Speaking of the biblical paradise, we first of all, of course, have in mind the second chapter of the Book of Genesis with the description of the "garden of Eden in the east" between the Tigris and the Euphrates. In the Russian Synodal translation, the Tigris River is mentioned under the ancient name of Hiddekel. The further words, "it flows before Assyria," have led many Bible interpreters to believe that Eden was in Mesopotamia. But this peculiar interpretive geography does not stand up to criticism, since we are faced with the mention not only of the Tigris and Euphrates and Assyria, but also of one nameless common river flowing out of Paradise and dividing into four rivers, two of which are the Tigris and the Euphrates. There are no such four rivers and never have been. It is quite obvious that earthly geography has nothing to do with the Biblical Paradise. All attempts by scientists to find a geographical correspondence for "Eden", a place on earth, have failed. A commentator on the English text of the Jerusalem Bible, Bible Today, observes: "A number of places have been suggested by scholars, including a place at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates, but the same Sumerian myth speaks of the land of Dilmun, where everything was 'clear and bright', as it was of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. The Mexicans also have the Tialocac Garden, and the Greeks have the Hesperides Garden – both obviously very far from the Middle East. In the book "Mysteries of the Bible" published in America in 1988, compiled by a group of scientists, the question is posed in the title: "Has the Garden Been Found in Eden?" and the answer is given: "It is not difficult to find the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, since they still exist. The other two rivers, the Pichon and the Gichon could not be found, as there is no evidence, and therefore the attempt to locate the garden in Eden was unsuccessful." Nevertheless, the book cites, perhaps in the form of a curiosity, the scientific hypothesis of the cheerful professor of the University of Missouri, Dr. Tsarins, who claims that he "found the Garden of Eden" under the waters of the Persian Gulf, where allegedly "the beds of the mysterious Python and Gichon were found", and most importantly - the abundance of the remains of edible animals - evidence of the abundant "paradise life" of the first people; but the Bible clearly says that the first people did not eat animals, but exclusively plants, and there was no death at all in the Garden of Eden... The well-known German journalist Werner Keller, who became a prominent biblical archaeologist (he discovered the names of the biblical forefathers during excavations, who thus became historical figures), published from his work "The Bible as History - Archaeology Confirms the Book of Books" the entire story about the Garden of Eden in Eden: Eden does not belong to the competence of earthly - this earth - archaeology. And yet the belief that the Biblical Paradise existed on earth has become so ingrained, especially in the West, that it is now and then the cause of disputes between "scientists" and "theologians." The sad consequence of such ridiculous disputes is the misunderstanding (even by serious theologians) of the basic intention of the Bible: to let man know that he is an exile to this world from the other world. The Orthodox Church has preserved this message in the patristic tradition and in liturgical life, which will be discussed in more detail later. From the text of the Bible, the message is not read literally, but, like many things in it, is presented in pictures, images and symbols. The language of the Bible is to a large extent symbolic precisely because it is difficult to convey in ordinary language the unusual and otherworldly, that which even in "this world" refers to the mysterious and spiritual being. In the Old Testament Bible, in the description of Creation and Paradise, there is little sense in literally taking the fact that Eve in Paradise was tempted by a snake that spoke in human language. It is understood as the devil, but for some reason everything further in the story continues to be understood in a straightforward way! However, "to the free is the will, and to the saved is paradise!"

Let us turn to the text of the Bible. Its first five books, the so-called "Torah", which means "Law", according to tradition, were created by Moses and are called the "Five Books of Moses". But the original source is one thing, and the editors are another, and in this case the text shows that there were at least two editors. Since history has not preserved their names, scholars have nicknamed them conventionally - "Yahvist" and "Elohist", after the variants of the names of God used in these texts. Yahweh is the main name of God, never pronounced except once a year by the high priest, when he could enter the Holy of Holies. The name Yahweh comes from the word haya, which is pronounced as kheva, cf. Eve, which means "life", "being", "existence", - "syi", "being" in Old Church Slavonic. Where the connection with the name of Eve comes from, we will find out later, but for now we will consider the origin of another name of God - Elohim. It goes back to El - "God", in the Greek pronunciation Il (for example, Michael - "one who is like God"). Elohim - plural, Gods. Some historians see here the influence of paganism or a trace of the origin of Judaism, through evolution, from pagan cults. In science, no confirmation of this view has been found - so far this assumption is at best a theory, and not a proven fact. We believe that the Old Testament religion of the Bible is from God Himself, a Divine Revelation, but we can admit that in this case the understanding of the very human language used by the followers of polytheism could be used as a form in which His Revelation puts a tremendous content: "bereshit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim veet ha-aretz".

