Genesis Chapter 3

Pastor Matt Davis, Commentary Genesis 3

Verses 1-7 The Serpent Temps Eve

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? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But 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. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 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. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it waspleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.[1]

Verse 1

Serpent – The original tempter was the serpent (Technically, Satan in the form of the serpent.) Of the things this suggests, is that temptation comes in the form of disguise, although, in many cases, temptations outright express themselves.

More subtil – The snake was more clever and calculating than any of the other beasts of the field.

And he said to the women – Notice first that the beginning of the Bible begins with what God said. Truth is older than lies – God’s word came first.

Hath God said – The beginning of temptation began, not with the suggesting of evil, but the questioning of God and what He did or did not say.

Verse 2

We may eat of the fruit of the trees – Eve begins to recount what God has told to Adam.

Verse 3

But of the fruit… tree in the midst – The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die – Eve incorrectly recites the commandment from God, adding that they were commanded to not touch of the fruit. Such may have been improper instruction from Adam to Eve, there is also the possibility Eve did not remember the full commandment.

Verse 4

Ye shall not surely die – This is the first contradiction of the words of God. The scenario turns into a God said vs snake said. Interesting enough, the serpent did not tell an outright lie, but he failed in telling the full truth. Adam and Eve surely did not die in that day, but they began the process.

The first denial of doctrine in the Bible, which we have just read, came in the form of denial of judgement.

Verse 5

For God doth know… Eyes opened.. As gods.. knowing good and evil – Again, Satan never directly lies. Each one of these statements came true in their own way. ** See notes on verse 7, 22

Satan presents God as a jealous and selfish person. The portrayal of God is as one who desires to keep to Himself the knowledge, hidden from His creation. Satan makes Eve to believe that God is only withholding her.

Verse 6

Satan has done his job – he caused Eve to doubt God and left her to her own appetite. In this action, Eve chose to listen to created beings rather than the creator. Eve had seen the fruit was good for food, and desirable as insight to wisdom. Eating the fruit, and then giving to Adam to partake.

Verse 7

And the eyes of both of them were opened – As promised, their eyes were open. However, they were not open to divine wisdom, rather, they were open to their nakedness.

The knew that they were naked – In this moment, their eyes were opened and they cast upon a good creation sin and rebellion. In the opening of their eyes, they had become spoiled.

Covered with fig leaves – The couple, that were previously naked and contempt, who were at ease with each other, no fear of evil or exploitation – Are now at ill with each other. The path of sin only leads to shame.

Verses 8-13 Adam and Eve Hide from God

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LordGod called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I wasnaked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. [2]

Verse 8

Heard the voice of Lord God – At this time, we can assume it wasn’t uncommon to have a visit from God in or throughout the day.

Cool of the day – Literally, the evening wind. This is after the sun has begun to go down and the cooler air begins to drop back into the valley (or garden).

Hid themselves – As children who fear punishment, Adam and Eve hid themselves when they heard God coming.

Verse 9

Where art thou – God knew exactly where Adam was, but in questioning, gives Adam the chance to come out on his own.

Verse 10

Adam responds explaining to God that he became afraid when he heard His voice, realizing he had been naked. While Adam explains the result, he leaves out the cause. Adam appears to have missed his excuse would have also given away the cause. (God already knew anyways.)

Verse 11

The questions which follow in verse eleven are not of a lack of knowledge, nor of ignorance, rather, a dialogue to prompt confession.

Verse 12

It was the women you gave me – Adam places blame upon his wife Eve for giving the fruit to him. Something easily missed simply reading through, is that, Adam also shifts blame to God – the women you gave me. Since the dawn of creation, man has found it easier to shift blame away from themselves.

Verse 13

What have you done – As with the other questions, this is rhetorical.

Her response, as with the response given of Adam, is to redirect blame to the serpent.

Gordon Wenham says “Already the peace that characterized man’s original relationship with the animals is shattered. Sin has put alienation between God and man, between men and women, and between animals and men. [3]”

Verses 14-15 God Judges the Serpent

14 And the LordGod said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed 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: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. [4]

Verse 14

Thou art cursed – To curse someone was to invoke the judgement of God.

Upon thy belly thou shalt go – The judgements upon woman and upon man did not change their nature in anyway. Women were still designed to give childbirth and men to work. The judgements only added labor to it them. It is unlikely, then, that the snake previously had legs, the curse itself is likely what has followed – dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

Snakes and all like manner animals are considered unclean in the law.

