Adam and Eve... Notes on Genesis, Chapter Two

Their Creation...
In the summary of the creation of all things, in Chapter 1, the first man and woman are mentioned as well (vs. 26-30). More detail concerning their creation, however, is revealed in Chapter 2. Adam was "formed" of the dust of the earth (vs. 7), received the 'breath of life' directly from God, and became a living (life-having) soul. Unlike the animals, which had only natural 'breath', Adam's vital force--his spirit--was more than that which his lungs inhaled and exhaled... It was his inner man, through which he was able to communicate and fellowship with his Creator... It was the connection between God's immortal life and the man's mortal body. Through that connection, Adam would have lived pain-free, disease-free, and would have never known mental or emotional weakness. He was made to have domion over all of God's creation.
The only thing Adam was missing, was a 'mate', fit for him. So in God's amazing wisdom, He chose not to 'form' another human from dust... He chose to remove something from the man's perfect and complete being and made him temporarily 'incomplete'. Then from that which He took from Adam (the rib), God made a woman, gave her back to the man, thus, making him 'complete' once again.

The Tree...
The instruction from God, given directly to Adam (prior to the creation of Eve) was to freely eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil"... "for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Ch. 2:16-17). That 'vital connection' to the continual flow of God's life, in the spirit of man, would be 'cut off'--Adam would die spiritually, in other words, 'in the day' that he ate of that forbidden fruit.
This is not some kind of fairy tale... The forbidden fruit was not an 'apple'. It was literal 'fruit' on a literal 'tree', however, that would give the partaker thereof, an experience with, and an understanding of good and evil. By that, the Scripture is not referring to a knowledge of 'right and wrong'... The words 'good' and 'evil' are translated from two Hebrew words that mean 'blessing' and 'calamity'. In this paradise world, where Adam and Eve enjoyed dominion and freedom from all woe, there would be no need for 'blessing'--that is, of course, unless they were to experience 'calamity' and trouble. But it was the expressed will of their Creator, for them to never experience 'calamity', and thus, never be in need of 'blessing'.