This is the Hebrew text of the first line of the Bible. The text is remarkable, it combines the plural with the singular: "In the beginning the Gods created the heavens and the earth." Elohim (Deities), like Hashamaim (heaven), is the Hebrew plural like our sleigh, the scissors: the object is one, but the inner content is many. In the name Elohim we see an amazing Divine Revelation about Himself: One in multiplicity, the first Revelation of the Divine Trinity. It is not surprising that this name of God is used wherever unity in multitude is revealed in creation, in this case, in the account of the seven days of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. And the name of God, which speaks of life, being - Yahweh - is where it is narrated about the origin of the living, in the description of Paradise, the creation of "life from life" of Eve - the Mother of all living, as the Bible calls her (Gen. 3:20).

And in order to correctly comprehend the paradisiacal narrative, it is impossible to take one story out of context, to tear one story from another, so as not to violate the integrity. The two stories complement each other and set the relief and perspective from different angles: different images of the same thing.

The sixth and seventh days: "And God (Elohim) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the beasts, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God (Elohim) created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; "man" and "woman" created them. And God (Elohim) blessed them, and God (Elohim) said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the (paradise) earth, and subdue it, and rule... (here is a list of all living beings). And God (Elohim) said, Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb that is on all the earth, and every tree that has fruit of the tree that bears seed. - these things shall be for your food; but to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, in which there is a living life, I have given all the herbs for food. And it came to pass, and God (Elohim) saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (see Genesis 1:26-31). "Thus are the heavens and the earth perfect, and all their host. And God (Elohim) finished his works on the seventh day that he had done, and rested on the seventh day from all his works that he had done. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, for in it he rested from all his works which God (Elohim) had done and made" (Gen. 2:1-3).

Thus ends the redaction of the Elohist and begins the second story - the redaction of the Yahvist. The story of "Yahvist" begins as follows: "This is the origin of heaven and earth, at their creation, at the time when the Lord God (Yahweh Elohim, literally: "Being-Godhead") created the earth and the heavens"... "And the Lord God (Yahweh-Elohim) formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And the Lord God (Yahweh-Elohim) planted Paradise in Eden in the east, and placed there the man whom he had created. And the Lord God (Yahweh-Elohim) brought forth from the earth every tree that was pleasant to look at, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden..." (Gen. 2:4,7-9).

There is a deep meaning in the combination of singular and plural grammatical numbers. "Created man"; man in Hebrew Adam from Adam "earth", but this word can mean all "earth-born", and all mankind, and in ancient Hebrew interpretations it is designated as Kol-Adam - "Bee-Man"; "in the image of God He created him male and female, created them", thus the Hebrew original conveys the multi-unity image of God. The many-one Humanity is "illumined by the Trinitarian unity of the sacred mystery," according to the hymn of the Orthodox Church. And that this is so is confirmed by the words of the Bible: "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the (paradise) earth"... "And it was so" (Gen. 1:27-28, 30). All this is "paradise in Eden in the east," beyond the sunrise; in the sky, but not in the starry sky, which is studied by science, but beyond, on the other side of the "big bang", in the "otherworldly" world, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in that heaven of which we speak in the prayer: "Our Father, Who art in heaven..." And to the All-Man-Adam, to all of us in him, was given eternal life undying - in the tree of life.

The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life" is not only a symbol, but also an image, an icon. The "tree of life" cannot be understood literally, as just a tree growing in the middle of the garden, although this is part of the image, but only a part of it. The "Tree of Life" was first mentioned in the Holy Scriptures at the very beginning of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 2:9). It appears again at the very end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation of St. John the Theologian - the Apocalypse (Revelation 22:1-2). "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of its street (the heavenly "New Jerusalem", the symbol of Paradise), and on both sides of the river, the tree of life, bearing fruit twelve times, yielding its fruit for each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." After the fall, the rupture, the flight into the abyss, the salvific reverse process - to the lost perfection, and, finally, the victory, the "new creation": "Behold, I make all things new" - "New Jerusalem". But this is still the same Paradise: the same pure river with the holy water of life, bright, flowing in all four directions, turning into four rivers, and on both sides, among the four streams, is the victorious Tree of Life, absorbing the holy water of life - grace-filled, emanating from the "throne" of God and the Lamb - the Holy Spirit.

