This chapter is about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Joe Kovacs points out that the word “apple” is never used to describe the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He does, however, offer some possibilities as to the origin of the idea that it was an apple that they ate.

Kovacs' suggestions:
(1) Apple was a generic term. Kovacs noted that apple was used as a generic term in many languages. He cited Latin as one example. He stated that pomum can be translated as both “fruit” and “apple.”
(2) A positive light. He then noted that apples are always cast in a positive light in the Bible. He explained that in every instance where the actual word “apple” is used in the Bible, it is never in a negative connotation. His argument is, therefore, that if apple were used in the story of Adam and Eve that it would be the only negative connotation of the word “apple” in the entire Bible. I don’t think this is the strongest argument though.

My suggestion as to the possible origin of the apple:
(3) A figure of speech. There are a lot of figures of speech that would seem to indicate that either the understanding that Adam and Eve ate an apple is the source of these figures of speech or that the figures of speech gave way to the understanding that they ate an apple. For example, take the figure of speech—the apple of my eye. Everyone understands that this does not mean that an “apple” makes up part of our eye. It is addressing that which we long for, desire, and care a great deal about. When the serpent beguiled Eve into taking the fruit and eating, the reason given for her doing so was that she “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for good and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil became the proverbial apple of Eve’s eye.

Of course, that’s just me. What do you think? Why did the apple become the known as the fruit of tree of knowledge of good and evil?