Midrash sa Genesis 3:2: Midrash Tanchuma & Bereshit Rabbah

Three men toiled upon the earth and degraded themselves thereby. They were: Cain, Noah, and Uzziah.¹⁹Cain became a murderer, Noah a drunkard, and Uzziah a leper. It is written of Cain: He was a tiller of the ground (ibid. 4:2), and that is followed by the verse: You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth (ibid., v. 12). Noah, as it is written: And Noah, the husbandman, began, and planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). And soon thereafter he disgraced himself: He drank of the wine (ibid., v. 21). Our sages held that on the very day he planted the vineyard, it bore its fruit, he harvested it, pressed it, drank the wine, became intoxicated, and exposed his private parts.

“The woman said to the serpent: From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat” (Genesis 3:2).
“The woman said to the serpent” – where was Adam at that time?¹⁰Why was it not speaking with Adam? Abba bar Korya said: He had engaged in the way of nature¹¹He had had relations with Eve. and he was sleeping. The Rabbis say: The Holy One blessed be He was taking him and circulating throughout the entire world [telling him]: ‘This is a good place to plant, this is a good place to sow.’ That is what is written: “In a land that no man has ever crossed, and where no person [adam] has ever dwelled” (Jeremiah 2:6) – Adam the first man did not dwell there.¹²This was a land that Adam had been told was not fit for settlement.
“But from the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said: You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:3).
“But from the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden…nor shall you touch it” – that is what is written: “Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you will be found to be false” (Proverbs 30:6). Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: [This teaches] that you should not make the fence [around an orchard] taller than the main object [being protected], so it should not fall and sever the saplings.¹³A fence is needed, but it should not be made in a way that it might harm what it is protecting. So, the Holy One blessed be He said [merely]: “As on the day that you eat of it [you shall die]” (Genesis 2:17). But she did not say that, rather [she added on to it¹⁴Constructing a fence, as it were, to guard against the actual prohibition. and said:] “God said: You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it.” When it saw her passing before the tree, it took hold of her and pushed her onto it. It said to her: ‘See, you did not die. Just as you did not die from touching it, so you will not die from eating of it. Rather [the real reason God forbade you to eat of it is:] “for God knows that on the day [you eat from it…you will be as God, knowing good from evil]”’ (Genesis 3:5).

“For God knows that, on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as God, knowing good from evil (Genesis 3:5).
Rabbi Tanḥuma said: They asked me this question¹⁵The difficulty is that the latter part of the verse could be translated, “you will be as gods, who know good from evil,” which implies that there are multiple deities. in Antioch. I said to them: “For God knows [yodim]”¹⁶Plural. is not written, but rather, “for God knows [yode’a]¹⁷Singular. that, on the day you eat from it.”¹⁸The very same verse speaks of God in the singular. Therefore, the correct translation of the end of the verse must be: “You will be as God, [becoming people] who know good from evil.”
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: It began to slander its Creator. It said: ‘He ate from this tree and then created the world, so He says to you: Do not eat from it so you will not create other worlds. For every person hates the craftsman that competes with him.’
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: [The serpent said:] ‘Everything that was created after its counterpart dominates that counterpart.¹⁹The creations of each day are subservient to the creations created on the following day. The heavens were created on the first day and the firmament on the second. Does it [the firmament] not hold them up? That is a rhetorical question. The firmament was created on the second day and the vegetation on the third – does it [the firmament] not supply water for it? Vegetation was created on the third day and the luminaries on the fourth – do they [the luminaries] not cause its [the earth’s] produce to grow? The luminaries were created on the fourth day and the birds on the fifth – the ziz is a very large bird and when it flies it obscures the orb of the sun.²⁰So there is a bird that overpowers the sun, by blocking it out. Man was created after everything in order to dominate everything. Hurry and eat [the fruit] now, before He creates additional worlds and they will dominate you.’ That is what is written: “The woman saw that the tree was good…” (Genesis 3:6) – she saw²¹That is, she understood and accepted. the arguments of the serpent.