On the Origin of the World 21

1Allow me to say next that, once the archons had seen him and the female being who lived with him unknowingly going astray like beasts, they were extremely happy.

2When they learned that the deathless man would not ignore them, they became upset, because they would instead have to fear the female being who had turned herself into a tree. They said, “Perhaps this is the real man, this being who cast a mist over us and taught us that she who had been defiled resembles him. Then we will be defeated.”

3Then all seven devised schemes together. They nervously approached Adam and Eve and said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any of the trees created for you in Paradise. But concerning the tree of knowledge, restrain yourself and do not eat from it. If you eat, you will die.” After causing deep anxiety within them, they withdrew to their authorities.

4Then the cleverest of all creatures approached, the one called “Beast.” When he saw the likeness of their mother Eve, he said to her, “What did God say to you? Was it, ‘Do not eat from the tree of knowledge’?”

5She said, “He not only said, ‘Do not eat from it,’ but also, ‘Do not touch it, or you will die.’”

6He said to her, “Do not be afraid. With death you will not die, because he knows that when you eat [] from it, your reasoning will become sober, and you will become like gods, knowing the difference between evil and good humans. In fact, he said this to you out of jealousy, to keep you from eating from it.”

7Eve now had confidence in the teacher’s words. She looked at the tree and recognized that it was beautiful and satisfying, and she desired it. She took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate it as well. Then their minds were opened, because when they ate, the light of knowledge shone upon them. When they clothed themselves with embarrassment, they realized that they were naked without knowledge. When they became sober, they realized that they were naked, and they fell in love with each other. When they realized that those who had shaped them had the forms of beasts, they hated them. They had become acutely aware.