The phrase in Hebrew, () literally translates as "good and evil". This may be an example of the type of figure of speech known as merism, a literary device that pairs opposite terms together in order to create a general meaning, so that the phrase "good and evil" would simply imply "everything". This is seen in the Egyptian expression "evil-good", which is normally employed to mean "everything". In Greek literature, Homer also uses the device when Telemachus states that "I to know everything, the good and the evil"; although the words used – for "good" and for "evil" – are better termed "superior" and "inferior". However, if "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is to be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, this phrase does not necessarily denote a moral concept. This view is held by several scholars.