John Chrysostom, Sermons on Genesis

your brother? Why do you place him in a deserted place? Why do you strip him of care? Why do you lead him far from his father's sight? Why do you conceal your audacity, if you do not fear sin? And why, even after committing the murder, when asked again, are you vexed and do you lie? For 54.611 when God said, “Where is Abel, your brother?” you said, “Am I my brother's keeper?” From which it is clear that he came to this deed knowing it full well. Therefore, just as this man knew even before the experience that murder is evil, he learned it more clearly afterward, when he received the punishment and heard: “Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth.” So also his father had the knowledge of good and evil even before eating, even if not so clear as after the eating of the tree. What am I saying? For we all know evils even before we do them, but we learn them more clearly after we do them; and much more clearly when we are punished. So also Cain knew that fratricide was evil even before this; but he learned it more clearly afterward through the punishment. Since we also know that health is good, and sickness burdensome even before the experience; but much more, when we fall into sickness, do we know the difference between the two. 3. In the same way, then, Adam knew that obedience is good and disobedience is evil; but afterward he learned it more clearly when, having tasted of the tree, he was cast out of paradise and fell from that blessedness. Since, therefore, he fell into punishment because, though God forbade it, he tasted of the tree, the punishment taught him more clearly through experience how great an evil it is to disobey God, and how great a good it is to obey; for this reason the tree is called knowledgeable of good and evil. And why is the tree called knowledgeable of good and evil, if its nature did not itself have this knowledge, but man learned it more clearly from the punishment for his disobedience regarding the tree? Because this is the custom of Scripture, that when an event takes place, either in places or in times, to name both the places and the times from the events. And that what is said may become clearer, I will make this plain to you by an example. Isaac once dug wells; his neighbors attempted to destroy these wells; from this some enmity arose, and he called the well Enmity; not because the well itself was hostile, but because the enmity happened concerning it. So also the tree is called knowledgeable of good and evil, not because it itself had knowledge, but because concerning it the test of the knowledge of good and evil occurred. Again Abraham dug a well, Abimelech plotted against it; they came together, they put an end to the enmity, and having given oaths to one another, they called that well the Well of the Oath; not because the well swore, but because the oath was made concerning the well. Do you see how the places are not the causes of the events, even if they take their names from the events? For there is great need to bring forward examples, so that what is said may become clearer. Again Jacob saw angels meeting him and a camp of God, and he called the place Camp. And yet the place was not the camp, but nevertheless the place was called Camp, because he saw the camp there. Do you see how he named the place from the event that happened in the place? So also the tree is called knowledgeable of good and evil, not because it itself had knowledge of good and evil, but because concerning it the demonstration of the knowledge of good and evil took place, and the exercise of disobedience and obedience. Again 54.612 Jacob saw God, as it was possible for a man to see, and he called the name of that place Form of God. Why? “Because I saw God,” he says. And yet the place was not the form of God, but from the event that happened in the place the name came to be. Do you see by how many proofs it has been shown, that it is the custom of Scripture

