In the Beginning...

(mu / tree)
(tian / field, farmland)

Genesis 2:8-9
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground -- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. NIV
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. TEV

U
T

(ming / command, life, fate, destiny)
The oracle bone character for the first mouth is inverted, symbolizing speaking from above. The second mouth indicates a person. The "kneeling man" is not a meaningful character by itself anymore, but here it has been modified to a standing character, modified further into the lower right corner of the modern character for command. God is speaking a command to the man. The character has additional meanings of involving life, fate, and destiny because it was a very important command:

Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." NIV
Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. He told him, "You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day." TEV

U
T

(tian /field) + (mu / tree) = (guo / fruit, consequence, result)
Though there was an abundance of types of fruit, there was a consequence for one of them.

(jin / forbid)
God gave just one command to the first people and it involved trees and obedience. The "knowledge" obtained from the bad tree would not be simply intellectual, but experientially knowing bad and evil. The perfection and goodness that God created would be lost.

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Beginning, Oracle Bones, God, Water, Earth, Mankind, Adam, Eve, Good Tree, Bad Tree, Penalty, Clothes, Lamb, Gate, Murder, Flood, Lifespans, Scattering, Border Sacrifice, Genesis 1 to 11