Maimonides on the Knowledge of Good and Bad

Some dates:

1138 — Moshe ben Maimon / רמב׳׳ם / Maimonides born in Cordoba, Spain on 14 Nisan (!)

1148 — Family flees Cordoba, eventually for Morocco

1160s — Composes Mishneh Torah, relocates to Egypt

1170s — Court physician to Saladin

1190 — Writes Guide for the Perplexed (in Judeo-Arabic)

1204 — Dies in Egypt, eventually buried in Tiberias

Guide for the Perplexed, Part 1 2

[Translation available on Sefaria slightly modified on basis of Shlomo Pines translation.]

(a) Some years ago a learned man asked me a question of great importance; the problem and the solution which we gave in our reply deserve the closest attention. Before, however, entering upon this problem and its solution I must premise that every Hebrew knows that the term elohim is a homonym, and denotes God, angels, and judges managing states, and that Onkelos the Proselyte explained it in the true and correct manner by taking elohim in the sentence, "and ye shall be like elohim" (Gen. 3:5) in the last-mentioned meaning, and rendering the sentence "and ye shall be like princes." Having pointed out the homonymity of the term elohim we return to the question under consideration.

(b) This is what the objector said. It is manifest from the clear sense of the biblical text that man was originally intended to be perfectly equal to the rest of the animal creation, which is not endowed with intellect, reason, or power of distinguishing between good and evil: but that Adam's disobedience to the command of God procured him that great perfection which is the peculiarity of man, namely, the power of distinguishing between good and evil—the noblest of all the faculties of our nature, the essential characteristic of the human race. It thus appears strange that the punishment for rebelliousness should be the means of elevating man to a pinnacle of perfection to which he had not attained previously. This is like the story told by somebody that a certain man was rebellious and extremely wicked, wherefore his nature was changed for the better, and he was made to shine as a star in the heavens. Such was the purport and subject of the question, though not in the exact words of the inquirer.

(c) Now mark our reply, which was as follows:—You appear to have studied the matter superficially, and nevertheless you imagine that you can understand a book which has been the guide of past and present generations, when you for a moment withdraw from your lusts and appetites, and glance over its contents as if you were reading a historical work or some poetical composition. Collect your thoughts and examine the matter carefully, for it is not to be understood as you at first sight think, but as you will find after due deliberation; namely, the intellect which was granted to man as the highest endowment, was bestowed on him before his disobedience. With reference to this gift the Bible states that "man was created in the form and likeness of God." On account of this gift of intellect man was addressed by God, and received His commandments, as it is said: "And the Lord God commanded Adam" (Gen. 2:16)—for no commandments are given to the brute creation or to those who are devoid of understanding.

(d) Through the intellect man distinguishes between the true and the false. This faculty Adam possessed perfectly and completely. Fine and bad, on the other hand, belong to the things generally accepted as known, not to those cognized by the intellect. It is not correct to say that it is fine that the heavens are spherical, or bad that the earth is flat: but we say of the one it is true, of the other it is false. Similarly our language expresses the idea of true and false by the terms emet and sheker, of the fine and the bad by tob and ra’. Thus it is the function of the intellect to discriminate between the true and the false—a distinction which is applicable to all objects of intellectual perception. When Adam was yet in a state of innocence, and was guided solely by reflection and reason—on account of which it is said: "Thou hast made him little lower than elohim" (Ps. 8:6)—he was not at all able to follow or to understand the generally accepted things. The most manifest impropriety, to appear in a state of nudity, was nothing unbecoming according to his idea: he could not comprehend why it should be so.

(e) After man's disobedience, however, when he began to give way to desires which had their source in his imagination and to the gratification of his bodily appetites, as it is said, "And the wife saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to the eyes" (Gen. 3:6), he was punished by the loss of part of that intellectual faculty which he had previously possessed. He therefore transgressed a command with which he had been charged on the score of his intellect; and having obtained a faculty of apprehending generally accepted things, he was wholly absorbed in judging things to be fine and bad. Then he fully understood the magnitude of the loss he had sustained, what he had forfeited, and in what situation he was thereby placed. Hence we read, "And ye shall be like elohim, knowing good and evil," and not "knowing" or "discerning the true and the false." For in necessary truths we can only apply the words "true and false," not "good and evil."

(f) Further observe the passage, "And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked" (Gen. 3:7): it is not said, "And the eyes of both were opened, and they saw"; for what the man had seen previously and what he saw after this circumstance was precisely the same: there had been no blindness which was now removed, but he received a new faculty whereby he found things wrong which previously he had not regarded as wrong. Besides, you must know that the Hebrew word paqaḥ used in this passage is exclusively employed in the figurative sense of receiving new sources of knowledge, not in that of regaining the sense of sight. Compare, "God opened her eyes" (Gen. 21:19). "Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened" (Isaiah 38:8). "Open ears, he heareth not" (ibid. 42:20), similar in sense to the verse, "Which have eyes to see, and see not" (Ezek. 12:2).

(g) When, however, Scripture says of Adam, "He changed his face and thou sendest him forth" (Job 14:20), it must be understood in the following way: On account of the change of his original aim he was sent away. For panim, the Hebrew equivalent of face, is derived from the verb panah, "he turned," and signifies also "aim," because man generally turns his face towards the thing he desires. In accordance with this interpretation, our text suggests that Adam, as he altered his intention and directed his thoughts to the acquisition of what he was forbidden, he was banished from Paradise: this was his punishment; it was measure for measure.