Bereshit 2:9 (Bereshit) – Two special trees in the Garden of Eden

Bereshit 2:9 records that G-d planted in the Garden of Eden, all types of trees, including the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. Later, 2:16,17 records that Adam could eat the fruit of all of the trees except for the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Did this permission include the fruit of the tree of life? Afterwards, 3:22 records that Adam and Havva had to leave the Garden of Eden lest they eat the fruit of the tree of life, but it was never mentioned that it was forbidden for them to eat the fruit of this tree.

The two special trees would have given Adam the two elements needed to become like G-d, knowledge to be a type of creator from the tree of knowledge (3:22) and eternity. Adam was never able to eat the fruit from both trees since he could never have become like G-d. In theory, he could have eaten from either of the two trees meaning he could have had either eternal life or knowledge to be a type of creator but not both. Thus, once he ate from the tree of knowledge, he could no longer live forever (see end of 3:19), and he had to be banished from the Garden of Eden (3:22,23).

I doubt that Adam really could have chosen eternal life and not the increase in knowledge. My guess is that initially he was not physically able to eat from the tree of life since it was inaccessible to him, as maybe it was too high. Thus, he did not have to be told not to eat from the tree. However, once he and Havva’s intelligence increased from eating from the tree of knowledge, then they could have figured out how to get to the fruit from the tree of life, but since this could not be allowed, they were banished from the garden.

Yet, if Adam could never have eaten from the tree of life, why was it in the Garden of Eden? One possibility is that it served as a punishment for Adam and Havva for eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Even though their mental abilities increased from the fruit and they were supposed to eat the fruit, still there had to be a penalty for not listening to G-d. Thus, the tree of life was placed in the Garden of Eden and they were stopped from eating its fruits. 

A second possibility is that the tree's existence was to teach the lesson that eternal life is not to be desired. Many people dream to live forever, but there is a danger from eternal life. If people could live forever, then everything could be put off for the next day and nothing would ever get done. The eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge gave mankind the ability to act in a constructive manner, but this ability would have been lost if there was eternal life. Thus, the tree of life was removed from Adam and Havva when they ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge to teach them that eternal life would have nullified their newfound ability to be creative. Accordingly, the temporary existence of the tree of life was to teach mankind the lesson that infinite life is not desirable since it would make life meaningless.