In the Bible, eating represents taking in knowledge and the desire for good. Trees represent knowledge and understanding that come from the Lord. So this verse says the people of the Most Ancient Church – "man" or "Adam" – were free to gather the knowledge that flowed to them from the Lord.

This happened in a way that we cannot truly understand now. Because the people of the Most Ancient Church were in a state of love to the Lord, they know instantly, from their affections, what was true. They didn't have to ponder logic and ask questions; they simply knew from their emotional response whether an idea was in accord with love to the Lord.

(Препратки: Arcana Coelestia 0125)

To “generate” something is to create it, and that idea underpins the meaning of a “generation” of people -- it is a group that was created together, at roughly the same time, from the same parents or group of parents. On a spiritual level, we can be “generators” by using what we know from the Lord to create ideas of how to be good, and also to create good actions based on those ideas -- what the Writings call things of faith and things of charity. In general, then, a “generation” in the Bible represents the spiritual ideas and activities created by a church -- with a “church” being anything from an individual believer to a group lasting thousands of years. “Generation” can also pick up specific meanings from context. For instance, when the Bible says the people of Israel were captive in Egypt for four generations, it means a state of temptation based on the meaning of “four.” When paired with “eternity,” meanwhile, “generations” represents ideas and actions surrounding love of serving others, with “eternity” representing things springing from love of the Lord. Finally, “generations and generations” is used in the Bible to represent forever.