Devine Scripture

Genesis 3:23

What does Genesis 3:23 mean?

A plain-English look at Genesis 3:23 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Genesis 3:23 means

Because of humanity's sin and the divine decree to prevent access to the tree of life, Jehovah God sends Adam forth from the Garden of Eden. He is sent "to till the ground from whence he was taken," a clear echo of the curse on the ground and the toil pronounced earlier. This expulsion is a direct consequence of disobedience, removing humanity from paradise and placing them into a world now marked by struggle and mortality.

Genesis 3:23 in context

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.

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

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

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

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

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

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

Jehovah God sendeth him forth from the garden of Eden to serve the ground from which he hath been taken;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Therefore Jehovah Elohim sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

Context

This verse describes the direct action of God expelling humanity from the garden, following the divine deliberation about the tree of life. It details the immediate consequence of their sin – removal from paradise and a return to the cursed ground they were destined to work. This act of expulsion sets up the final defensive measure taken by God in the next verse to prevent their return.

v.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—

v.23This passage

v.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.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Genesis 4:12

    when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

  • Genesis 2:5

    And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;

  • Genesis 3:19

    in 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.

  • Genesis 9:20

    And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard:

  • Genesis 4:2

    And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

  • Ecclesiastes 5:9

    Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

Sermon ideas from Genesis 3:23

Angles a pastor or small-group leader might preach or teach from this passage, drawn from the chapter's main themes.

  • What Genesis 3:23 teaches us about temptation

  • What Genesis 3:23 teaches us about sin and shame

  • What Genesis 3:23 teaches us about the protoevangelium

  • What Genesis 3:23 teaches us about god's mercy in judgment

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