In connection with the story of the already notorious "archaeological search" for the Four Rivers, let us recall the conversation between Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob near the city of Sychar in Samaria: "Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' [...] The Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, to drink? [...] Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and Who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' then you yourself would ask Him, and He would give you living water.' The woman said to him, "Sir! you have nothing to draw with, but the well is deep; Where did you get living water? Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst. but the water that I give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. The woman said to Him, "Lord! Give me this water, that I may not be thirsty, and come hither to draw" (John 4:7,9-15). In the whole conversation there is not a single point of contact: the words do not meet, the words diverge from one another, for the woman speaks of the water of this world, and Christ speaks of the living water of the Kingdom of Heaven - the image of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

The tree of life is also mentioned in the following scriptures. In the parables of Solomon: "[...] (Wisdom) is the tree of life for those who acquire it, and blessed are those who keep it..." (Proverbs 3:18). "The fruit of the righteous is the tree of life, and the wise one wins souls..." (Proverbs 11:30). "A fulfilled wish is the tree of life..." (Proverbs 13:12). "A gentle tongue is the tree of life..." (Proverbs 15:4). For the all-wise King Solomon, the "Tree of Life" is also an image, an image of the Wisdom of God and the wisdom of man, its fruit and its good deeds. The Apostle Paul says that the Wisdom of God is Christ, the Son of God, His Divine Word, the "Logos," of which St. John the Theologian writes with inspiration in the Prologue to his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). In the patristic tradition of the Orthodox Church, Christ is the Tree of Life; The Tree of Life is Christ. In the canon of the Akathist to the Mother of God, St. Joseph the Hymn-Writer addressed the following inspired poetic words to the Most Holy Virgin: "O fiery chariot of the Word, rejoice, O Lady, animated by Paradise, the Tree in the midst of the possessors of Life - the Lord, His sweetness quickens by faith those who partake of Communion and those who bow down to corruption..." In a poetically inspired brief flash of the verse, the hymn-writer compares the Mother of God with a fiery chariot carrying the Word of God, which, having been conceived in Her, turns Her not only into a chariot, but also into an "animated Paradise" that has in Him the Tree of Life – the Lord, Who by His sweetness gives life to the faithful who have fallen into corruption, but now partake of the fruits of the Holy Tree of Life, that is, the Body and Blood of Christ. Such are the images - Biblical, patristic and liturgical. This is not just beautiful poetry, it is the deepest mysterious meaning revealed by Christ Himself to His disciples in these words: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch of Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off; and every one that beareth fruit, He cleanses, that it may bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed through the word I have preached to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. [...] I am the vine, and you are the branches; [...] for without Me you can do nothing..." (John 15:1-5).

This is the essence and meaning of the Tree of Life in the Biblical Paradise.

Christ's word about the vine on the night before His sufferings should be read in the context of the entire night of Gethsemane and all His words said there, and before that at the Last Supper, which were briefly expressed in a prayer to the Heavenly Father: "Holy Father! keep them in Thy Name, those whom Thou hast given Me [...] I have delivered to them Thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world [...] Sanctify them with Thy truth; Thy word is truth [...] Not only for them I pray, but also for those who believe in Me according to their word, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us..." (John 17:11-26).

This is the Tree of Life: the image and symbol and essence of the Trinitarian Unity in God and in creation, in the Holy Trinity and in the children of God – the image of the entire One Humanity, the all-begotten Adam, the Church of Christ, created in Paradise, illumined by the "Trinitarian unity of the sacred mystery." In the Tree of Life, in the primordial Church of Heavenly Paradise, there was no evil, no knowledge of evil, no fruit of evil, no sickness, no death, no enmity, because Love reigned in everything. Nor was there any eating of another life for the sake of one's own survival, the struggle for existence. Because the inexhaustible food is Christ, "the Bread of Heaven, the food of the whole world," as it is said in the main prayer of the proskomedia before the Liturgy in the Orthodox Church.