“When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.”

- Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat"

"Put in Almas own words, typology is a question of allowing a new thought to rework memory, so that it becomes possible to advance in the knowledge of God."

-Joseph M. Spencer, "An Other Testament" pg. xii

Although most likely influenced by the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, adopting such themes as the presence of a snake, a plant that grants a type of immortality, a focus upon human death and morality, and ht use of sexuality to siginify a type of rite of passage that transforms people from being animal-like into human beings, J has its own unique story to tell. Like the author of the Epic of Gilgamesh, J observed that human sexual behavior is different than the types of activities in which animals engage.  For J, humans possessed an advanced knowledge of sex unlike the animals, but very much like the gods.

-David Bokovoy, Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis - Deutoronomy, pg. 107

When reading the Garden story contextually, the "knowledge" that the fruit imparted in J's story, making the primordial couple "like gods," appears specifically linked with sexual awareness.  As the myth opens up, the man already possesses the basic attributes of knowledge and discernment.  Prior to eating the fruit, the man holds enough knowledge to recognize and name the animals Yahweh creates, and the man shows enough discernment to recognize that the woman proves fit for the role of a "helper."  Therefore, the knowledge that the primordial couple obtains in J's myth is not simply intelligence, for the man already possesses this attribute prior to  consuming the forbidden fruit.  The knowledge the couple gains is sexual awareness.

-David Bokovoy, Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis - Deutoronomy, pg. 105