Daily Archives: November 26, 2016

Apples From The Forbidden Tree 

iPhoneOgraphy – 26 Nov 2016 (Day 331/366)

Apples appear in many religious traditions, often as a mystical or forbidden fruit. One of the problems identifying apples in religion, mythology and folktales is that as late as the 17th century, the word “apple” was used as a generic term for all (foreign) fruit other than berries, but including nuts. This term may even have extended to plant galls, as they were thought to be of plant origin (see oak Apple). For instance, when tomatoes were introduced into Europe, they were called “love apples”. In one Old English work, cucumbers are called eorþæppla (lit. “earth-apples’), just as in French, Dutch, Hebrew, Persian and Swiss German as well as several other German dialects, the words for potatoes mean “earth-apples” in English. In some languages, oranges are called “golden apples” or “Chinese apples”. Datura is called ‘thorn-apple”.



The Ancient Greek word “μήλον” (mēlon), now a loanword in English as melon or water melon did not mean, in Homer’s time, apple, the pomaceous fruit, but sheep or goat. In Latin, the words for ‘apple’ (“mālum”) and for ‘evil’ (“mãlum”) are nearly identical. This may also have influenced the apple’s becoming interpreted as the biblical ‘forbidden fruit’ in the commonly used Latin translation called “Vulgate”. The larynx in the human throat has been called Adam’s apple because of the folk tale that the bulge was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking in the throat of Adam. The apple as symbol of sexual seduction has sometimes been used to imply sexuality between men, possibly in an ironic vein.


In some versions (such as Young’s Literal Translation) of the Bible, the Hebrew word for mandrakes dudaim (Genesis 30:14) is translated as “love apples” (not to be confused with the New World tomatoes). There are several instances in the Old Testament where the apple is used in a more favourable light. The phrase ‘the apple of your eye’ comes from verses in Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalm 17:8 Proverbs 7:2, and Zechariah 2:8, implying an object or person who is greatly valued. In Proverbs 25:11, the verse states, “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”. In the love songs of the Somg of Solomon, the apple is used in a sensual context. In these latter instances, the apple is used as a symbol for beauty. The apple appears again in Joel 1:12 in a verse with a sense of profound loss when the apple tree withers. During the Jewish New Year – [Rosh Hashanah] – it is customary to eat apples dipped in honey to evoke a “sweet new year”.







Shot & Edited using iPhone 6+

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