Apple? What Apple?
By JK Woodall
For generations, the image of Eve holding a bright red apple has been etched into Christian consciousness—painted into stained glass, children’s Bibles, and Western imagination. But when we return to the source—the Word of God—we’re left with a striking realization: no apple was ever mentioned.
Genesis 3:6 states:
> “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…”
No name. No apple. Just “fruit.”
So, where did this idea of the apple come from?
It likely stems from a Latin translation pun. The word for “evil” in Latin is malum, and the word for “apple” is also malum. Somewhere between medieval art and poetic license, the forbidden “fruit” was rendered as an apple—a mistranslation that eventually became tradition.
But Genesis does name one tree's leaves—the fig tree. When Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, they didn’t run to grab apple leaves or citrus branches:
> “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:7)
This small detail carries huge theological weight.
If they used fig leaves for covering, it means fig trees were nearby. And if fig leaves were available immediately, could it be the fig tree was the very tree from which they ate? There is no verse that says they moved to another tree to find these leaves.
Apple? What apple?
In fact, the fig tree carries heavy symbolism throughout Scripture. Jesus later curses a barren fig tree—not because He despised it, but because it represented the appearance of fruitfulness with no substance (Mark 11:12–14). Just like the appearance of righteousness Adam and Eve tried to sew together in Eden.
God wasn’t fooled by their fig-leaf solution then. And He’s not fooled now.
This commentary challenges us to go back to Scripture and leave behind tradition for truth. The fall of man wasn’t about fruit identification—it was about disobedience, independence, and the false covering of guilt. But even in that moment, God already had a plan for redemption.
So next time someone asks about the apple in Eden, remind them:
“Apple? What apple?”