Kommentar zu Bereschit 3:22

היה כאחד ממנו IS BECOME LIKE ONE OF US (or, like the Being who is One, Unique amongst us) — Lo, he is unique among the terrestrial ones, even as I am unique among the celestial ones. And in what does his uniqueness consist? In knowing good and evil, which is not so in the case of cattle and beasts (Genesis Rabbah 21:5).

AND NOW, LEST HE PUT FORTH HIS HAND. The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted His decree concerning the death of Adam to be fulfilled, and if he were to eat of the tree of life which was created to give everlasting life to those who ate of its fruit, the decree would be nullified; for either he would not die at all or his day of death would not come at the time it was decreed for him and his descendants to die.³⁹⁷See above, 2:17, where Ramban explained two theories. The teaching of the Rabbis is that man was originally designed to live forever. By having sinned, death was decreed upon him; by eating of the tree of life, he would thus restore himself to his original position of immortality. The opinion of the philosophers, however, is that man was originally destined to die; by having sinned, it was decreed that he die before the time designated at first. By eating of the tree of life he would thus live a long time and not die at the time decreed for him as punishment for his sin. This is the deeper meaning of Ramban’s words here in the text, “for either he would not die at all, etc.” And now that Adam had the power of choice, He therefore guarded this tree from him for at first Adam did only what he was commanded and he did not eat thereof as he did not need it.
Know and believe that the garden of Eden is on this earth³⁹⁸See my Kitvei Haramban, Vol. 1, p. 309, in notes, as to why this point that the Garden of Eden is on this earth is of such vital importance to Ramban that he writes: ‘Know and believe that the garden….’” as are also the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, and from there the river comes forth and is divided into four heads³⁹⁹Above, 2:10. which are visible to us. For the Euphrates⁴⁰⁰Ibid., 2:14. is in our land and within our border,⁴⁰¹Deuteronomy 1:1. and Pishon,⁴⁰²Above, 2:11. according to the words of the former scholars, is the Nile of Egypt.⁴⁰²Above, 2:11. But as these are on earth so are there also in the heavens things similarly named, and those in the heavens are the foundations of these on earth, just as the Rabbis have said:⁴⁰³Midrash Shir Hashirim Zuta, 1:4, (Buber ed., pp. 9-10). “The king hath brought me into his chambers⁴⁰⁴Song of Songs 1:4. — this teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to show Israel the treasures on high that are chambered in the heavens. Another interpretation of The king hath brought me into his chambers is that these are the chambers of the garden of Eden. It is on the basis of this that they have said: ‘The work of the garden of Eden is like the work of the firmament.’” The rivers correspond to the four camps of angels on high, and it is from there that the power of the kingdoms on earth is derived, just as it is written, The host of the high heaven on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.⁴⁰⁵Isaiah 24:21. Thus the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,⁴⁰⁶16:7. “Into four heads⁴⁰⁷Above, 2:10. — these are the four kingdoms. The name of the first is Pishon⁴⁰⁸Ibid., 2:11. — this is Babylon, etc.” And the things called the tree of life and the tree of knowledge on high — their secret is high and lofty. Adam sinned with the fruit of the tree of knowledge below and on high, in deed and thought.
Now if the fruit of the tree were good for food and he desired it to become wise, why did He withhold it from him? Indeed, G-d is kind and dealeth kindly; He will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly!⁴⁰⁹Psalms 84:12. The serpent, moreover, has today no speaking faculty, and if it did have it at first, He would surely have mentioned in His curse that its mouth become dumb, as this would have been the most grievous curse of all. But all these things are twofold in meaning, the overt and the concealed in them both being true.
In Bereshith Rabbah the Rabbis say:⁴¹⁰16:8. Mentioned also above, 2:8. “Another interpretation of Le’ovdah uleshomrah (to cultivate her and to keep her)⁴¹¹Above, 2:15. is that these words refer to the sacrifices, as it is said, ‘Ta’avdun’ (Ye shall serve) G-d upon this mountain.⁴¹²Exodus 3:12. It is this which Scripture says, ‘Tishm’ru’ (Ye shall keep) to offer unto Me in its appointed season.”⁴¹³Numbers 28:2. By this Midrash, the Rabbis hinted that the sacrifices will cause growth and expansion in the tree of life and the tree of knowledge and all other trees in the garden of Eden. It is this which constitutes their cultivation and care.
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra denies what the scholars have said, namely, that Pishon is the Nile, because they found that the Nile comes from the Mountain of Frankincense [far south of the equator], and therefore it swells during the days of summer.⁴¹⁴For when it is summer time in the northern hemisphere, it is the time of the rainy season in the southern hemisphere. Hence the Nile, the source of which is in the southern hemisphere, swells during the summer time. And “we know that the Garden of Eden is near the equator, where day and night are always equal” (Ibn Ezra), it follows that Pishon is not the Nile, since the Nile originates far south of the equator. This is the opinion of Ibn Ezra. Ramban replies: “But it is already known, etc.” But it is already known that many rivers come from their source and flow for a great distance and enter the bowels of the earth for a journey of many days, and then break forth again, and flow from under one of the mountains in a distant place. [This being the case, it is possible that Pishon is the Nile.]

כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע, he will know good and evil even while continuing to wear “our image.” This would be an intolerable situation, as in spite of his tendency to give in to his evil urge he would live on forever. [the author considers בצלמנו as a reference to the infinite life prevailing among the celestial beings. Ed.] In such circumstances, this Adam whose evil urge was active would continue to chase the material blessings of this world, something which would prevent him from reaching the spiritual aims set for him on earth when G’d made him in the divine image.