The Choice

The Choice

By: Vashti Graham

Artist Description:

This painting captures the moment humanity stood at the crossroads of obedience and desire. Adam and Eve’s eyes meet not with malice, but with the weight of a decision that would change everything. The serpent coils above them, whispering temptation, while the forbidden fruit glows like a promise and a warning all at once. It’s not just a story about sin; it’s a reflection of how every person faces their own “apple,” the moment when they must choose between what feels good and what is right.

Scripture reference:

Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Additional Study Notes from This Painting You may find interesting:

The Bible does not identify the forbidden fruit. The “apple” idea came from later tradition, not from Genesis. The popular idea that the fruit was an apple most likely comes from Latin, where the word for “apple” (mālum) and the word for “evil” (malum) look nearly identical (only the vowel length and pronunciation differ). This wordplay contributed to the apple imagery in later Western art and tradition, but it is not stated anywhere in Scripture.

The Hebrew word for “man” is adam, which is also the name given to the first man (Genesis 2:7). This is why, throughout the Garden narrative, the story reflects not just the actions of an individual but the testing of all humanity.