Beauty and abundance characterized humanity's original environment (see 13:10).
the tree of life: This represented God's presence and care. Eating from it would give everlasting life (3:22), making it a powerful image for later Israelite and Christian thought (Proverbs 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19).
The candlestick in Israel’s tabernacle may have been a stylized representation of the tree of life (Exodus 25:31–35).
Eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave humans the ability to be wise (Genesis 3:6) and have moral understanding (3:5, 22; compare Deuteronomy 1:39, “not know good from evil”).
Eating from it showed a human desire to be independent and have wisdom that belonged to God alone (see Proverbs 30:1–4). Humans ignored God's instruction for moral understanding, showing independence instead of following God's will (compare Proverbs 1:7). Choosing human wisdom over God's instruction brings death and destruction (see Psalm 19:7–9; Ezekiel 28:6, 15–17).