Devine Scripture

Genesis 3:5

What does Genesis 3:5 mean?

A plain-English look at Genesis 3:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Genesis 3:5 means

The serpent unveils his true accusation against God: that God is withholding divine knowledge and experience from humanity out of jealousy. He claims that eating the fruit would open their "eyes," granting them god-like wisdom – "knowing good and evil." This promise of enhanced status and understanding, coupled with the lie about death, makes the forbidden fruit highly attractive, appealing to a desire for autonomy and self-determination apart from God's rule.

Genesis 3:5 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

for 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.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

for 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.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

for God doth know that in the day of your eating of it--your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.'

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

butGod knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be asGod, knowing good and evil.

Context

Having denied the penalty of death in the previous verse, the serpent now offers a compelling, yet false, motivation for God's command. This verse explains the supposed benefit of disobedience, presenting a distorted picture of God's character. It leads directly into the woman's internal evaluation of the tree based on these new temptations, culminating in her decision to eat the forbidden fruit.

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

v.5This passage

v.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.

Cross references

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

  • Exodus 20:7

    Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

  • Acts 26:18

    to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.

  • Ezekiel 28:9

    Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou art man, and not God, in the hand of him that woundeth thee.

  • 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.

  • Jeremiah 28:2

    Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

  • Daniel 6:7

    All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Sermon ideas from Genesis 3:5

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

  • What Genesis 3:5 teaches us about temptation

  • What Genesis 3:5 teaches us about sin and shame

  • What Genesis 3:5 teaches us about the protoevangelium

  • What Genesis 3:5 teaches us about god's mercy in judgment

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