν προκοπῆς, ὅπως αὐξάνων καὶ τέλειος γενόμενος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θεὸς ἀναδειχθείς, οὕτως καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀναβῇ (μέσος γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεγόνει, οὔτε θνητὸς ὁλοσχερῶς οὔτε ἀθάνατος τὸ καθόλου, δεκτικὸς δὲ ἑκατέρων· οὕτως καὶ τὸ χωρίον ὁ παράδεισος, ὡς πρὸς καλλονήν, μέσος τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ γεγένηται), ἔχων ἀϊδιότητα. τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν ἐργάζεσθαι οὐκ ἄλλην τινὰ ἐργασίαν δηλοῖ ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ φυλάσσειν τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπως μὴ παρακούσας ἀπολέσῃ ἑαυτόν, καθὼς καὶ ἀπώλεσεν διὰ ἁμαρτίας. Τὸ μὲν ξύλον τὸ τῆς γνώσεως αὐτὸ μὲν καλὸν καὶ ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ καλός. οὐ γάρ, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, θάνατον εἶχεν τὸ ξύλον, ἀλλ' ἡ παρακοή. οὐ γάρ τι ἕτερον ἦν ἐν τῷ καρπῷ ἢ μόνον γνῶσις. ἡ δὲ γνῶσις καλή, ἐπὰν αὐτῇ οἰκείως τις χρήσηται. τῇ δὲ οὔσῃ ἡλικίᾳ ὅδε Ἀδὰμ ἔτη νήπιος ἦν· διὸ οὔπω ἠδύνατο τὴν γνῶσιν κατ' ἀξίαν χωρεῖν. καὶ γὰρ νῦν ἐπὰν γενηθῇ παιδίον, οὐκ ἤδη δύναται ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον γάλακτι ἀνατρέφεται, ἔπειτα κατὰ πρόσβασιν τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν στερεὰν τροφὴν ἔρχεται. οὕτως ἂν γεγόνει καὶ τῷ Ἀδάμ. διὸ οὐχ ὡς φθονῶν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, ἐκέλευσεν μὴ ἐσθίειν ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως. ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἐβούλετο δοκιμάσαι αὐτόν, εἰ ὑπήκοος γίνεται τῇ ἐντολῇ αὐτοῦ. ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον ἐβούλετο ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἀκέραιον διαμεῖναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον νηπιάζοντα. τοῦτο γὰρ ὅσιόν ἐστιν, οὐ μόνον παρὰ θεῷ ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις, τὸ ἐν ἁπλότητι καὶ ἀκακίᾳ ὑποτάσσε- σθαι τοῖς γονεῦσιν. εἰ δὲ χρὴ τὰ τέκνα τοῖς γονεῦσιν ὑποτάσσεσθαι, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ τῶν ὅλων; ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἄσχημόν