Adam's punishment for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, along with Eve, was banishment from the Garden of Eden. This expulsion marked the end of their blissful existence and the beginning of a life of hardship.
Specifically, the consequences included:
- Expulsion from Eden: God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden, removing them from the perfect environment He had created for them. This meant losing access to the Tree of Life and the ease and comfort they had previously enjoyed.
- Toil and Hardship: Adam was condemned to work the land, now cursed, to produce food, experiencing thorns and thistles. This introduced physical labor and struggle into his life.
- Mortality: While not explicitly stated as immediate death, the eating of the fruit led to the introduction of mortality into the human experience. Their lives would now be finite.
Therefore, the punishment was a multifaceted one involving not only physical displacement but also the introduction of suffering, labor, and the awareness of their nakedness and separation from God.
