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Genesis 3

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1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

2And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:

3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.

9And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.

22And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—

23therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

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Parallel translations · Genesis 3:1

WEB · World English Bible (2000)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

KJV · King James Version (1611)

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

ASV · American Standard Version (1901)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

BBE · Bible in Basic English (1949)

Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?

YLT · Young's Literal Translation (1862)

And the serpent hath been subtile above every beast of the field which Jehovah God hath made, and he saith unto the woman, `Is it true that God hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree of the garden?'

DRA · Douay-Rheims (Challoner) (1752)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

DBY · Darby Bible (1890)

And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, Is it even so, thatGod has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

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Commentary · Genesis 3

The Fall of Man

Into the garden of the previous chapter comes the serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field. He casts doubt on God's word, then on God's goodness, and at last persuades the woman that the way to be like God is to disobey him. Adam, present and silent, eats with her. Innocence collapses into shame; communion with God gives way to hiding; the man blames the woman, the woman blames the serpent, and creation itself is cursed. Yet at the very moment of judgment a promise is given: the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head (3:15). It is the gospel in seed form.

Themes

  • Temptation
  • Sin and shame
  • The protoevangelium
  • God's mercy in judgment

Application

Sin still begins where it began in Eden — with a whispered doubt about what God has said. And grace still answers it where it answered Eden — with the promised Seed who comes to undo the serpent's work.

Key cross-references

From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — verses that illuminate Genesis 3:1.

  • Isaiah 27:1

    In that day Jehovah with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will slay the monster that is in the sea.

  • 2 Corinthians 11:3

    But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.

  • Revelation 12:9

    And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

  • Revelation 20:2

    And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

  • Matthew 4:9

    and he said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

  • Matthew 10:16

    Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

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Genesis 4

"And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man with the help of Jehovah."