Kitten — I like your analysis. Especially the last paragraph — good thoughts!

If I may, I’d like to offer another perspective. I believe that the serpent did in fact deceive Eve. Like many of Satan’s interactions with man, they contain only half-truths, or in this case, one truth (ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil) and one lie (ye shall not surely die). However I have a sense that Eve was much more thoughtful as she partook of the fruit. She knew that God had commanded her and Adam to take care of the garden. And as first parents, it was up to them to fill the earth with offspring. Yet, they lacked the knowledge necessary to do so.

Eve knew very well of these responsibilities / commandments and desperately needed the knowledge the forbidden tree would give them. I believe she did understand (as much as possible) the consequences. While it would introduce death (physical and spiritual) to the world, it would also create an opportunity for all of us to inhabit these earthly bodies. There was likely an element of being “beguiled” by the serpent, but I think it is critical to see Eve for who she really was — a determined, contemplative, visionary who understood God’s great plan for all of us. It took courage, spirituality, and foresight to be a remarkable first mother!