τὸν ἀδελφόν; τί δὲ καθιστᾷς ἐν ἐρημίᾳ; τί δὲ γυμνὸν ποιεῖς τῆς κηδεμονίας; τί πόῤῥω τῆς πατρικῆς ἀπάγεις ὄψεως; τί διακρύπτεις τὴν τόλμαν, εἰ μὴ δέδοικας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν; τί δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸ ποιῆσαι τὸν φόνον, πάλιν ἐρωτώμενος δυσχεραίνεις καὶ ψεύδῃ; Τοῦ 54.611 γὰρ Θεοῦ εἰπόντος· Ποῦ Ἄβελ, ὁ ἀδελφός σου; εἶπας· Μὴ φύλαξ εἰμὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου ἐγώ; Ὅθεν δῆλον ὅτι σαφῶς εἰδὼς ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν ταύτην. Ὥσπερ οὖν οὗτος ᾔδει μὲν καὶ πρὸ τῆς πείρας ὅτι κακὸν ὁ φόνος, ἔμαθε δὲ σαφέστερον καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὅτε τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐδέξατο, καὶ ἤκουσε· Στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· οὕτω καὶ ὁ πατὴρ τούτου εἶχε τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ φαγεῖν τὴν γνῶσιν, εἰ καὶ μὴ οὕτω σαφῆ, ὡς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ξύλου βρῶσιν. Τί λέγω; Τὰ γὰρ κακὰ πάντες οἴδαμεν καὶ πρὶν ἢ πρᾶξαι, σαφέστερον δὲ μανθάνομεν μετὰ τὸ πρᾶξαι· πολλῷ δὲ σαφέστερον, ὅταν κολαζώμεθα. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Κάϊν ᾔδει μὲν ὅτι κακὸν ἡ ἀδελφοκτονία καὶ πρὸ τούτου· ἔμαθε δὲ ὕστερον διὰ τῆς κολάσεως σαφέστερον· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι καλὸν ἡ ὑγίεια, καὶ φορτικὸν ἡ νόσος καὶ πρὸ τῆς πείρας· πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον, ὅταν εἰς τὴν νόσον ἐμπέσωμεν, ἀμφοτέρων τὴν διαφορὰν γινώσκομεν. γʹ. Τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον καὶ ὁ Ἀδὰμ ᾔδει μὲν ὅτι καλὸν ἡ ὑπακοὴ, καὶ κακὸν ἡ παρακοή· ὕστερον δὲ σαφέστερον ἔμαθεν, ὅτε τοῦ ξύλου γευσάμενος ἐξεβλήθη τοῦ παραδείσου, καὶ τῆς μακαριότητος ἐκείνης ἐξέπεσεν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν εἰς τιμωρίαν ἐνέπεσεν, ὅτι, τοῦ Θεοῦ κωλύσαντος, ἐγεύσατο τοῦ ξύλου, ἡ τιμωρία αὐτὸν σαφέστερον ἐπαίδευσε διὰ τῆς πείρας, ὅσον κακὸν Θεοῦ παρακούειν, καὶ ὅσον ὑπακούειν καλόν· διὰ τοῦτο γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ τὸ ξύλον καλεῖται. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν, εἰ μὴ αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις τοῦ ξύλου τὴν γνῶσιν εἶχε τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς τιμωρίας τῆς διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ σαφέστερον τοῦτο ἔμαθεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ τὸ ξύλον καλεῖται; Ὅτι ἔθος τῇ Γραφῇ τοῦτο, ἐπειδὰν τὸ πρᾶγμα γένηται, ἢ ἐν τόποις, ἢ ἐν καιροῖς, ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων καλεῖν καὶ τοὺς τόπους καὶ τοὺς καιρούς. Καὶ ἵνα σαφέστερον γένηται τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐπὶ ὑποδείγματος ὑμῖν τοῦτο ποιήσω φανερόν. Ὁ Ἰσαάκ ποτε φρέατα ὤρυξε· ταῦτα τὰ φρέατα ἐπεχείρησαν οἱ γείτονες διαφθεῖραι· ἐντεῦθεν ἐγένετό τις ἀπέχθεια, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ φρέαρ Ἔχθραν· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸ τὸ φρέαρ ἤχθρανεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ περὶ αὐτὸ ἡ ἔχθρα γέγονεν. Οὕτω καὶ τὸ ξύλον γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ καλεῖται, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸ εἶχε γνῶσιν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ περὶ αὐτὸ ἐγένετο ὁ ἔλεγχος τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Πάλιν ὤρυξε φρέαρ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ, ἐπεβούλευσεν ὁ Ἀβιμέλεχ· συνῆλθον, κατέλυσαν τὴν ἔχθραν, καὶ ὅρκους δόντες ἀλλήλοις, ἐκάλεσαν τὸ φρέαρ ἐκεῖνο Φρέαρ ὅρκου· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τὸ φρέαρ ὤμοσεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ περὶ τὸ φρέαρ ὁ ὅρκος ἐγένετο. Ὁρᾷς πῶς οὐχὶ τῶν πραγμάτων οἱ τόποι αἴτιοι γίνονται, εἰ καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων λαμβάνουσι τὰ ὀνόματα; Καὶ γὰρ πολλὴ ἀνάγκη παραγαγεῖν παραδείγματα, ὥστε σαφέστερον γενέσθαι τὸ λεγόμενον. Πάλιν εἶδεν ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἀγγέλους ἀπαντήσοντας αὐτῷ καὶ παρεμβολὴν Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸν τόπον Παρεμβολήν. Καίτοι οὐχ ὁ τόπος ἦν ἡ παρεμβολὴ, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐκλήθη ὁ τόπος Παρεμβολὴ, ἐπειδὴ ἐκεῖ εἶδε τὴν παρεμβολήν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος τοῦ συμβάντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τὸν τόπον ὠνόμασεν; Οὕτω καὶ τὸ ξύλον γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ καλεῖται, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸ εἶχε γνῶσιν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ περὶ αὐτὸ ἐγένετο ἡ ἀπόδειξις τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ ἡ γυμνασία τῆς παρακοῆς καὶ τῆς ὑπακοῆς. Πά 54.612 λιν εἶδε τὸν Θεὸν ὁ Ἰακὼβ, ὡς ἰδεῖν ἀνθρώπῳ δυνατὸν ἦν, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Εἶδος Θεοῦ. ∆ιὰ τί· Ὅτι εἶδον τὸν Θεὸν, φησί. Καὶ μὴν οὐχ ὁ τόπος εἶδος Θεοῦ ἦν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος τοῦ συμβάντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἡ προσηγορία γέγονεν. Ὁρᾷς διὰ πόσων ἀποδέδεικται, ὅτι ἔθος τῇ Γραφῇ