Verse 15

I will put enmity – Enmity is ill-will, feeling of hostility.

Between thy seed and her seed – The thy (to the serpent) refers specifically to Satan and his demons. The seed of “her” (Eve), while may refer to humans in general, specifically refers to Christ (singular person when “shall bruise His heel.”)

Shall bruise your head – Refers to Christ giving the ultimate victory over Satan.

Shall bruise His heel – Many interpret this to mean the temporal and difficult (fallen) state we have been judged to live. Of such, this may be true generally. Literally, this refers to Satan wounding Christ, speaking of the death on the cross. The wound was not fatal, Christ rising again, but in rising, Christ fatally wounded Satans head.

Verse 16 God Judges Eve

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.[5]

The woman’s childbirth was then multiplied greatly in sorrow and conception. The text seems to indicate prior to the fall, childbirth would have been a painless experience. Henceforth, it would be accompanied by pain.

Thy desire shall be to thy husband – There have been several interpretations. I’ll give them in order of the least accepted.

1. The women, despite the pain of childbirth and labor, would continue to desire of her husband.

2. The woman would desire to rule and dominate over man.

And he shall rule over thee – It has always been the role of man to have authority (the twice naming of his wife (when Adam called her woman, and later this chapter, when he calls her Eve) indicates this. However, the text seems to indicate an abuse of this role, in which love and cherish turns into dominate and excessive control.

Verses 17-19 God Judges Adam

17 And 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 sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 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.[6]

Verse 17

Unto Adam – Literally, unto man.

Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife – The mistake and failure was listening to his wife rather than listening to God. Listening to the created over the creator.

Cursed is the ground for thy sake – Notice what/who is and is not cursed. The land is cursed, and the serpent is cursed. Adam and Eve were not cursed. The cursing of the ground was an act of mercy.

In sorrow shalt thou eat of it – The punishment is fitting of the crime. The sin and rebellion was in the eating of forbidden fruit. The punishment is the hard work required to get the food. Of such, each meal will be a reminder of the fall and the ready abundance of food they were used to from the garden.

Verse 18

The fall of mankind brought with it thorns and weeds.

Verse 19

Sweat of thy face – The punishments of Adam and Eve both affected what they were designed for. Eve (women) is designed a child bearers, of which was affected with pain and labor. Man was designed for work, but work was not always difficult.

For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return – The final punishment revealed from God is death. Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve would have lived immortally. Rebellion against God leads to death.

Verses 20-21 Naming of Eve and Clothing the Couple

20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.[7]

Verse 20

Called his wife’s name – In naming his wife, Adam exhibits the dominion he was given of God.

Eve – Literally, “Living.” This demonstrates Adam took the promises in v.15 with faith.

Because she was the mother of all living – This describes the reasoning behind Adams choice of name. This also is an act of faith, as Eve has no children of yet to base the name.

Verse 21

God demonstrates His continued care of His creation post fall. The first sacrifice is made to cover Adam and Eves nakedness.

Verses 22-24 Humankind Cast from the Garden of Eden

22 And the LordGod 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: 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.[8]

Verse 22

Man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil – God acknowledges that part of Satans promise comes true. Man has become as God, in the aspect of knowing good and evil. In other aspects, man has lost a quality shared with God and the angels, which is to die not.

Lest he take the fruit of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever – The text indicates that while in the garden, Adam and Eve may have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life, and continued to live forever.

Verse 23

Therefore God sent him forth form the garden – What seems like a punishment and curse is really a blessing. It was in mans best interest to not partake of the fruit of the tree of life. Should Adam and Eve partaken of the fruit and lived forever, they would have done so in sin apart from God.

Verse 24

Cherubim’s – Amazing and glorious angels that surround the throne of God.

Flaming sword which turned every which way – There are two common interpretations of the purpose of the sword.

1. To act as an agent of confusion – As if to confuse the direction to the tree.

2. An agent of death – A sword zig-zagging and spinning in the hands of a cherubim is sure to hit and bring death to it’s target.

Post flood, there is no purpose for the cherubim and sword to keep the way of the garden. It has been destroyed in the flood.

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:1–7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:8–13). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [3]Wenham, G. J. (1987). Genesis 1–15(Vol. 1, p. 78). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. [4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:14–15). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:17–19). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [7] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:20–21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [8] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 3:22–24). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.