Tree of life

[Seamus_Sully]

Why do translators use different articles to translate “`ets” as The Tree of Life in Genesis’s early chapters, but A Tree of Life in Proverbs 3: 18?

Proverbs 3: 18 Wisdom is a tree life.

Thanks

 

[Pug]

Likely because in the Hebrew, there is an article in the one place, and no article in the other. The article that I mean is “h”. It is said “he” in Hebrew. Here is a picture of the letter in Hebrew that is the article:

ה

That article is for the English word “the”, more or less. So if the article isn’t there, then it is likely indefinite, so it has a “a” and not a “the”. Oh, btw, the article isn’t on the word “tree”. It is on the word that is modifying “tree”.

I looked up your two verses, and the article is only there in Gen and not Proverbs.

 

[pigtown]

Proverbs 3:18 says: She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.
According to my study Bible "The person who has discovered wisdom has found a priceless treasure. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and forbidden access to the tree of life but wisdom is another tree of life and will begin to restore the lost happiness of Paradise.
As for Genesis 2:9 my study Bible says “Two trees of special importance were also there, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

 

[cialovesyou]

The image of the “tree of life” was a common one in the near east, crossing many peoples. It symbolised fertility, life, growth, health, sustainability etc…It occurs in literature, and art.

According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary “a tree of life: A common image in ancient mythology and a recurring metaphor in Prov (cf.11:30, 13:12, 15:4). It recalls the tree of Gen 2:9, which symbolised the human yearning for immortality; here it represents sustenance and healing for a happy life” (pg 456).

Now, you want to hear my own whacky theory?
I reckon the tree of life in the garden of Eden is of the type of Christ, it is a prophecy of the true fountainhead of immortality.