I feel rude interrupting you at this point BUT ... not until each had eaten the fruit is it said "then
the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked" (
Genesis 3:7).
It's not asserted they were perfect in my edition. It
is asserted that eating the fruit brought them out of a state of naivety, which as the name of the tree tells us was the lack of 'the knowledge of good and evil'. And thus this was the knowledge they expressly did
not have
until they'd eaten the fruit.
They knew they were naked before they ate...it’s just that they were innocent.
(Really, the human body is divine, i.e., from God; they felt there was nothing wrong with their nakedness.)
After they rebelled however, they lost that innocence & developed a sense that there were some things that might be inappropriate....a sense of shame.
But the snake didn't mislead them about anything. Everything the snake said was true.
No. The very first thing he said, was misleading: “Did God really say that
you can’t eat from any tree of the garden?”
Wrong...But Eve corrected him.
Then he told her, “You certainly
will not die.”
They died.
After they ate & Jehovah God confronted them, Eve herself plainly said, “
the serpent deceived me.”
But they ate the fruit back in
Genesis 3:7, so this is afterwards, when they've gained knowledge of good and evil.
Incidentally, doesn't it seem an
excellent thing to you that humans can tell the difference between good and evil? Shouldn't we have statues of Eve everywhere symbolizing her contribution to humanity, even if only in story? (I ran a thread on that question not too long ago.)
How does ‘after gaining knowledge of right and wrong’ have any bearing on their disobedience? Even the youngest of children, as soon as they learn what “do not ...” means, know they’re going against their parents’ decrees / commands when they disobey them.
And yes, I showed you (earlier) from the context, in fact just a few verses later, that it
was a command.
RE: A & E being perfect at the start, but then losing that perfection through their disobedience..... I think from what the account states about the longevity of their immediate generations of offspring, living for centuries, testifies to that.
Plus, the fact that Adam & Eve were only given
one law that was prohibitive....the others, to ‘name the animals,’ ‘procreate and fill the Earth,’ & to ‘cultivate the Garden,’ were pleasurable and satisfying. This indicates that they didn’t need much guidance. There were no directives on “don’t be mean to the animals.” Or “Adam, don’t hit your wife.” There was simply no need —- they were perfect, and knew how to act, i.e., knew what was appropriate.
Deuteronomy 32:4
It’s up to you to accept it or not. As for me, I doubt I’ll go by ‘your edition’ too much, my friend.
Take care.